Hard fighting Raystown Branch Juniata River smallmouth bass
We’ll, it’s official. The fish finally seem comfortably in their summer patterns on the Juniata River..at least on the upper Raystown Branch near Breezewood, Pennsylvania. I only fished about 3 hours today. Usually I fish all day on Saturdays but I had a prior commitment. I caught 13 smallmouth bass on a variety of baits. It was pretty easy fishing today. the fish were right were they are supposed to be. Crankbaits and the new Slammin’ Beaver were the biggest producers today.
Times Fished
- 8 a.m. – 11:00 a.m.
Weather Conditions
- Intermittent sun and cloud cover (which helped the fishing)
- Air temperatures 70-75 degrees
Water Conditions
- Water temperature in the mid 70′s
- Visibility about 4 feet, some areas of the river were stained due to recent rains and visibility was about 2 feet.
- Flows are a little lower then normal for time of year
Baits Used
- Shallow crankbait 0-3 feet, bass pattern
- Bandit 200, 4-8 feet, crawfish pattern
- Slammin’ Beaver, green pumpkin
- 3″ Stik-O, green pumpkin
- 4″ Yum dinger, Carolina pumpkin/chartreuse
Fish Caught
- 13 smallmouth bass ranging from 10 inches to 15 inches
Comments on Patterns
The fish were located right were you’d think they would be given time of year and river topography. In the morning I caught a few smallmouth on rocky drop offs along the rivers edge using a shallow running crankbait. I tried a deeper runner but the fish just seemed to be feeding “up”. As the day progressed, I found fish on current breaks caused by naturally occurring wing dams, in current breaks caused by larger rock/boulders, and in riffles at the heads of pools. The deeper runs with bigger rock and medium/fast current produced the best fish but no “giants” today. All the baits caught fish with the exception of the Bandit 200. The Slammin’ Beaver and the shallow running crankbait worked the best today for the bigger fish.
I fshed the Slammin’ Beaver on a 1/8 ounce jig head. The stick worms were either texposed, wacky rigged, or nose hooked. I tried all three but for some reason today, nose hookin the bait waitless was the way to go.
