I know that it has been some time since my son Zach and I went fishing on the river. But today made up for all those days lost to high waters and bad weather we have been having lately. I have to pick and choose my days on the water due to all my replacement joints... LOL!
Yesterday morning, I received a text message from Josh Kreider asking me if I wanted to go fishing on Sunday morning... "Well of course I do!" :)
I met Josh at his home around 8:00 a.m. and we headed directly to the Mt. Joy Restaurant for a good breakfast to help fuel our day.
We finally arrived at the ramp around 10:00 a.m. and launched the boat as quickly as possible. We knew that the winds were suppose to kick up as the day progressed... and they did! Last evening, a cold front had moved through and brought the winds with it.
Josh prepping the boat before I "dumped" his rig into the creek...
Early Morning Run was chilly, but smooth...
Take note to the chop on the water as we headed back to the ramp around 1:30 p.m.
There was a big difference riding out to fish and riding back to the launch.
I love dressing warm for those cold morning runs...
The first smallmouth bass we caught was a chunky 17.5" fish...
We had a couple of doubles today. Here is the only one that I caught a pic of...
Josh used his Lucky Craft Ghost Minnow Jerkbait most of the day...
This was the biggest Smallmouth Bass of the day. This Hawg measured in at 19.75" and well over 4 lbs...
Two more 19" are shown in the next few pics...
This next fish measured in at 19" even, but look at her tail and the lesions that were damaging her...
It's so sad to see such a beautiful fish that is damaged with lesions. She may not make it through the harsh winter ahead.
As I mentioned earlier, Josh tossed his Lucky Craft Jerkbait most of the day. He did, however, start the day out casting a tube at the first hole we came to. But he quickly switched over to the LC Ghost Minnow at the very next spot we ran to. The water was gin clear and prime for a jerkbait!
As for me, I started the day out tossing a 1/2 oz. War Eagle Mouse colored skirt spinnerbait. I didn't get a single bite with the spinnerbait so I turned to a soft curled-tailed swimming minnow and landed my first bass of the day. The remaining smallies came on a "Winco Chillie Willie" soft plastic bait. I'm happy I switched over to the Chillie Willie because the bass were all over it!
The air temperature today was 35 degrees when I left my home in Willow Street, Pa. at 7:00 a.m. It rose to 55 degrees by the time we exited the water at 1:30 p.m. That was a 20 degree change over a six hour period.
The morning started out with bright sunshine and a few passing clouds. But as noon approached and we settle down to eat lunch, the clouds had rolled in and the winds had definitely picked up from the Northwest.
The river water temperature was 44.8 degrees and clear. I am sure that the past for days with the morning temps dipping below freezing had dropped the water temperature rather quickly. But we found that the fish were still active despite the drop in temperature.
The river was holding around 3.56 feet at the Harrisburg, Pa. NOAA predictor gauge. It is rather low for this time of year. We could use more rain up north of us to help the main stem and Lower Susquehanna River rise into the 4-5' zone. We may see some rain come Tuesday or Wednesday... We'll have to wait to see what the change in weather brings us. Along with the approaching front, the weatherman is predicting a warm up into the 60s by the end of the week.
Take Care and Be Safe!
Dad
