Tubing on the Susquehanna River 7/25/14

Headed up the North Branch of the Susquehanna River again this past Friday.  The morning started off with 52 degree air temperatures.  It was a little cold and the fog covered the entire river.  Water temperatures held pretty steady around 76 degrees.  If the cold was unbearable, we could always just jump in the river to warm up.  The water was still slightly stained and we knew it would be a decent day of fishing.  

    

It sure didn't take long to find some nice underwater treasure!  We know tubes would be the way to go today.  In fact, we were able to land fish on 4 different colors during this trip out on the Susquehanna.    

Caught this one in the fast water directly behind me.  I was able to entice this pretty lady with a spinnerbait. 

Sometimes you have to go "Bill Dance" on the fish and give a "thank you" kiss before saying good-bye.  :) 

Billy landed two walleye today on SPINNERBAITS!  That's a first in my books.  Always a bonus though.  

The BIGGER fish were definitely on vacation today.  We caught a few chunky girls but for the most part it was "cookie cutter" day on the Susquehanna River.  Hey, the future looks bright though.  The BIG gals will return soon.  We landed nearly 80 fish today.  There was even this bonus channel catfish ....

Here are a few other fish from our trip! 

  

Until next time, thanks for checking out the "steeler" fishing blog.  Have a good one!  - steeler

                                                                                                                                          

Susquehanna Catchin' 7-19-14

It's been way too long since my last visit to the North Branch of the Susquehanna River.  The "rain" gods and the "fishing" gods have been punching it out this summer.  Finally, the "fishing" gods prevailed and my opportunity to chase a few smallmouths became a reality.  Chad arrived at my house at 3:30AM and we were on our way north.  Once arriving at the river, we were welcomed by thick fog, stained water (1-2 feet visibility) and 73 degree water temperature.  We knew today was going to be a good one!  It didn't take too long to get the first North Pennsylvania smallmouth bass into the boat.

Tubes were the way to go for DINK fish today.  The BIGGER fish wanted spinnerbaits and crankbaits!

A majority of our fish were in the 12 - 16 inch range.  There were a few CHUNKS at 17 but nothing much bigger than that today.  However, it was an OUTSTANDING day of fishing!  We landed 70 smallmouth bass during this trip.  There was also this rare find -

Chad broke out the in-line spinner and landed this nearley 3lb. - 18 inch largemouth bass.  Nice catch!

Most of our fish were found in fast current seams today!  We caught fish on a multitude of lures.  This was a nice and feisty 18 inch little mouth caught from a spot we often frequent.

We contribute the nice stain to our success on the river today.  However, we were a little disappointed by the "fishing etiquette" or lack thereof displayed by other fishermen.  On three separate occasions during this trip, we had boats literally float 20-30 yards in front of us and "attempt" to steal our drift.  Two of the boats watched us catch fish and simply bullied their way in.  Again, the "fishing" gods were on our side. Neither boat caught a single fish as we kept hooking up with fish after fish.  In another instance, one older guy started his float about 30 yards behind us.  His drift was going pretty quick.  We actually had to move so his boat didn't crash into us.  AMAZING!

Regardless, it was another great day fishing on the North Branch of the Susquehanna River.  The bass were more cooperative than our "fellow" fishermen.  That's how it goes sometimes!  The eagles, deer, osprey and various other resident animals watched as we hooked into one gorgeous fish after another.  Life was good today!  Life was real good today!  Until next time ... thanks for reading.  Hope you enjoyed!

steeler