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Fished the Susky above Harrisburg launching at my favorite and most productive piece of smallmouth water, Friday, 6-19-20, 10:00am to 1:00pm. I’ve never fished the Susky this early in the year, mostly due to flows always being way too high… but today conditions were perfect. Low summer flow already (what I like), clear (great), minimal rooted veggies (yeah!...but that'll change as the summer progresses), light upriver breeze (perfect), partly cloudy… I just HAD to go fishing and check out the bass populations for this year.
Unfortunately, I was fairly disappointed. I did catch several smbass but nothing came close to what I’ve come to expect from the Susky over the years I’ve been fishing there. First fish was a 14”er, got my hopes up though, but all the rest, about 6, were between 6” to 12”. All other high catch years I wouldn’t even bother to count the sub 12” fish. My hookup rate was surprisingly good for a change. The few missed hits were from obvious <10” fish.
Used my usual lures: 4” paddletail twitched on the surface caught the most followed by a smallish silver shad rap. The smaller bass <12”are a good sign for future years but today fishing wasn’t all that great for nice fish. Guess I’ll just have to wait and see what my preferred late summer, early fall time slot has to offer. Didn’t see a single other fisherman the entire time.
Like I said, I’ve never fished the Susky smbass this early in the year. Even during the productive years, when I’d catch a dozen or more in the mid/upper teens, I’d still have a couple bad days thrown in to remind me that even good years have bad days… maybe this was just a bad day.
First fish, oh yeah!
Susky, 6-19-20 - A.jpg
Second fish, a large dink.
Susky, 6-19-20 - B.jpg
Last fish and heavy storm clouds were forming up far to the south, headed in.
Susky, 6-19-20 - C.jpg
BIG water up there on the Susky.
Susky, 6-19-20 - D.jpg
I love the rock gardens.
Susky, 6-19-20 - E.jpg
Unfortunately, I was fairly disappointed. I did catch several smbass but nothing came close to what I’ve come to expect from the Susky over the years I’ve been fishing there. First fish was a 14”er, got my hopes up though, but all the rest, about 6, were between 6” to 12”. All other high catch years I wouldn’t even bother to count the sub 12” fish. My hookup rate was surprisingly good for a change. The few missed hits were from obvious <10” fish.
Used my usual lures: 4” paddletail twitched on the surface caught the most followed by a smallish silver shad rap. The smaller bass <12”are a good sign for future years but today fishing wasn’t all that great for nice fish. Guess I’ll just have to wait and see what my preferred late summer, early fall time slot has to offer. Didn’t see a single other fisherman the entire time.
Like I said, I’ve never fished the Susky smbass this early in the year. Even during the productive years, when I’d catch a dozen or more in the mid/upper teens, I’d still have a couple bad days thrown in to remind me that even good years have bad days… maybe this was just a bad day.
First fish, oh yeah!
Susky, 6-19-20 - A.jpg
Second fish, a large dink.
Susky, 6-19-20 - B.jpg
Last fish and heavy storm clouds were forming up far to the south, headed in.
Susky, 6-19-20 - C.jpg
BIG water up there on the Susky.
Susky, 6-19-20 - D.jpg
I love the rock gardens.
Susky, 6-19-20 - E.jpg
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