Morning or afternoon?

[zelmo]

LUCK is the word.
After over 50 years of fishing (mostly on the Susquehanna)...at this period of time in the life of the watershed...I believe the immortal words of Forrest Gump ring true...
"SH** HAPPENS"...if you are LUCKY enough to be there at the right time and find the smallmouth that are left in this fishery...then "FISH HAPPENS."

Bill

It would make me feel better if I chalked this up to luck, but unfortunately I think it comes down to lack of knowing where the fish are that is my problem.  I never do well in cold water.  Every now and then I will catch a few in shore eddies or behind rocks but I just don't know where they winter in the sections of the river that I fish. 

I need to go out and spend more time searching holes and ledges with the electronics than fishing to see if I can find where they are.

[DRY]

I travel south on Routes 11 and 15 to Harrisburg quite a bit, especially on weekends.

I have noticed a significant reductions in trailers sitting at the Montgomery and Clemson Island boat ramps particularly. Areas that have been packed in years past.

The so-called smallmouth wintering area below the Statue of Liberty has also been like a desert for boats. I have been told that this area has now been taken over by flatheads.

Sure there are some boats at each ramp but in years past they were packed this time of year. Don't get me wrong...there are still smallmouth...but when you've feasted on steak all your life...who wants ground beef?

The last few years that I boated in the fall there were far fewer smallmouth below the Hummels Wharf power plant dam and the Fabridam.

It's like putting a few granules of sugar in a cup of lemonade instead of a tablespoon...you have a hard time finding the sweetness.

There is only one good explanation.

Bill

[zelmo]

The so-called smallmouth wintering area below the Statue of Liberty has also been like a desert for boats. I have been told that this area has now been taken over by flatheads.

On Sunday there were trailers parked on both sides of Front Street for a half mile north and south of the Fort Hunter ramp.  You could almost walk across the boats in that community pool.  The fishing was on fire.

I can't go there with my fiberglass boat with a prop, but I would not have been anxious to fight the crowd.

[Phil Sweeney]

next time - move up by the 849 bridge. There are some slack water areas there.

looking on the map is that the bridge in Newport?