Susky near Harrisburg, 10-10-14

[HJS]

I Fished the Susky near Harrisburg, Friday, 10-10-14, 10:00am to 3:00pm. The weather forecast the evening before was such that I had no intensions of going fishing on Friday… too much wind going the wrong direction and possible mid-day showers… not my kind of weather. Not to mention the flow is still bare-arsed low. But by Friday morning the weather forecast had improved markedly… overcast and no showers until late in the day. Winds were to be light and variable all day… perfect. It only took me 30 minutes to pack up and leave for smallie heaven.

I wasn’t disappointed. I caught 21 smbass on 4” soft plastic fished weightless on the surface. Also caught a few on shad-raps. The rocky shallows were still holding fish but they were smallish ranging from 9”-13”. It wasn’t until I fished the deeper areas (4’-6’) that I caught a few biggies, one being close enough in length to be deemed 20” long, personal best for this year.

The river is still extremely low and very shallow in many areas. I had to pick my way through the impossible areas very carefully to work my way upriver. The bottom of my 16’ canoe took another beating. I didn’t see another boat or fishermen the entire day.

Susky, 10-10-14 A.jpgSusky, 10-10-14 B.jpgSusky, 10-10-14 C.jpg

Fish ID: Anyone know the common name of the mystery fish I snagged??? They are quite common in most of the streams and rivers of MD, PA as well as the surrounding states.

Susky, 10-10-14 D.jpgSusky, 10-10-14 E.jpg

[Shady]

Nice smallmouth! That mystery fish looks like some sort of sucker, but quite different from ones that I've caught.

[HJS]

Ryan - Yes, the mystery fish is a member of the sucker family. Your fish is a "common white sucker". They are found everywhere too. The sucker in my post is a difference member of the sucker family.

[perchy]

Northern hog sucker?

[Big Mike]

Beautiful Smallies. Glad to hear of success on the Susky.

[Shady]

I think Perchy nailed it

[HJS]

Yes, we have a winner. Perchy nailed it. It's a northern hogsucker. They are rather common in Maryland streams but interactions with fishermen are not very common. They are notorious for sitting motionless on the bottom for hours blending in with the bottom sub-straight and fallen leaves. When disturbed they spook away like a bolt of lightning.

[dpreller]

I fished the same area on Thursday.like stated most if the fish better ones anyway seem to be in the slightly deeper water near current and shallower flats.I didn't do as well on unweighted plastics,but located fish on swim baits then anchored and started working them with a jig. That's when things got sideways,caught about 30 total in about 7 hours.several between 16-18 and a couple 18+ happily caught a lot of 8-10 also so the future looks bright.