Great Weekend on the Juniata!

[NateFollmer]

I had the opportunity to book a trip with a guide this weekend. What a way to spend my labor day weekend! I honestly thought I'd never need a guide for fishing (I was doing it more for the kayak instruction) but I was dead wrong. I learned a ton about fish behavior and reading the water. If you ever get the chance to use a guide, do it!

We started the day throwing 3" stick worms. We targeted an area that had some heavy current with a good amount of slack water running beside it. We would drop the stick worms into the seam and just let them ride in the seam. After about 20 minutes with no hits, we decided to throw some crankbaits. Our first fish came within a few casts on a Strike King Series 3 crank in sexy shad. The fish darted out from under a crack in the ledges below. The first piece of the puzzle was in place...

We then floated a few hundred yards and took a break for lunch. This break was what we needed! Not only did we get to change up baits, but we also gave the water a chance to warm up. This is all we needed to really get the action going.

We had many lures tied onto our rods, but the real winners for the day were the Winco's Custom Lures Creek Wacky Worm and their Predator Craw. Juan rigged his craw on one of Winco's custom jigs and I used a Strike King Bitzy Bug jig.

We floated through a few more holes without much success. Then Juan took me down to one of his best holes on this stretch of river. It wasn't long until we found some pigs (sorry for the watermarks on the pictures, Glenn cleared these for posting):

During our float into the next hole, we got another treat. 3 big muskies were laying in the current at the base of our next hole. Behind these muskies were what looked like hundreds of carp, behind the carp were a nice school of bass! Mixed in with these bass were some channel cats and even a few decently sized walleye. I have never seen so many different species together in one hole, nor have I ever saw so many fish in one area. We did manage to catch a few of those bass before we moved to the next hole:

Every deep hole after this one had the same schooling of fish, in what looked like the same order. Muskies first, then the carp, then the bass, cats and walleye. I really wanted to snag one of those muskie, but they knew I was there and they weren't biting. I even managed to tap one on the nose with a lure, but it didn't seem to care. I know where I'll be fishing this winter though...

The last hole we hit managed to give us a few more fish. I was really surprised at the quality of fish we pulled out that day. We only had 2 dinks out of the bunch. Here's one more fish photo for you:

I really needed this trip because the smallie bite has been horrible for me this season.

I have a tip for all you smallie angler's that also fish for largemouths. Yes, the largemouth tactics are going to work, but not always. I kept going back to my go to baits for largemouths (big jigs, big worms, big everything haha). If you're not getting hit on these, go small... VERY small. Those Wacky worms were WAY smaller than anything I would throw, but they worked. Don't be as closed minded as I was, try something different

[J Francho]

Looks like you went out with Juan.  Nice trip.

[NateFollmer]

Yeah, Juan's a super nice guy and he knows A LOT about smallmouth. It was kind of creepy, before we would float up to a spot, he'd be like "the fish will be here, doing this and when we get to them, they will do this..." sure enough, they would do it. It's like he scripted the whole day, but we weren't expecting to see the muskies I bet we saw 10 total, the kayaks didn't even phase them at all. Most were probably over 4 foot.

[SPEEDBEAD.]

Great, just what I need. A kayak.

Wife is gonna kill me...

[NateFollmer]

Speed, I'm going to go as far to say that I will never fish a river again without a kayak. You will never realize you much easier it makes life (even if your using a jonboat or something similar). I got that kayak in and out of places I never even would have looked at with a motor. You can't even compare it to wading, I'd love to know how many fish I've spooked over the years walking around.

The 'yaks I'm looking at are anywhere from $600 to $800 so it's not as bad as I thought it was going to be Check out Wilderness Systems Tarpon 120 (if your small you might be able to get away with the 100). I weight roughly 250, so I'm not going to get anything under 325 in weight cap.

[J Francho]

A Ride 135 would probably suit Speedbead.

[Uncle Leo]

I try to book a guide 1-2 times a year. I have been fishing 46 years of my 51 year existence and still find something to learn. Believe it or not I am sure a guide also learns from you. Looks like a great trip.

[roadwarrior]

WOW!

Great post and pics!

      

[NateFollmer]

Heck I thought the Ride series ones were way more expensive than the tarpon's but that 135 looks pretty darn good and it's priced nice also...

Listen to J, I've only been out once so I have no idea what I'm talking about ;D

edit: thanks to the two who posted before I finished this post

[J Francho]

Plus, big boys can stand in the Ride.  Can't do that in a Tarpon.

[NateFollmer]

Plus, big boys can stand in the Ride. Can't do that in a Tarpon.

You just changed my mind on models in 10 minutes... HA I have a feeling I'm going to do the same thing I did when I was buying my SLR... I'll be at the store for hours trying them out over and over again 

[SPEEDBEAD.]

As you'll see in a couple weeks, I am not what most would consider "petite."

6'1" and hovering around 285 at the moment, I need the big boy boat.

[oprcsr]

My kayak is a decent little one but I wish I had one of those Wilderness Systems ones.

[NateFollmer]

haha, I'm stuck at 250, but I swear I have 50 lbs. of lead in my tackle bag I'll let you know if I find any good deals in the area.

[oprcsr]

Keep an eye out for the Blue Mountain Outfitters on the Susky. They seem to be pretty solid and respected. I just got mine off of craigslist:)

[NateFollmer]

Keep an eye out for the Blue Mountain Outfitters on the Susky. They seem to be pretty solid and respected. I just got mine off of craigslist:)

I'm closer to Tussey Mountain Outfitters in Bellefonte, but I have been to Blue Mountain. They have a TON of kayaks in stock at Blue Mtn.

[J Francho]

As you'll see in a couple weeks, I am not what most would consider "petite."

6'1" and hovering around 285 at the moment, I need the big boy boat.

Looking not too good for the 25th trip for me.

As for other "big boy" boats to ccheck out...

Ocean Kayak Prowler Big Game (I have one)

Freedomhawk 14 (I have one)

Feel Free Moken 13 (not really a stander, but a GREAT fishing boat)

WS Commander 140 (haven't seen one in the flesh, but Jeff Suber posted pics of his big butt standing in one, LOL)

Malibu makes one that is 14 and easily standable

Hobie Pro Angler (that is if you still consider a 180 lb. vessel a "kayak")

[Big-O]

That's excellent Nate and terrific photos too...

Big O

www.ragetail.com

[Mrs. Matstone]

Congrats on the trip. Looks like you had a great time too. Guide trips are always worth it. In my experience they have always been great opportunity to learn new things. Glad you got to go. I have been wanting to try out a kayak for a while now maybe soon I will give it a shot.  ;D Great report and pics. Thanks for sharing.

[NateFollmer]

As you'll see in a couple weeks, I am not what most would consider "petite."

6'1" and hovering around 285 at the moment, I need the big boy boat.

Looking not too good for the 25th trip for me.

As for other "big boy" boats to ccheck out...

Ocean Kayak Prowler Big Game (I have one)

Freedomhawk 14 (I have one)

Feel Free Moken 13 (not really a stander, but a GREAT fishing boat)

WS Commander 140 (haven't seen one in the flesh, but Jeff Suber posted pics of his big butt standing in one, LOL)

Malibu makes one that is 14 and easily standable

Hobie Pro Angler (that is if you still consider a 180 lb. vessel a "kayak")

That sucks Oh well, maybe we will have one closer to NY next time (hit the upper east coast haha).

Anyway, I was looking at Ocean Kayaks also. I read somewhere that the WS kayaks hold up a little better than the OK (as far as river fishing, always hitting and dragging the bottom and such). Do you have any opinions on that statement? I really like the Trident 13's and they are again around the same price as the rest of the models I've been looking at.

Thanks Big-O and Mrs. Matstone. The fall bite is starting to emerge so hopefully I'll grab some bigger fish. Most of those pictured were only 16" (healthy 16's though). I'm calling a 20+ by the end of the season

Here's a few more pics I took whilst on the trip (click em and they'll grow ):

Here Juan was showing me how to keep your position in current by using the grass to hold you in place. Pretty neat concept and it works great (Especially because our river is FULL of this grass haha).

[J Francho]

I can't say whether one is better than the other, mine has suffered a bit of "oil canning," but its been dragged, dropped, thrown, kicked, and beaten up for three years and still floats.

Yeah, the 25th is the one year anniversary of my grandmother's passing, and my grandfather wants the family together to honor her. I can't really get out of that one....have to be there.

[SPEEDBEAD.]

Ok, ok.  I'll take back my "You suck" PM.   :-[

[J Francho]

Nah, you didn't know.  Really, I'd rather be fishing.  She'd want me fishing, too.

[NateFollmer]

It's ok.... We will manage without you Thanks for the info on the 'yak. Maybe we should do a get together on the Upper Susky closer to NY. We'll get ya to one though!