Turkey sandwich

There is some great info on here! A few points that I haven't noticed being discussed: Seasonal patterns, comfort, and availability/ease of catching prey and basic water conditions are going to dictate behavior and location of fish. For example, pre-spawn through post spawn, you're very rarely going to find 8" bass grouped in with 12"-14" bass and similarly, you're not going to be finding larger 17"-22" bass hanging out with the smaller males except during the actual spawning, and it's extremely unlikely you're going to be finding 8" bass grouped in with those big females while the females are gorging themselves pre-spawn. Similarly, during periods of migration, it's typically larger fish leading the migration. The rest of the year, bass simply want the most comfortable water that will provide them the most efficient access to food (lowest energy expenditure/calorie intake). The most dominant fish in that body of water will be found in the best places because they are the top of the food chain. Those areas that are the "best" will have the highest concentration of big fish, with smaller fish primarily settling in secondary areas, and so forth. This doesn't just apply for a single species. If a lake has a strong musky, pike, walleye, or largemouth population, those can all effect the best available feeding areas for smallmouth and thus where your smallmouth are going to be located, the frequency larger smallmouth will occur and how close they'll be grouped with smaller smallmouth/ compete with them for the same prey. If I didn't just make it seem even more complicated, I hope this helps.

Every river is different, but there are some constants. A good selection of tubes from 2.5-5" mimic baitfish and crayfish equally well and will produce almost anywhere under 75% of conditions. Like most soft plastics, cover your basic colors. Twister tail grubs in 3-5" sizes also work year round and mimic any baitfish and also catch everything that swims. Cover basic colors. Most rivers I fish, both tubes and grubs are typically fished on 1/16 - 1/4 oz jigs 90% of the time. You could include in-line spinners in this. After making sure these are covered, it all depends upon your style of fishing and what you need. Other lures that have been very successful for me on rivers are football jig/craws, a variety of lipped and lipless crankbaits, basic popping and walking baits, swimbaits, flukes, a variety of jerkbaits, and spinnerbaits. I like picking new lures/presentations or styles of fishing to learn or work on each year.

Congrats on the great day - you earned it. There's something especially satisfying when you're catching fish with that kind of scenery. It's not easy, but I love fishing with snow on the ground.

That is one lanky smallie! Cheers on a 20"er. I'm very jealous of the 62 degree water temps here in PA.

In terms of weight, they felt in line with what I would expect from a quality $130-160 rod. You're likely best served with the ML Fast or extra fast for drop shotting, finesse plastics, etc and most ML rods aren't going to tire you out casting. More important, I think, is just balancing it with the right sized reel. I see no reason why you wouldn't be happy with it. Most rods at that price point from quality manufacturers are going to be good rods. I don't care for foam grips as much as some, but that's the only reason I don't own many Abu rods.

I haven't fished one, but I've heard positive things. I have handled a few, though, and they feel like a quality rod for the price.

I have one of the nicer Cabela's ones and generally like it. The only way to inflate it (that I'm aware of) are via the pull cord and manually with your mouth.

@quanjig - it really is good. I generally like most decent ryes, but I'll also use them to make Sazaracs. Whistle Pig, is just too good to mix. @dave - Dickel isn't a bad whisky for the price. Also inexpensive, have you tried Wild Turkey 101 or any of the higher proof stuff from Beam? There are some surprisingly good bourbons out there for under $25/bottle. @MarkH024 - I've had a few, but none that have really been to my taste in Scotch. It seems most Japanese "Scotches" (at least that I've encountered) have been far more in line with Highland/Lowland Scotches and not so much with the Islays. I want some smoke, damnit!

That would be an excellent way to fish it. Set it up to put in upstream and meet someone/pick up 4-9 miles downstream, depending upon your ambition that day. For an 8 hour day, I'll do 4-5 miles on a kayak while fishing and not be pressed for time. The trolling motors would only make it easier. Also, be aware of shallow water. A jon boat doesn't sit very deep in he water, so I wouldn't anticipate a lot of rubbing, but mind the trolling motors and be willing to get out and walk the boat if you're running into low conditions and very shallow water. In spring, this might require waders, but I did it very comfortably with my dad's aluminum V.

So, Francis E Walter is more of a reservoir, despite it being on the Lehigh River. Come the spawn, they'll likely move up onto the shallow, protected flats adjacent to deep water access that meets their spawning needs. I grew up near there, but never really fished it much, so I can't help with specifics. (Not super familiar with levels, bottom composition, etc) The good news is that you still have 5 months to figure it out. Now, if you decide to hit the Susquehanna instead, that's a different story. That I can help with.

Way to close the season!!

They're super versatile and can catch virtually everything. I've seen respectable musky and pike caught on 4" Berkley Power grubs. The great thing about them is that they are a killer finesse presentation that gets totally overlooked in most fisheries and that means you can often present them lots of different ways without spooking the same fish. Some of my favorites: - drift it in current - you can jig it occasionally or let it die, but let current do the work. - dead stick in current - use enough weight on the head and let it sink and settle where you want it to. Great for inactive fish and big fish, but it takes patience. - retrieved - in or out of current, you can jig it, let it die, etc. Experiment based on conditions. Sometimes erratic is good. Sometimes letting it die every 3-4 cranks is killer. Conditions and fish will tell you what they want. - as a jig - either on a ball head or as a trailer, bounce and drag it on the bottom. If fish are targeting sculpins, madtoms, gobies, etc just dragging it on a football head can be killer. - on an under spin - the extra flash is great when it's slow and you want to slowly let it die. Also, nice when it's lower light and you've been on a finesse bite. Generally, adding a blade to a soft plastic bait can help you squeak out a few extra dusk fish.

I was beaten to the punch. Well done.

I was going to make this suggestion. I have a Lure 13.5 with the sonar pod, so I don't need it, but I have used the Ram mount for rigging my sonar to my dad's 16' aluminum V and it's worked fine.

It's a T- rigged worm for largemouth or a tube for smallmouth, without a doubt,

Let your guide know what you expect. The post above about guaranteed fish is bad advice. A good guide is going to work his ass off for you and help you learn, but they're subject to the same conditions and luck the rest of us are. Not paying them for a day of work is absurd. Similarly, you're going to be using their boat, gas, and often gear. A good tip goes along with hiring a good guide. To me, guided trips are learning experiences. I'm more grateful for a guide who teaches/helps me better understand things than one who refuses to answer questions but puts me on fish.

Yep. Braid + Hybrid can cover a lot of different applications. The hybrid is low stretch, low visibility, handles great in rocks, and at 12# has a near 20# breaking strength. Almost anytime I have a bait dragging or running into the bottom, I'm using Hybrid.

At this point, almost all of my spinning and casting rods run braid to leader. There are huge advantages in cost, casting distance, and sensitivity and I can always change leaders to match conditions. For football jigs, I'm usually fishing rocks and boulders in current and 12lb Hybrid is my go to for leaders. Even if it's super clear, I'll take 8 or 10lb Hybrid over 12-14lb FC just because of the abrasion resistance in rocks. Now, I will switch to InvisX if it's light gravel, or if I'm fishing something that isn't being drug along rocks, but for anything abrasive, Hybrid is the best of both worlds.

@Gundog it was not an easy day on the river. I didn't have my yak, and it seemed like fish were holding in deeper eddies and deeper current breaks, so accessing them with waders and a fly rod was hard. That fish I mentioned was the only one I was able to pick up.

In hindsight, I really wish I had. I was freezing from wading so long in a cold river and tired from throwing an 8 wt for 6 hours. I wasn't thinking about much other than getting the heat on in the car.

I picked up a discounted Aetos a few months back and absolutely love it. It's a very legit $175-200 pricepoint rod offered at a steal for under $100. I have a MH mod Fast that I picked up for spinnerbaits and bladed jigs and it's performed well. With the action, I would consider it more fast than moderate fast (not a light, slow, whippy tip like some mod fast), and it has a lot of backbone for MH as well. I find it comparable to St Croix's SCIII blanks in the Avid, Avid X, Rage, and 2016 Mojo lines in terms of power and backbone. I've never fished the HMX or HMG lines, so I have no personal opinion on them, but I wouldn't pass up a sub $100 Aetos.

This was my Facebook update tonight: So, tonight I decided to stay on the river a little later as I noticed there was a huge, bright full moon and that the light may buy me a few extra casts. The water was freezing, my right hand was numb from the cold and herniated discs in my neck, and it's a bit tricky throwing big, bulky flies in the dark. This is not fair-weather, fun fishing. However, there was a large campfire across the river and the smell made it's way over the water and as I was releasing a smallmouth back into the water, I noticed that a couple had set up a tripod behind me, taking pictures/video of me landing the fish with the fire, fog rolling in, and giant shining moon as the backdrop. This is why I love fall.

If I were to guide the Susquehanna, I would want a jet boat without question. The only other ways to fish a lot of it well would be either kayak or drift boat. Drift boats and kayaks are both a lot of work and way less fun for the guide. Also, just the abilities to cover water fast and make multiple passes in areas with fast current would make fishing much more efficient. Paddling a mile long pool of dead water in slow current into a head wind to hit the next spot with clients watching the clock and expecting fish would suck.

There are some pretty good guide services that cover most of the river. River fishing is a bit different, but once you figure out the Susquehanna, it's hard to justify trips for smallmouth almost anywhere else that isn't the Great Lakes/St. Lawrence chain.

Congrats!!!