Went fishing today.

[Kirtley Howe]

The Susquehanna River near Owego, NY finally dropped enough to make fishing a reasonable possibility, and since today was my birthday, I decided that it was "necessary" for me to go fishing.  I was fishing from shore only, as my boat won't be water ready for another month or two. 

The weather was perfect. MIx of sun and clouds. Temperature was between 62-73 degrees while I was out. LIght (4-7mph) variable winds. Water temp. was 54-58 degrees. First spot I tried was a shallow flat adjacent to deep (8-15 feet) water. Started with a jig with a crawfish trailer. No love for that. Switched to a Berkley Choppo that is about 5 inches long, and muted baitfish color. Fished that for about 15 min with no luck, then something (Bass? Pike?) blew it 2 feet out of the water. Never got a hook in the fish, and didn't see it, so I am not sure of size or breed, but it sure got my adrenalin going. Kept at it for another 20 mins or so, but couldn't convince the fish to come back. Switched to a weightless fluke, and caught a 12" Smallmouth. Stayed with that for a while, but no more takers. Tossed a bunch of other stuff with no success. Moved to a different area. This area is a deep, narrow channel between the shore and a rock strewn flat. Pretty heavy current. Cast several squarbills in various sizes and colors, but no takers on those. Tried drifting a weighted worm with the current, and caught 3 10-12" smallmouth, and a bonus 14" Walleye. Switched to a tube jig, but only caught bottom. After breaking off 3 tube jigs with no fish, I gave up on them. Then tossed a 1/2 oz rattling rapala in red/orange crawfish color. Caught a 2 lb largemouth. Then the action died out. Threw a bunch of other stuff, but no more luck. Moved to another area. This area is a rock strewn flat with backwaters and eddies. Tried the choppo again, but no luck. Tried several other top water baits (original floating rapala, jitterbug, crazy crawler) but top water just was not working. Tried the tube jig again (coffee tube) and got lots of hits, but only caught 3 short smallmouth. Threw a rattle trap (1/2 oz in sexy shad) and bagged a 1 1/2 pounder. Short, but really fat. Definitely a pre-spawn female. After that no more bites on the rattle trap. Threw a couple of different spinnerbaits, but no love there. Tried the squarebill again, and caught two more smallies, about 10" in length.  Had to call it a day at that point. So, no big ones, but all in all a very successful day.

[TnRiver46]

Nice day, I got tired just thinking about trying all those different lures 

[Swamp Girl]

Thanks for the trip report!

[Will Ketchum]

Your story demonstrates that you don't need bragging photos of the big ones to have a good day on the water. Most of my trips are that way.

[Kirtley Howe]

On 5/12/2023 at 9:43 AM, TnRiver46 said:

Nice day, I got tired just thinking about trying all those different lures 

This time of year in the Susquehanna River it is often necessary to try a bunch of different things. The fishes mood seem to change every few minutes, and it seems to be almost impossible to stick with one lure and/or technique and have consistent results. Plus, I like to try different stuff.