suskyguide

Bradford County.... Wyalusing PA......My private lake...... North Branch Susquehanna River

Hey guys I want you to meet Ismael and Marty, they live in NY and are mentally handicapped. They came to stay at the guest house with their family care parents and 4 of their house mates. They stayed for 5 days and had a great time wandering the property and spending time on the water learning to fish. They both learned quickly and did a great job killing the bass on one of my black and red chatterbaits. The rest of the guys weren't interested in fishing (too bad) and spent their time sitting on the front porch smoking and drinking coffee like it was a AA meeting, kinda funny.....It was a bit of a challenge and I had to keep a sharp eye out for flying hooks but to see the look on their faces when they would catch a fish was priceless. Give it up for the guys, a couple of true fishermen !!!

I went fishing with Eric, his Dad and his son on Sat and Sun on the Susky we caught over 50 both days and had a great time. We managed to avoid thunderstorms both days by running from them, helps to have a quick boat Eric's son caught 2nice pike and and some really nice smallies including a nice 21" spawned out female that only weighed 4.12 He out fished his dad and grandfather like a champ. The other pike slipped out of his hand and into the water before we could get a pic, slimy scoundrels!! Monday I did a half and half both river and lake with Matt and Jamie we had 32 on the river and about 15- 20 on the lake. I love fishing with these guys,they are allot of fun and good fishermen. they always have me rolling on the front deck. It's non stop banter and competition from these 2. Matt caught a 5.2 by my scale but I think she weighed more like 6, my batteries were almost dead so I would challenge the accuracy. Check out the pic and let me know what you think.

I fished with Tom S and family on Sunday. After Saturdays heavy rain the river was way to muddy to have any fun so I re booked his trip and gave them some time on the lake before heading home. Tom caught this nice 4 pounder and his dad and nephew caught some nice ones as well. Unfortunately this was mine, she weighed 8 pounds 11 oz...... Sorry Tom

Day 2 with Lisa resulted in 60 + Smallies, nice weather, and the last 2 hours of her trip on the lake. A few females have moved up on the river and they are staging on the lake. It looks like we are in for a good week of girls!! Today I had Tommy and his buddy John on the boat. Another 60+ smallies and 8 over 18" with a fat, ready to go, 20" Betty put skillfully in the boat by John. It was overcast with spots of sun that would turn the bite on, water temp 62.5, 2-4 feet, clear, 3 turkey sandwiches, bag of chips, 3 Red Bulls, 5 waters, 3 cigarettes( I'm trying to quit) , a half dozen Commit nicotine lozenges. and 8 hrs of fun!! I just had Wednesday May 6th open up if anyone is interested, I'll throw in the guest house for free!!

I haven't had much time to post reports this past week as I have been on the water every day and will continue to be for the next couple of weeks. Mike B and I continued to stick big numbers of fat smallies for the next 2 days after my here pig pig post and just about froze on his last day with a wind chill that felt like 20 degrees. I sent him on his way with a big smile and a request for 3 more days in the fall. Jeff and his 2 buddies fished a half day with me on Friday. With a drastic weather change from cold and cloudy to hot and blue bird skies we got over 60 with a bunch of chunks boated between the major ribbing and cold Rolling Rocks. Saturday I fished with Phil and his dad Joe. It was a little slow and we had to work at it but I think we ended up with a little over 70 and by the end of the day they had their jerkbait technique down solid. they stayed over and fished the private lake and Phil's dad got a 4 pounder but was stuck in the row boat by himself with no camera so I don't have a pic. Sunday I had a half day on the lake with Frank V and his 2 sons and caught some nice greenies all in the 2 pound range, the bucks are in and busy building beds, I expect the females shortly!! We fished the river the Monday and had over 70. the males on the river were all over the place but super skittish and not committed to the nest yet. Today I fished with Lisa, a Vet from Connecticut, we landed well over 80 and lets just say the boys have gotten comfortable with their environment and I expect the girls to follow soon!! I got my boat back in time to fish Thursday and so far the new E-Tec is solid and quite the improvement on the 150. I had a little panic attack when I heard a loud knocking while getting on plane after leaving a shallow area on Sunday but it turned out to be my transducer slapping the transom, no more blown motors, phew!! Day 2 with Lisa in the morning so it's time for bed. I'll try to report tomorrow night, should be interesting..... come on ladies!!

Well the jerk bite was still in effect and today it was pigs and doubles, lots of them!! I fished a half day with Mike B. today, we caught 60 smallies with at least 20 over 18 and I got a 19.5. It was hard to hold the boat since my cousins trolling motor is only a 55 pound thrust but we managed and the main motor didn't blow up ........ Yeah!! Just about every time we drifted by my spot we would double up, the smallies were like a pack of wolves and we doubled at least 15 times and we even had a triple!! How did we do that? I kicked a jig over the side and hooked the third . I was a great day with warm temps and lots of sun, the river color is perfect and we were so busy that I never checked the temp. here's the pic's.......... Just talked to the wife, said she'd got 700 miles to go, I might have my boat back for tomorrow She Rocks!!!

I fished with a couple of NJ boys this weekend and what a trip it turned out to be!! Saturday we got started around 9, started with the jig,spinner bait, and jerk bait but it didn't take long to figure out what to throw for the rest of the weekend......... JERKBAIT TIME!!! we proceeded to boat a total of 93 fish for the day which was sunny at times, water temp 52-54, ever so slightly stained and the start of a long weekend of well deserved at times ribbing. 4 PB and Js pack of smokes 4 cokes 3 red bull, a can of skoal and lots of KVD quotes from my boy Nick. Day 2 Met the guys at the Guest House around 7:30 and found them sun burned, pumped up and already refining their tackle for the day to come. On the water by 8 we made a short run to a spot that usually holds big fish but it didn't happen today so we drifted down to a bluff and put over 70 fish in the boat by 10 am. At the end of the bluff we drifted onto a flat with 2 foot of water on it and pulled at least another 30 fish off that one spot. We fished some more areas and continued to catch fish in just about every hole and then took a run up river. We got into some better quality fish there and brought our total up to around 109 or so and Nick proceeded to ask me what the record amount of fish was, I said around 115 I think and he was on a mission. It didn't take long to beat it and I decided to make a run to a hole where I new we could shatter it so we took off. About 30 seconds after getting on plane, my brand new Evinrude blew up, thats right blew up [smilie=blowup.gif] After quite a few expletives we started floating back down river, since that was the only option. After getting over my disbelief I picked up my rod and said , well we might as well fish. About a 2 hr float turned out to be just the ticket for completely putting a new record in the never to be beaten category. 202 fish for the day!! Water temp 54.5, clear, sunny all day, no wind. 6 PB and J's, 4 cokes, 4 red bulls 2 packs of smokes and another after the motor incident, can of skoal, 2 butterscotch snack packs, a couple of granola bars and a power aid. I have to say even with the catastrophic motor loss I had a frigging blast. Ryan and Nick put a hurting on the Susky this weekend and I really enjoyed the banter.... Good times, here's some fish and fun...... And for the best 2 fish of the day, another of many doubles and triples.............. Oh and by the way, my team player, unbelievable wife left a 4pm today for Missouri so the dealer can put a brand spankin new white 225 E-TEC on the boat... I'll have her back by Wednesday, PROBLEM SOLVED!!!! I'll be fishing tomorrow out of my cousins 16 foot sea nymph, life moves on.

I always love the father/son trips. This was a the first real fishing trip for my new little friend and he hung in like a champ. A little sun in the morning, but then cold, rainy produced not a whimper from this young pro. We caught the fish on the jig, water temp still 44 and high, kinda muddy but clearing quickly.We caught some nice ones on the river but an unexpected swim cut the day short. After a potty break on the shore the boy decided to ski his way down the muddy bank right into the water up to his knee's. After choking back some laughter and giving high praise for his form his father and I decided that a pair of my sons shoes, socks and pants were in order so we headed to the house to dry off and finish the day on the lake. All in all a nice outing here's the highlights.....

No his name was Sgt. Garon Shaver

To tell you the truth, we were fishing whatever slow water we could find. Even though the river was falling it was still high and fast which limits productive areas. What happens in this situation is when you have rising water it pushes the fish to the bank and in turn makes them easier to catch, but when it starts to fall the bite falls off, and this particular day it was falling very fast which in turn kills the bite as fast as it was falling. Add to this the mud and cold front and your success rate will drop that much more. If you're asking me where to fish this time of year you should be fishing low current areas, the fishes metabolism is low so they don't need or want to work so hard to feed. Hope this helps.

I took out some of our hard working military boys yesterday. Three helicopter technicians from the Army National Guard out of Missouri. They will be deployed to Irac sometime next month so keep them in your prayers. We started close to the ramp as it was 17 degrees, third cast by Sgt Shaver produced a nice 19" cold but feisty chunk which was a great way to start the day. 4 more, all over 17 , lots of hot coffee and some pb&js were on the agenda before making the ice run I had planned . We arrived at our final destination and preceded to boat another 23 solid Susquehanna Bronzebacks none under 15" and 3 Wally's one pushing 21" by working a Mike's 3/8oz shakey head B n R rigged with a 2.5" beaver also B n R. These guys picked up the technique quickly and by the end of the day had it down which was good because it was a tough conditions kind of day. Water 44, Air 32- 40 Muddy, Falling water (a foot while we were out there), slow presentation, and not allot of fishable water didn't deter these fine young men at all, and if you ask me they kicked the rivers ***!! 6 Turkey sandwiches, 3 Cokes, 4 Red bulls, 6 beers, pack of smokes, and at least 3 tins of Copenhagen long cut were consumed on this cold yet fun day. Give it up for our boys in green!!

Well I finally sold my Bullet after being on e bay 3 times. I just got back from Missouri where I met the buyer and picked up this Bad ***, Ultra Roomy, Susquehanna River Fishing, Cadillac of minivans....... It's a 18' 2006 Weldcraft Legend SS. this boat actually has more room than my 22 ' Bullet had. If your fishing with me this year we will be doing it in style. To many features to list but it's built like a tank and light as a feather and is equipt with everything you could ask for in a bass boat that will run in 3" of water at 45mph!! Best part, it's paid for. Can't stop smiling!!!! The chunks of ice on the river have cleared enough to navigate so I decided to take the new boat out for a test drive. She runs like a champ, gets on plane in a boat and a half and cruises at 38. handles real good and slides nicely thru the shallows (I only had the balls to go in 8" maybe next time I'll try the 4" she's supposed to handle). The boat fishes great too, stable and easy to control with the TM and has plenty of room. All in all I'm pretty happy with the upgrade. Since I was already on the river I had to do a little fishing and break in the new boat, Air temp 45, water temp 35 and stained. Caught all my fish on my new Flat Tail minnow color Emerald Craw rigged on a Mike's 3/8oz shakey head in about 8'. Here's some pics.

Went looking for big fish yesterday and I think I'm on them. It's going to be hard to top this....... but you know I'll try, 1 hour, 10 fish over 18" 2 at 19" All fish caught on a 1/2oz Mike's Jig / color(Fresh cut grass) You got to love it when the plan comes together.

I went fishing with a couple from California Wednesday. They had never fished for Smallmouth before but did very well. They kept score all day and were tied at 22 when we had to call it a day for a long run back to the ramp. We made good time and had a little light left so I stopped to give them 3 casts each, she got hung up on her last cast so he helped her free it up, when he got it free he handed her the rod back, and before he could turn around she set the hook on the winning fish! I didn't count mine but would say we caught 60+ fish with 1 rock bass. All fish came on the jig.

It's not a bad office, lots of views and wildlife make for a relaxing work day Go Phillies ;D

Well this has been a busy month for me and I have neglected to post any reports so here go's. The river level is still really low -.2 to be exact, making most of my fall water unaccessible. Refusing to give in I have spent a couple days in the river pushing the boat through the riffles and have had to repair holes in the boat twice in one week.( Quick fix for a fast leak (5" senko/ bleeding shad, shove in hole, re-assure client, keep fishing, catch 18+ smallie) The warm front that came through a week and a half ago really screwed up the fish, not to mention a wall of mud from upstate that only lasted a day. They have stayed shallow, 2-4 and are keeping me on my toe's when it comes to bait selection, feels more like early spring than a fall feast. Jigs, jerks, cranks and ,my new chatter baits have been on the menu lately with an occasional all day spinner bait bite for dessert. Even with all the hurdles, we are still putting the footballs in the boat with numbers between 25 and 50 a day depending on the sun. We finally got some water yesterday( 8 hrs in a down pour) resulting in a 1.5 foot predicted level by Monday. I'm looking forward to new areas opening up not to mention the fish moving to deep water, COME ON HEAVY JIG BITE!! There's still plenty of fishing left, for anyone wanting to extend their season and help fight off the cold winter blues, I'm game if you are!! Here's some pics to wet your appetite, Go Phillies!!!

I haven't made a report for awhile so I'll bunch them up. The river is still kind of low but it has really cleared up except for Thursday when a bunch of mud came through from up north. I ended up rescheduling my charter for that day as we only had 7 fish by 10am and one of them literally jumped in the boat, never had that happen before, I must have spooked him with the trolling motor. Other than the day of mud, the fishing has been phenomenal. We are averaging 80-100 fish with the quality fish becoming increasingly more frequent. Say goodbye to the summer shorty's and hello to the fall chunks. Still catching them with x raps and cranks and jigs are working too. The water is cooling quickly which makes the big ones pull hard and put on one hell of an acrobatic show. This is a great time of year to be on the river, if you can get through the cool mornings you are rewarded with perfect day, great views, fantastic fishing, and a sore arm and back. Here are some pics Can you say pig...... These guys are a Russian diplomat and his father, showed up in a red hummer with diplomatic plates dressed in camo and ready to fish, never fished for smallies but with a little coaching we got the job done!!! I still have a few openings for some great fall fishing if you want to come up and catch some footballs, there's plenty left!!

Way to go

I had a couple of guys from Virginia come up to fish and stay at the guest house yesterday. They got here late Thursday so they didn't get a shot at the Largemouth in the lake, maybe next time. We had a great day on the river though. It was cold in the morning with lots of fog that hung around till 9:30. Navigation is getting tricky as the water is at and all time low this year so we hung around in the first pool till the fog got thinner, I probably should have waited a little longer before going down river cause I scuffed a rock going through the first riffle and gave my bilge pump something to do all day, time to see the welder. It ended up being a really nice day, sun with a cool breeze, water temp 65, and the water is clearing up in places. We ended up with 100+ smallies lots of nice ones with 6 over 18" of which 3 made it to the boat, (Brent's dad had a little trouble getting the bruisers to stay down), 1 walleye, and 3 suckers. X raps did the trick nicely and I sent them packing with sore arms and big smiles. I can't wait till the fall bite really kicks in to high gear, its going to be a good one!!!

Went fishing for three hours tonight after a long day of splitting wood, I deserved it!! My brother and I slaughtered them on x raps. We had well over 60 smallies and I had a huge muskie on for about a minute, just about pulled the rod out of my hand and with one big swirl, plink broke me off, man those x raps are pricey:(. I love this time of year!!!! I only got 1 pic, battery died.

It's official, Dominic my 6 year old is a natural. Once again he decided to do a little fishing by himself after his first day in kindergarten, and showed up at my office door with this baby. 4th time this year he has caught a 3+ by himself. If he keeps this up I'm going to have to step up my game.

I can tell you that it is almost impossible to get back into the bass boat, especially when you have your clothes and shoes heavy with water. Please believe me, I know. If you find yourself in the water with no way to get back in your bass boat, try moving to the engine, put your foot on or straddle the cavitation plate and push the trim switch on the motor, it will lift you right out. trust me I know from experience as well :-[

Sure did, it's always great to fish with a father and son who still get together to fish. It's a tradition that more people should get involved in. Lost mine when I was young but at least I can share it with others and make sure I do it with my boys which I do weekly, my 6 year old is a natural and will be a life long fishing partner for sure

Nice Job