Smallmouth and Channel Cats

[FlyRichardFly]

Another wonderful day with my flyrod.
I waded the Susquehanna with my 6wt. I caught a couple smallmouth and a half dozen channel cats.
One cat must have been over 5 lbs!! It took me over 10 mins to bring him in!!
I don't know why, but when summer comes I always downsize to a 6wt or a 4wt with tiny size 10 flies. I catch some tiny fish with tiny flies.
Today I used size 4 or 2 and my fishing improved big time!
I just tied some leadhead buggers and tomorrow I'll take my 8wt.
I was just going too small and all I was catching was 4" rockbass or tiny 8" channel cats.
Comfy weather now. The Susquehanna is still shallow, but the water is starting to get a little cooler.
The fall bite is about to start.
Another day in Nirvana.

 

[sandfly]

What section of the susky were you on?? I fish the upper stretch along ny and pa..:icon_bigg

 

[FlyRichardFly]

Sandfly,

The water up in your area is a lot better than the dead zone down here!! I caught those fish near Columbia..... way downstream from Harrisburg although I usually fish just above Harrisburg.

Another fly shop owner, Bob Clouser, fishes the same water I do and he is very upset with the Susquehanna conditions in the south central stretch.

I used to catch hundreds of smallmouth, but now I'm lucky if I can manage one!!

I try not to let this get me down. I still love to flyfish so I go for what is available.

All the feeder streams have some chubs and rockbass. And they stock channel cats in the river every so often.

Channel cats like a woolybugger better than a hunk of liver or a live minnow!! I'm living proof of that!!

 

[rausch51]

great pics!