I have been reading some of Dave’s reports for this week and thought I would share with you some of what I am hearing. The Susquehanna River started a major rise this week due mostly to snow melt up north. We had some area rain, but that really wasn’t the reason. The week started off with river levels around 6′ at Harrisburg and at the moment the levels are in the 10′ range, so that was quite a jump. In any case you need to pick your areas carefully and only the most experienced boaters should even mess with levels that high unless you are down in the pools where the current is much easier to manage.
Dave Shindler from Jst Fishin’ Guide Service reports that he was having success with small jigs rigged with a 3″ grub or the Power Team Craw D’oeuvre. Power Team by the way is an upcoming premier lure company and if you haven’t seen any of their baits yet you owe it to yourself to check them out. They are high quality, highly scented baits with some unique characteristics which set them apart from others, plus they work!
As always, Dave finds the jerkbait to be a very effective lure in the Spring. He found a great bite on the Lucky Craft Pointers, Rapala X-Rap and Spro McSticks. As always experiment with your pause. Sometimes in the colder water you’ll have to let it sit for 10 to 15 seconds and then they will hit it on the pause. Dave reports that swimbaits rigged on a 1/4 oz ball head were able to get some bites as well when they were slowly crawled along the river bottom.
The Western side has typically been better with the majority of the fish staged on that side due to slightly warmer water temperatures. The key with the high strong current is to find slower moving pockets of water that have some depth and are close to faster moving water. Dave tells us that as the water continues to warm you will want to start your fishing with more aggressive baits and slow down from there until you find the presentation that is going to excel that particular day.
Whether you are fishing for smallmouth bass, walleye, musky, flathead catfish or panfish you will find Dave to be a wealth of knowledge and able to give you a great day on the water. trips can be booked at Jst Fishin guide Service