Friday, April 15, 2011

High Water and Very Windy! (04/15/11)

Hello Folks,

I jumped on the main stem of the Susquehanna River south of Harrisburg, Pa. around 10:00 am. today. The water was 9.02' in Harrisburg and slowly rising to 9.11' throughout my day of fishing.

The water was dirty and cluttered with debris floating in a heavy current.

The air temp was 54 degrees and rose to a coll and comfortable 61 degrees by 3:00 pm. The water temperature was 51.7 degrees when I first arrived and rose to 53.1 degrees by 2:00 pm.

The sky was relatively bright and sunny, but there was a stiff wind blowing approximately 10 mph from the ENE. As the morning passed, the wind shifted in direction to the ESE and also gained in velocity. Gust were picking up and actually aided my boat from drifting too fast in the high current.

I started my day of fishing by throwing a chartreuse bladed 3/8th oz. spinnerbait along the west bank in slack water and visible eddies. I had no takers and moved on.

My next stop was at the mouth of a local creek that was pumping clear water into a very dirty river. I tossed several lures in this area... jerkbaits, spinnerbaits, tubes, crankbaits, and plastics. Despite this large array or lures, I failed to hook into any smallmouth.

It was now approaching 11:30 am. and I decided to take a long run north from my starting point to another much larger creek that entered from the east shoreline.

When I arrived at the second creek, I was greeted with the same nice and clear water edging on the dirty, dingy Susquehanna River water.

I tossed plastics and spinnerbaits along the very pronounced mud line. No takers... I could see how this was going. LOL!

I repeated the same scenario as I did at the last creek... Nada, Nill, Zilch!

I had been in touch with my good friend CHRGD this morning and I knew that he was heading out to fish in the same general area. So, after my disheartening experience at the larger creek, I gave him a call to see if he was on the water and how he was doing.

CHRGD and his wife had taken a wet ride from the ramp to a hole just below me. CHRGD's luck echoed mine, but his wife had brought a 15" smallie into the boat. Between the two of them, that was it.

I packed up my gear and headed down river to meet up with them.

We spent some time shooting the breeze and took a short ride to the first creek I had started my day from. There were two fellows fishing there from the shore and, being the kind anglers we are :), we decided not to bother them.

CHRGD and his wife needed to head back to their launch and I also decided to call it a day and headed in.

Despite the good water at the creeks, I was unable to entice a single bite today. Oh well, some days you eat the bear and some days the bear eats you. I definitely got eaten today! There will be plenty of days in the coming months that will provide much better opportunities. Today's conditions made for a tough, tough day on the water. But I will always believe that it is days like today that make us all better anglers.

Take Care and Be Safe!
Dad