Water temperatures were higher than normal in late April, but did eventually come back down mid-May. There was a ton of menhaden out there and sometimes it was just a matter of waiting out the fish. Even still, during the height of the May worm hatch we could mark fish, watch the jig go right in front of them on the fish finder , feel them bump the jig, and still not catch them.
Smaller fish have dominated the catches though, and the fish are in great shape for the most part. They are all fat from the May worms and very feisty, with fish in the mid-20's getting on the fly reel and some pushing 30" even getting into the backing. There is still plenty of bait out there as the bay anchovies, or rain bait, have shown up in mass alongside the menhaden. As we transition to summer look for the resident fish to begin blitzing the anchovies as the water warms. Good luck and hope to see you out there later in the summer!
Susquehanna Flats 2010
- The Susquehanna Flats season was much improved over the past few
years, but the Flats was still the Flats and it was a somewhat
inconsistent bite. The weather mostly cooperated as there were not any
large storms that caused the Conowingo Dam to open multiple spill gates
and muddy up the Flats. The wind was generally reasonable
also and most days were fishable, while water temperatures were
generally in the upper 50’s and lower 60’s.
We
mostly had pretty good days with smaller males showing up again in
abundance, had some great days that you only dream about with fish on
top for hours, and had a couple downright slow days. That's why they
call it fishing and not catching. But as inconsistent as the Flats can
be, there is always a chance of catching a 20 pound plus fish on fly or
light tackle in less than 5 feet of water, and that chance alone is
worth the trip to most serious anglers.
We had tons of blowups on Stillwater Smack-it poppers this year, but more often than not the fish missed the lure entirely. Even still, really big fish missing a popper is still a sight too see, and the ones that did come tight were well worth it. One
thing to remember is that in skinny water large striped bass will dive
into the mud repeatedly once hooked to try and dislodge the hook, much
like a bonefish in the Caribbean or Florida Keys. Remember to keep as much pressure on the fish as possible once hooked, and try to keep its head up. It
doesn’t hurt to have 20 or 30 pound test braid with a 20 pound test
monofilament or fluorocarbon leader, just be careful not to put too
much pressure on the rod with this set up. Here's one that we got to the boat, it was his first striped bass of any size:
Fly
fishing was generally good, and we had plenty of fish most days.
Remember that covering water is extremely important at the Susquehanna
Flats, and that you need to be able to cast a fly around 50 feet
minimum to be successful most days.
We
also had a lot of large fish follow the fly or lure right to the boat
and then veer off at the last second as the boat and/or the angler came
into view. The last day up there on one of the last casts
we had a fish that was 25 pounds if it was an ounce, follow a yellow
half and half right to the boat, then turn and splash myself and the
angler as it turned off. That’s the kind of fish you dream about, and the reason to keep fishing the Flats every year.