Me with one of the first chunky smallies we landed within minutes of launching
I have never fished the north branch before so I was certainly looking forward to my trip north. The primary reason I headed north this morning was to purchase a used kayak from a fella who lived 15 minutes from the New York border… and fortuitously minutes from the north branch of the Susquehanna!
This was truly a special trip for me. My son and I rarely get to fish together since he attends college full time and works. We have spent countless hours together in the past fishing for smallmouth bass in the rivers of the North East. I’m sure the future will bring us more time to hit the water together but for now, we take what we can get. Today he had a day off so I asked him to tag along and he jumped at the opportunity.
I have been wanting to fish the North Branch for some time and this was my chance!
The air was brutally cold. On the drive out it snowed!! After making the exchange of money for the “new to me” Wilderness Systems Tarpon 120, we put in. We only had about 3 hours to fish before we would need to head home. The air temps were 33 degrees when we put in and barely made it over 40 degrees during the time we fished.
The cold weather didn’t seem to make a difference to these northern smallies. The fish are definitely in pre-spawn feeding mode. We started hooking up almost immediately. We caught enough smallies to keep us busy during the three ours of fishing and managed to explore quite a bit of water on our single access trip.
Fish were located on current breaks just inside the seem. The presentation had to be very slow. We dragged dark tubes on 1/8 oz. internal tube heads. Tubes definitely were the number one bait today. We also caught a few on suspending jerkbaits by dead sticking them along current breaks. Despite the number of bites, and the willingness of the fish to feed, the hits were very subtle. We missed quite a few fish and a handful came unbuttoned. In hindsight, I should have changed my rigging technique to see if I could increase the hookup ratio. We tried spinnerbaits but the fish just weren’t chasing hard today.
No big fish today. The biggest was a 16. I will say though that I am definitely heading back SOON to do a multi day trip. I saw a lot of good looking water up north!
Oh, and I’m coming with you next time! Nice work there Juan and that’s I nice chunky NB smallie. Never been there yet and need to hit the NB and WB this season for sure!!
Hmm, what that funny looking little yellow fish behind your kayak in that first photo
You know I was sorry to have missed this one with you, but have to say in the end happy we hit the other river option. Kevin and I got into some pre spawners as well. A personal best for me and two other citations as well. Plus we were happy to miss the snow! Although air temps stayed at 50, 15-20mph winds, and dark/cloudy all day.
Nice snag on that Tarpon! They are a nice hull.
Ray
So you saw some snow also
I was fishing Penns Creek and I swear I saw flurries, now I don’t think I’m crazy anymore haha.
It’s good to hear the fish are starting to feed! Hope that ‘new’ kayak treats you well!
Nate the kayak is great! Hope The fishing was good! I’m headed out again this weekend but I have to hit the blue white game on Saturday….then fish on Sunday.
Great report Juan! I’m glad you got to spend some good time on the water with your son as well… I know some of my most cherished moments afield are times I spent fishing with my Dad. Good for you both!
Thanks Toby, we had a great time!