Susky @ Harrisburg, 10-4&5-2012

[HJS]

My love affair with the smallmouth bass fishery in the Harrisburg section of the Susky continues. Since August 31, I have been there 7 times. Some trips are better than others but all were very exciting with great surface action. My last two trips, October 4 & 5 were outstanding. On the 4th (yesterday) I caught 11 and on the 5th (today) I caught 5. Most were in the mid/upper teens to include a couple of 20”ers. All weree very fat. Most were caught on 4”&5” BAs fished weightless on the surface. But on the 4th the smbass start acting overly cautious on the take and I was missing a lot of hits… infuriating to say the least. So I switched to a mid-sized Rapala. It’s been a couple of years since I’ve fished any type of plug with trebles hooks but I was absolutely foaming about missing so many glancing hits. The Rapala improved my hookup rate substantially. Today my hookup rate on surface soft plastics was much better. Great river to fish.

[jet]

sweet pics, thanks!

[DanMarino]

Those are absolute monsters!!!!! Nice going. I need to fish up there one day because it looks like I'm missing out by only fishing the Potomac.

[HJS]

DanMarino – The Susky up near Harrisburg currently supports a relatively low population of really nice smallmouth. It would take me a couple years of fishing the Potomac to catch as many big smallies as I have caught in my last 7 trips this fall to the Susky @ Harrisburg. One thing the Susky lacks is strong numbers of intermediate to smallish sized smbass (9”-14”) to fill in the long time gaps between nice fish. As a result of this lopsided population pyramid there is lots of prime habitat and holding structures that contains no bass at all…LOTS of empty habitat. So I have to cover a lot of territory casting to lots of prime locations to encounter a half dozen nice smallmouth. Studies have shown that the PA section of the Susky is having a major problem with smbass recruitment. See the following news release from Pa Fisheries. This news release is very informative and presents information in a quick-read format… check it out.

http://www.fish.state.pa.us/newsrele...m_Lycoming.pdf

[MTDluvsFishin]

Great fish HJS. For me, the numbers of smallies below the Conowingo have been good. Most of the ones I've caught lately have been in the 10-15" range.

I did see a gentleman fishing from shore last week with the biggest smallie I had ever laid eyes on. Had to be a good 4-5 pounds. Be kept it thou which really stunk.

Keep those pics coming, love me some smallmouths

[HJS]

Great fish HJS. For me, the numbers of smallies below the Conowingo have been good. Most of the ones I've caught lately have been in the 10-15" range.

I did see a gentleman fishing from shore last week with the biggest smallie I had ever laid eyes on. Had to be a good 4-5 pounds. Be kept it thou which really stunk.

Keep those pics coming, love me some smallmouths

All along I've been wondering why the smbass populations in the Susky below Conowingo is not suffering from the same problems as the Susky up at Harrisburg. I suspect that going through 3 lakes/dams most certainly radically alters the physical/biological/chemical properties of the Susky such that it's really not the same river it is upriver of these 3 dams.

BTW, a very long section of the Susky in the Harrisburg area, to include where I fish, is year-round Catch & Return. This also includes the tributaries a short distance above their confluence with the Susky. Also, as I understand it, anglers are not allowed to target smbass for a month or so during their spring spawn. So PA Fisheries doing everything to protect their spawners.

[Cliff]

Nice report Howard. Looks like you have found your own stretch of a smallmouth paradise!

[HJS]

The closest access for you would be at Dauphin,PA (cartop only launch). From your new location (Easton PA) Dauphin is 113miles, 2hr-40 min. That's a fairly long drive. Best to fish this area at late summer low flow, August into October. It's a lot a fun action there but you do have to cover a lot of territory to encounter enough fish to make it worth your effort. Oh, a peddle drive is not recommended, way too shallow and rock in many areas, so it's strictly a paddle thing.

[Cliff]

Oh, a peddle drive is not recommended, way too shallow and rock in many areas, so it's strictly a paddle thing.

I was afraid of that. I am currently researching areas around me that hold Musky. There are quite a few spots but I am not sure what to even use or where to target them. Does anyone know a Musky guide in southeastern PA? It would be nice to get some instruction from a pro and then go forward by myself.

[kevinfry]

hj,
I think that 20 inch3er puts you at top of leader board for SMB......why don't you post there and see

[HJS]

Ooops... double post. Anyway, Cliff, I've fished Promisedland State Park in central east PA a few mile off of I-84 halfway between Scanton and Port Jarvis. The lower lake is loaded with pickerel and an occasional nice LMBass. Good place to go after Labor Day. Promisedland is a full service park and therefore is a total zoo during the summer months. They have a big campground and cabins at very reasonable rates. The lower pond has major weed fields and is fun to fish surface plastics rigged totally weedless. I'd be glad to give you more info if you are interested.

[HJS]

hj,
I think that 20 inch3er puts you at top of leader board for SMB......why don't you post there and see

I'm not sure what leader board you are referring to. Anyway, none of my fish were carefully measured, I just flop them on my home-made measuring board for a quick pic then get them back in the water ASAP. I use a clicker type counter (visible in the background of one of the above fish pics) to count my fish because I get confused after about 5 fish. This is not an old phart issue, I've been plagued for decades by an inability to count accurately past 5 if too much time elapses between fish. On top of that I can't remember for sure how long any of them were. That's where the measuring board comes into play. Basically the clicker and measuring board plus camera keeps me from lying to myself.