Fishing the hard edges on the Juniata River

Fished the Juniata on Saturday. Between myself and another fisherman we caught 40+ smallmouth. Many where in the 15″ size range. My best fish of the day were 3@16, 1@16.5, 1@17, and 1@18.25. The 18″+ pic is below.

Honestly, I didn’t think we were going to do  well. It took several hours to get on some kind of consistent pattern but once we did…it was on. I call this one the “hard edge pattern”. Fish were not on current seems/edges…not luck at all there! They were tight to ledges, parallel ledge drops, and submerged weed edges….all are what I like to call “hard edges”. Most productive depths where fishing edges that where in 3-6 feet of depth. Just as important was that when I say “tight” to the edges…i mean tight. Your cast/bait had to be on the edge or no go.

Fish were not doing there typical summer thing…cruzing/hunting in the shallow flats. They were definitely being home bodies which I find to be strange for August/summer fish.

Top Producing baits of the day:
1. Winco’s G&W Kinkle-Cut worm
2. Winco’s 3″ Baby Sickworm
3 Bandit 200 crankbait

*1&2 out produced everything else we threw by a mile.

Here’s  pic of the big girl…
Directly behind me there is a submerged ledge running parallel to the current. It tops out at about three feet. The fish was on the deep side of the edge. This fish took a 3″ Winco’s Baby Stickworm.

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About Juan

I'm owner and operator of Kayak Fish PA, LLC. We offer professional kayak fishing instruction and guide services. I’ve been an avid fisherman in the state of Pennsylvania since the age of 6. I now have almost 40 years of fishing experience in this state. My passion is kayak fishing for smallmouth bass and largemouth bass. That being said, my specialty is fishing for river smallmouth bass. Pound for pound there is no better fighter..in particular when your doing battle from a kayak! When I’m not chasing smallies, I fish for a variety of other gamefish in the waters of Pennsylvania and beyond such as walleye, crappie, perch, pickerel, muskellunge, and various types of trout. Fishing is my passion and I enjoy sharing that passion with others through my blog!