Central Pennsylvania Fishing

I grew up fishing the small creeks of Pennsylvania for smallmouth bass and can safely say the it is not only my “specialty’ but it is my passion. There is nothing more satisfying than locating and catching quality smallmouth from these little gems. The dog days of summer can present some unique challenges in small flowing waters. Many times I’ve heard puzzled fisherman say “I just don’t know where all the fish went”. In this article I’m going to let you in on a few simple tactics for catching more and better fish in these skinny flows.

Don’t think small steams mean small fish. Yes, you’ll catch a bunch of ten to twelve inch smallmouth but you’ll often have the opportunity to catch fish in the seventeen inch range. Sometimes bigger. I’ve caught quite a few twenty inch smallmouth from small creeks in Pennsylvania. On July 7th I caught a 20.5 inch smallmouth out of a stream I could cross in two hops. Yes, this is definitely not common but it is not a once in a lifetime occurrence either. Read on to learn about my summer tactics for small stream smallmouth bass.

• Fish Up Stream - When the flows are low and clear the smallmouth bass can be hyper sensitive to sound, vibration, or any movement they perceive on the stream bank. You should always wade and cast upstream as you fish. Remember the smallmouth will be oriented facing upstream into the current. When you wade and fish up stream it decreases the chances a fish will see your movement as you approach. Yes there may be some exceptions to this but they are few and far between.
• Make Long Casts - Making long casts gives you an advantage in ultra clear or low water conditions. For the same reason you want to wade upstream, you also want to make long casts to likely looking fish holding spots. Many times I’ll stand in the riffles well below a hole I want to fish and begin picking it apart from a distance. I’ve caught many very good fish after making a cast so far upstream that my line lays strewn across the rocks in the stream bed. Just make sure you have good abrasion resistant line.
• Blanket the Water - Be sure to fish every likely fishy spot thoroughly. Have a strategy. As mentioned above, we are fishing upstream and attempting to make long casts. Don’t be tempted to cast to the head of a hole first. You may certainly catch a fish but in the process you may also push other fish out of the shallow tail end of the hole. Many times I’ll stand 15 yards or more below a hole then make several fan casts to the shallow end of the hole above me. After thoroughly covering the shallows, I’ll make casts to the middle part of the hole. Only after I’m sure I’ve thoroughly covered this water, will I move up a little and cast to the head of the hole. I’ve caught 10+ fish out of a single 5-10 yard long hole on many occasion. In most cases, the holes were barely thigh deep. I’m convinced if I had just moved up on the holes and fished, I’d caught only 2 or 3.
• Leave no Stone Unturned - In large rivers you’ll target car sized boulders as likely smallmouth holding spots. In smaller creeks the size of the boulder is relative to the the surroundings. In a small creek, if I see a 2′ by 2′ “boulder” breaking the current or standing alone on a relatively featureless bottom, you can rest assured I’m going to make a few casts to it. I’ll cast to the current lines behind it first then to the push water in front of either side of the boulder last. Some of the small streams I’ve fished in Pennsylvania have couch sized boulders in them. Kettle creek and Sinnamahonning creeks are good examples of this. I’m practically salivating, as I’m wading up on some of these excellent fish holding boulders!
• Get to the Root of Things - Small creeks that hold smallmouth bass often resemble the classic trout stream. Meandering through fields and woods. When you combine woods and streams you get a small stream fisherman’s dream… the beloved undercut tree root system. One of my favorite small stream stretches has over ten undercut tree root systems in about a quarter mile. I have caught very nice smallmouth out of this area on a consistent basis. I define good fish as anything around seventeen inches or bigger. Remember the points above. Be sure to fish the hole thoroughly then fish under the root system. The big boys are often cruseing the shallows and use the roots as a safe haven. Several years ago I pulled a twenty inch fish out of a root wad on a small stream. I had lost the fish on two subsequent trips. Bound and determined to drag the big boy out of his home, I broke out the big guns. My flippin stick with twenty pound test. I’m sure I looked like a complete green horn casting my light offerings with the overweight gear but it worked and the fish was eventually brought to hand on the same day.
• Match the Hatch - the tactics I mentioned above are best employed by using some type of weightless plastic bait. I’m certainly not saying that it needs to be a small bait. Weightless is the key. In the shallow water of a creek, you want the bait to fall slowly and bounce lightly among the rocks. If you use weight, most often you’ll be snagged more than you’ll be fishing. I use more natural softer colors such as white, smoke, pumpkin, motor oil, and green. These colors combined with a touch of chartreus is always a plus and can make the difference on a slow day. Favorite baits are soft jerkbaits, senko type baits, crawfish imitations, and tubes. Most often I will texpose the baits to make it more snag proof. I fish the baits on a fairly slack line letting it dead drift with the current. In the summer, I tend to move to the next cast faster. I’ll let the bait drift for 10-15 seconds then pick it up for another cast. I find in the summer either they hit it or they don’t. Most strikes come in the first few seconds the bait hits the water.

Over the years these tactics have help me catch a truck load of smallmouth bass on the small streams of Pennsylvania. I’m confident they will help you catch more fish as well. Feel free to leave comments on the article below. I always enjoy comments!

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