Turkey sandwich

Man... am I the only one to prefer the Medium for most of those baits?

I hated it's memory as a main line, but it really shines (IMHO) as a leader.

It's all about conditions. If the water is super clear and I need to contend with really finicky fish and need to coax a ton of subtle action out of the finessey stuff, Sniper and InvisX are great. Both really low vis and super supple. Hybrid is great around the nasty stuff. I like mono sometimes to keep baits up higher in the water column or floating. They all sorta have a place. Or so I convince myself, lol.

I love it! It's super abrasion resistant, tests way above rating in strength, and keeps most of the general characteristics of FC. I fish a lot of boulder strewn rivers and the stuff is close to indestructible.

Most of my spinning set ups are 20lb braid to whatever leader fits the conditions. I'll run 6-10lb mono/FC/Hybrid. If I'm dropshotting or fishing a Ned rig, I've come to love Sniper and InvisX.

I lost several BIG trout last fall in CO on 5x and 6x tippet. The longest I kept hooked was a 28"+ brown due to a botched net job. The line touched the net, he shook his head and the 6X was was toast. One of my best friends will never live this down, lol. I have tremendous respect for those guys landing this monster and releasing it safely. They didn't land it on 12lb test and a jerkbait or big streamer. I hate line class records because they're generally bad for fish, but this is a huge accomplishment.

Welcome! I grew up in Swoyersville, and I'm on the water in NEPA a whole lot.

Enjoy it, and hopefully you can beat the crowds. This should be a stellar year with the snow cap you guys have out west. Should be a great turnaround from last year. The info on dominance and lies is really interesting, too, especially if you consider that larger trout eat less frequently, but more efficiently. Also, how cool is the info on biomechanics and essentially "gliding" in current?

Thank you! I've seen videos on the "berry hatch", but I've never had success sticking flies in front of them without spooking them or getting ignored.

If you guys are concerned with a fast action or extra fast rod pulling a non reaction (generally trebled hooked) bait out of a fish's mouth, the rod may not be the issue. Sensitivity, and ability to feel cover aside, a heavy wire hook, at distance requires more power to set. Adding either additional line stretch or a slowing the action of the rod isn't going to increase hook ups if something is wrong with your hook set. It's only going to deliver less force over the greater distance. But yeah, I'm pretty sure Denny Brauer switched back to using exclusively bamboo rods painted to match his sponsors. Because he's old school like that.

Sounds like somebody got a free tow. What patterns are you using? I've attempted this and failed miserably.

It's a pretty cool topic to learn about. You'll find massive changes from cold, less fertile headwaters all the way through big, fertile rivers. You'll also notice big changes in species and forage from one end to the other.

Reach out to local shops about river levels before planning your trip. A good guide will be able to put you on fish in most conditions, but talk to them about stuff like deposits and alternatives like the Juniata if the main stem is ripping. You may end up driving an extra hour or so, but you'll be glad.

Lots of great smallmouth baits ... because smallmouth, if they're active and you find them, will eat d**n near anything they can choke down. I'd argue 95%+ of smallmouth waters have at least 1 species of crayfish. They also love: gobies, madtoms, perch, small sunfish, virtually any fry or minnow species, helgrammites (and lots of other nymphs and adult flies), shad, alewives, frogs, mice, leaches, sculpins, etc. They're super versatile predators.

Where will you be looking to fish out of? Pay attention to levels and snow melt. Late March can be awesome and super fishy or it can mean devastating floods and crazy dangerous conditions. Pay close attention to river levels and the weather leading up to your trip and talk to the guide about potential conditions when you book.

Thanks, fellas. I think the information about how current works and feeding windows is super helpful for understanding any species that lives in current. Also, the footage showing fish - big fish - huddled under boulders is really interesting. Just think of how much water we've all passed over because it was too shallow, or because we couldn't see either fish, or quality holds. Its 2+ hours of video, but it was really eye opening for me. Also, I'm considering tieing up some vegetation flies...

Just the amount of information, analysis, and underwater footage are incredible. Even for guys who don't fish for trout, the info on holds and hydrodynamics apply to almost any species. This is a killer DVD set!

This is a three video series (best I can tell) likely filmed in the 90s. It's not a video that shows tons of action or trout screaming line off of a spool. However, this series is probably the most well put together series I've ever seen on how fish relate to current, why they choose their lies, and how they maintain position in fast water. The series also shows a ton on how trout are able to see so well (crazy ability to track differently with each eye and how light refraction at the surface works), their cone of vision, etc. It's a super interesting series where the filmmaker takes TONS of underwater footage and breaks it down using slow motion. Again, this isn't a Iaconelli video with tons of yelling and celebration, but in terms of useful information that relates to fishing in current, these are sensational. Even if you don't care about trout or fly fishing, this series has TONS of useful information about any river or stream ecosystem. Part 1 if you Part 2 Part 3

What a beast! I could imagine landing that on 4lb leader. When I was fishing a tailwater in CO last fall, I witnessed more than one guy hook into 30"+ monsters on 4x and 5x tippet and watched them break off or pull loose in pretty spectacular fashion. incredible fish.

Welcome to the forum! A-Jay's Smallmouth encyclopedia is loaded with info - enough that he should consider writing a book. The site also has a killer search feature where you can pull up old threads and articles on a lot of general topics like this. The search feature is cool because there are threads ranging from A-Jays all the way through threads about spring/spawning migrations/transitions in almost every type of water. Good luck!

I'm mostly fishing rivers for smallmouth, but I use plenty. Whopper Ploppers, walking baits, larger crankbaits, spinnerbaits, and even jigs in fast current with depth. Conditions dictate pretty much everything, but it's rare that I don't have sever MH rods rigged up.

Both rivers offer a lot. Both can be fished with a PA license. They both have solid walleye populations. The Delaware is more diverse a fishery, but the Susquehanna is by a good bit the better smallmouth fishery. If you like chasing brown trout also, the Upper Delaware closer to NY is a great trout fishery.

@Glenn Any chance you remember which jigheads you were using in this video? Thanks!

Your better smallmouth and walleye lakes are going to be large reservoirs like Wallenpaupack and I can give zero advice on that lake from shore. The Poconos offer lots of small lakes loaded with vegetation that make for great largemouth fishing and a bunch of streams that make for solid trout water, but those aren't lakes I'd go to to target smallmouth or walleye. Your best bet for quality smallmouth and walleye water would be either the Delaware or North Branch of the Susquehanna.

Most of my jerkbait fishing is done with the Rapala line up. I'm pretty partial because they work and because I have a pretty killer discount on Rapala products. I like the X-Rap when I want to work faster, Shadow Raps when I want it to slowly die in the water and maybe sink some, and I like Husky Jerks as a change up. I don't specifically concern myself with orientation so much as how active I feel the fish should be.