Turkey sandwich

Welcome!

Today the river was clear and the crayfish were green/brown. Coincidentally, watermelon and pumpkinseed put two 19" smallies in the boat, and I missed another because fighting current with a trolling motor is a losing battle, lol.

Mostly northern pa. My parents live right by the Susquehanna. I'm still trying to figure out SE PA without a boat, lol.

This changes dramatically based on time of year, frontal conditions, and water/rain temp.... But that said.... some of the best largemouth fishing I've ever had has been around storms. In the summer, the push up until a front breaks is some of the best time you can spend on the water. Even into a pretty solid downpour, you can be netting fish. (I've had limits over 25lbs in northern PA on ponds in these conditions) After a front passes, well, that's a different story... If the rain is warmer than the water temp, and the water running into the pond is reasonably clear, you can have a great day fishing the creek mouth into the area where the clear run off meets muddier water. This can even happen in the summer if the pond is primarily spring fed. Also, topwater before or during a storm can be incredible. Just use common sense if there's lightning. Lightning striking a tree 50 feet from you while holding a graphite stick is absolutely terrifying.

Thanks for posting! Cool video!

Learning how to set your electronics for the conditions can help with reading them better. It's some simple reading before you get on the water, and it can help save headaches. I'm in PA and fish mostly up north and there are a few things that'll effect where fish are moving to on your lake. They should be moving to pre-spawn, but that only means transitioning from stable colder/deeper/low current waters towards spawning grounds. Here's what I would consider: - smallmouth aren't typically the dominant predators in lakes and often spawn deeper if there's a sizeable largemouth population, and sometimes slightly later if there is a large walleye population. This might be why you're getting bit in 8-10" of water right now and not in 3-6". - Transition areas are typically ledges or points with shallower water access. Not all ledges are equal and not all shallower flats are equal. The spawning flats should ideally have some sort of cover (even if it's light cover, remember, it's all relative to the lake you're fishing), be it rocks, vegetation, submerged trees, dock pilings, etc.. The ledges should have something to attract forage (remember, big bass have feed bags on right now), so weed lines, rocks, etc can play a role. - Match the hatch. If you get on a good bite, smallies might eat anything, but right now a huge part of their diet in most waters is small to medium sized crayfish. The colors vary with every body of water, so while bright red might be great for me in PA, watermelon red, or blue/orange might match your local waters better. If you have a shad run, they might be schooling and smashing shad. On the middle Delaware and Susquehanna flats right now shad are everywhere. Good of luck on the water this weekend! Hopefully if you don't catch 50 fish, you at least make up for it with a few in the 4-6lb range.

I let the conditions decide most of the time. If the water is clear, I'm going with natural colors, white, and chartreuse. If it's bright out, I might use colors with shiny flecks, especially if there is a little stain to the water. As it get stained and/or low light blue/black, purples, and other dark colors come into play, witha few exceptions like fire tiger or chartreuse accents. Also, if the water is dark, most of the time it's a bigger profile lure and it's got rattles or Colorado blades.

This time of year will be mostly from a boat, but I will pack waders just in case. A lot of the Susquehanna is wad able while it's down. Valley Creek is in Valley Forge/Phoenixville, so that's not crazy far. I don't have a boat or a kayak in the city, so I'm pretty limited down here. The plan is to pick up a Lure 11.5 or 13 within the next few months. I had back surgery last year and I'm still recovering, so my days of filling a backpack with gear and walking the banks all day are probably behind me. Where are you getting out? John Heinz? By the airport?

I got out on Valley Creek for trout last weekend, but there was no hatch. This weekend I'll be making the drive to Wilkes-Barre to get on the Susquehanna.

I just hate to see Cabelas change. I have two within an hour and a half of me, one being the Hamburg PA store Gundog alluded to. That's one of my favorite places to shop because the selection is huge, the quality of merchandise is excellent, and the staff is legitimately involved in the outdoors and can answer questions. The Bass Pro is in AC, and a nightmare. The staff is clueless, the selection is almost entirely Wal-Mart quality rods/reels, and it's tacky as hell. Luckily, Tackle Direct is 15-20 minutes closer than Bass Pro near the Jersey shore.

Same suggestions, though, as they move up to spawn, tubes can be killer. I grew up about an hour from Wallenpaupack and somehow never fished it. It also has a really solid largemouth population and is known for stripers. You might some fun "oops!" fish, too.

Great beard.

Skitter pops are likely Smallmouth magnets when they're feeding up. I've actually had to decommission a few because they've gotten so destroyed.

The Avid X handles great and feels way more sensitive than you'd ever expect from a $200 stick. I like mine. A lot.

Welcome to the forum! Are you planning to spool it on a spinning reel? Baitcaster? What kinds of water are you fishing? i like braid, but the wrong size, on the wrong gear (like any line) can give you headaches.

I think you're u answered your own question as far as how to get better with a boat. A boat helps access fish you certainly can't from shore, but if you can't find them or spook them immediately, it doesn't matter. Learning how to read maps and fish finders along with having a trolling motor make a huge difference. Right now, fish will be headed into shallow coves and you can probably access a lot of them from shore. One suggestion I might make is to invest your free time in learning the above and buying something like a kayak or John boat that won't break the bank, but will get you off the shore without having to drop $10k+ while you learn.

Tim Holschlag's book is a good introduction to smallmouth in rivers and @mlbassyaker covered the basics. In rivers, for me, it's more about eliminating the stuff that probably won't work than limiting what will. That allows me to find using on the baits and rigs I like to fish. For example, in moderate or fast current, I'm not throwing a Carolina rig with an 8" worm the way I might in a lake to work submerged structure or a weed edge. With moving water and rocks, it's a recipe for disaster. I will, however, use a drop shot because it allows me to suspend or roll plastics just above the bottom without a ton of weight. Think about the techniques you know and fish well first. You'd be surprised what you can do to make them work and how versatile a drop shot, lipless crank, spinnerbait or light jig can be. Some notes: -The inline spinner is extremely underrated as a numbers bait. -2.5-4" tubes are fantastic year round baits. Match the size to season and color to water clarity forage. Depending upon how much vegetation you have, you can rig them either t-rig or with 1/16-3/16oz tube jigs. It's worth it to have rattles and some chartreuse dip'n dye in your bag. - 2.5-4" grubs with simple ball jig heads catch everything - working a popper in a smallmouth river is a lot of fun.

This guy took an X-rap pop during a crazy mayfly hatch.

With either blank, $70 is a steal. With the SCIII, I'd be tempted to buy 5 of them. I have quite a few St. Croix rods and can't complain about any of them really being tip heavy. Most of the time, I've found, that when someone complains about a lot of rods being tip heavy, the problem isn't the sticks or even he weight of the reel as a counter balance, but how they're being held/balanced in the fisherman's hands.

I've caught a ton of tackle, socks, and probably some weirder stuff over the years. The most terrifying was catfish fishing muddy ponds and thinking I hooked either a new state record channel cat or 20+lb carp. What was it? The biggest, angriest snapping turtle I've ever seen. The visual of me trying to deal with it was ridiculous. I was knee deep in mud, had a knife or pliers in one hand to deal with the line, and a baseball bat sized branch in my other hand to keep it at distance while I went to work getting out/freeing the hook. And then there was the time we were fishing for carp with treble hooks covered in dough balls and a squirrel took off with one, hooked itself, and lashed itself to an oak tree. That was real weird and a huge mess.

They're not my go to for size, but they are a great lure to beat the skunk. If the fishing is tough, spinners and grubs are clutch. Even guys like Ike talk about a "beat the skunk box" that isn't complete without 2.5"-3" grubs and some basic inline spinners.

I have a few vented long sleeve Columbia SPF shirts that are great. I burn super easily, so the sun protection is huge.

Those are good options. A lot comes down to conditions and personal preference. Don't rule out Crankbaits in a craw pattern, perch, or fire tiger patterns (depending upon water color) or spinner baits. Let me know where you're finding them!

There's some good advice on here and some I disagree with. Fluro will help some with the wind and allow the line to get down. I think having a separate spool comes in handy in some cases and this can be one. That said, if you've got 1/8-1/4oz of lead on that jig, your lure is getting down regardless of mainline and a leader running over 10' on a spinning reel is a disaster waiting to happen. It'll mess up casting distance, can cause loose loops on your Spool, and is just asking for tangles. The fly fishing analogy is really good, but for different reasons. Fly casting requires a heavy line to throw a light fly. Spinning/casting gear uses a heavy lure to throw light line. Your issue doesn't sound like it's casting into the wind, but rather with the drift. That said, successful fly fishing comes from maintaining a natural drift while keeping contact with the fly. This sounds exactly like your problem. Floating fly line is super bouyant and bright for watching, not unlike high vis braid. A good fly caster will mend their line to keep their drift natural and keep contact with their presentation. While drifting subsurface nymphs, they'll also use a strike indicator (bobber) to make it easier to watch. I apologize for the length of the explanation, but the "why" is important. Your tackle has features that you may not be using for their benefits. Learning how to watch your line and how to properly mend it will absolutely put fish in your boat. To learn how to mend, check out the Orvis YouTube channel.