The month of July has been very productive. I am not a huge fan of 90F days and choose to fish the last 4 hours of the day. My two angler outings have resulted in as few as 27 bass to as many as 67 bass per trip. Finding active bass was never an issue in July, even in this low clear water.  It is summer time and to be 100% honest,  the vast majority of the bass are "Fun Sized". What is Fun Sized? You know, those 10-12 inch feisty bass that will keep anglers busy. Yes we are catching larger bass, but unfortunately they account for only 3-6 bass daily that cross the 15" mark.

I am averaging about 3 days a week on the Delaware, Lehigh and Susquehanna North Branch combined. Due to the mid day heat, majority of my trips have been mornings to noon and 4PM to dusk.  The bass have been actively feeding afternoons and that is where I target the majority of my outings. 

We had several bass in the 15 - 18" range including a 32" pike. Bass are chasing minnows and fishing, I mean catching bass is made easy with the use of minnow baits such as CASE Salty Shad and Salty Minnow and some custom hand poured Swim baits I am making on my own.

NORTH BRANCH Pictures



DELAWARE RIVER Pictures





LEHIGH RIVER Pictures





Summer Bass'n means making the most of the warm water conditions and patterns.  With longer days, we can target bass in the late afternoon and evenings when bass are more active. 

Tight lines my friends - Chris

On a recent trip to Western PA, my partner and I were confronted with an sudden rise in water. The rise was not high enough to push the fish into bank eddies, but high enough to move them out of summer current. One thing in our favor was that the stain offered a little visibility. Being late June, the grass beds were in full maturity and if I were on my home rivers, grass beds would be a main focus area. As it turned out, this is exactly the area that consistently produced bass.  Most of the grass beds were flooded over, but were easily identified as the grass just under the waterline tickled the surface.  Pockets behind them and soft current along the sides were there, but not as prevalent. It was spinner bait time.

Armed with a number of lures, my go-to bait in this situation is a small framed profile spinner bait. Since the water had a little stain, adding a  3" chartreuse grub to the while skirt seemed to draw more attention. As I landed my third bass it hit me. The spinner bait is more versatile than most think.  I've benefitted from fishing with many excellent anglers. I've always been a fan cast spinner bait angler hitting every ambush point and slow rolling them so the blades make contacts to wood, rock and vegetation. A friend Greg, likes to fish spinner baits just subsurface enough to wake the blades. It's not burning the bait, it's just fast enough to get the bait high enough in the water and man does it work in the spring and summer. My friend Mike likes big thumping blades. He tosses them out, and lets the spinner bait fall off sharp rocky banks or stops the bait and lets it fall along logs or ledges. Others never fish them without a twin or single tail trailer.

I find Blade Patterns, shapes and sizes are more of a personal thing. I always have white and white & chartreuse skirts on hand and prefer a gold front blade, but confidence is honestly the key. Speed, blade cadence and location is far more critical than color in most cases. That said, I throw mostly two colors and I've seen days when skirt color does matter.

When the bass are short striking, hitting the blades or chasing and pulling back, one of the tricks I like use is a stinger hook. It doesn’t need to be an extra long hook, just long enough to sit beyond the skirt ends. Vinyl tubing from a home supply or aquarium stores works great. Cut and slipped over the flat eye of the stinger hook, the tubing will hold the hook straight and inline with the main hook at all times.  The Video link below shows how to add a stinger hook and how it works.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mj7ldUkRou4&feplayer_embedded

For more fishing tips, be sure to visit  Backwoods Angler TV site. Our 1 Minute Fishing tips are updated weekly.

http://www.backwoodsanglertv.com/Blaine's_1min_Tips.htm

When it comes to fishing for smallmouth and largemouth bass in lakes and rivers; A ”must have" bait in your soft plastic arsenal are soft jerk baits. It is perhaps one of the most versatile baits out there and can be presented in a host of different situations.

SJB’s  (Soft Jerk Bait’s) can be fished in shallow or deep water, over or through grass, in current or slack water and can be presented on the surface bait, sub surface and off the bottom. It can be fished dead stick, twitched like a dying minnow or even with a walk the dog motion on the top water. They can even be skipped under docks with relative ease. The main difference is how it is rigged and what action to use.

I keep these style baits rigged and on hand from May through November and I often cash in on bass when many other anglers are struggling to find active fish. Lures are often defined as search baits, cover baits, reaction baits and subtle baits. When it comes to soft jerks, this one lure can be all of the above.

Scenario #1: We have bass that are already feeding on minnows as apparent by jumping bait fish, large wakes or surface crashing as bass are actively feeding. In this instance, nose hooking is my favorite tactic. I prefer baits that have a decent sink rate on their own, and I prefer to hook them through there imaginary eyes (right to left). But it is also fine if anglers are more comfortable hooking the bait through the lips (bottom to top). Simply put, both work.  The location is often shorelines, shallow flats or at the smooth rise of push water before it goes into the rapids. Usually a cast to the “ring” area; let it sink 1-2 seconds and twitch the bait, let it sit a few seconds and twitch it again.

Scenario #2: We have shallow nervous current during summer months. This is where active fish should be feeding but there is no surface activity. With heavy current the approach will be to cast the SJB across the current and let it swing down river, twitching it every once and a while. Here options are wide open with nose hook rig, offset rig or spring/coil keeper rig all work well. The SJB is now a search bait and you are swing casting and covering lots of water.

Scenario #3: It is late morning or early afternoon and the fish have shut down. The sun is high and the aggressive bite has all but vanished Bass are suspended or perhaps on the bottom seeking cover. Here a worm hook, Texas Rigged (round bend, wide gap or coil/spring bait keeper)  will allow the SJB to fall straight down. The body and tail shimmer and wobble slightly causing a reaction strike.  Often the bait should be tossed on slack line, letting it fall or sit 10-12 seconds before twitching.

Scenario #4:  Spring and Fall micro eddy, where the bite is subtle or the bass are very pressured. Here stealth is critical. Wary bass are tucked in behind a rock ledge, grass bed or log with current or wind pushing water on either side. With the SJB rigged weightless, toss it tight against the top of the eddy. Before closing the bail, lift the rod tip to add extra slack to the line.  Watch for the line to move, reel up slack and set the hook. The SJB is in slack water, only a pick up will move the line. Often the lure will need to sit for 5,10 even 15 seconds before a wary bass will suck it in.

Scenario #5: Heavy weeds and pads are covering Largemouth territory. Work a floating style SJB that is Texas Rigged and has the hook point skinned into the soft plastic back of the lure.  It can be drug across the pads and passed in any openings.  If the weeds are sub surface, sinking style SJB’s can be twitched just above the weed tops and left to fall when they reach openings.  When they are paused, watch the line for any twitch or bump. The initial pick up is rarely felt.

SJB’s can be skipped under docks. Ripping it across the top of the water like skitter or walk the dog plugs. They can be worked quickly sub surface like a scurrying minnow or left at a slow fall to mimic dying or stunned minnows. Adding a belly weight or a weighed offset hook will allow the bait to fall quicker or be used like a swim bait when bass are deeper or tight to the bottom. They can be rigged on a ball head to dive head first or worked off a drop shot rig to hold several inches off the bottom or above grass lines.  I’ve even put a ring around the center of the SJB and used a ball head jig to enhance the vertical fall and wiggle in deep pools.

My go to soft jerks are not those you'll likely find in most tackle shops.  I prefer to use;

Case Plastics  who offer them is two sizes, the SSM in 3.75" and the SSS in 5". They also have several colors to chose from.

Winco's Custom Lures  that offers River Darters in the Jr 3.75 and Sr in 4.75".

Both of these custom shops pour salt enhanced SJB's that have excellent fall rates and sizes to dial in the the correct forage. Shubert's, YUM, Berkley and Zoom also offer a variety of soft jerk baits.

Simply put, I’ve had hundreds of bass the past several weeks on Soft Jerk Baits. They are my subtle go to soft plastic when the water warms and the bass seem to snub their nose. In low light conditions (early morning/late afternoon) when bass are in chase mode, I will tease them with a jerk – pause and when they are pressured I will dead stick them in deep water or directly behind structure. Do NOT miss out on this bite or be prepared to leave bass for the next angler!

Oneida Lake June 3,4 & 5

It always brings me great pleasure to show anglers something new and this past week I was able to do that in odd fashion. Thursday morning I introduced Blaine to  Tony Buffa a guide on Oneida Lake who I have fished with  for many years. Well, not just me, my father, brother, son, wife and several friends throughout the years.  I enjoy fishing and breaking down water with anglers, especially those that share a similar passion. Having  the opportunity to share Oneida Lake with Blaine for his first time was a true blast. Fishing the lake for 3 entire days, well that was just icing on the cake.

Thursday morning was one of those near perfect days for walleye. Overcast with just enough wind to move the boat across the mid lake humps. Then, just like it does on big lakes, the wind increased and turned the lake into severe chop. That's when Tony suggested we try some protected bays for bass.  Blaine and I brought out the CASE Sinkin Salty Shads and introduced Tony to a new bait that Largemouth and Smallmouth bass cannot resist.

The bay we were in was very weedy. Watching the Case SSS fall out of sight and then feeling the aggressive strike was exciting, but seeing Tony experience it for the first time was extra special. Likewise, watching Blaine set hooks into many bass with some of his favorite baits was also a thrill. Especially being his first visit to the lake.  Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed my catching too.  That's how it went for 3 days, lots of fishing with SSS and Tubes.



Case Salty Shad's and 3" Tubes from Wacky Worm took 90% of the bass during our trip. In three days ,we managed 13 Walleye,  about 125 bass with a 4-1 ratio of smallmouth tolargemouth. The size of the bass was good with only 6 bass under 2 lbs and many in the 3+ range. We also caught 20 very large pickerel and other junk fish. 

This past week was the first Spring week in 3 years that I didn't have a guide trip. Friday and Saturday's trips were scheduled, but canceled due to client family obligations, which always need to take precedence over fishing!  Prime time for big fish and a weather pattern perfect for fishing was just too good to pass up.

Weather was near perfect last week, at least from an anglers point of view. It's been a Big Bass season so far and I wanted to target some big fishing myself. I was not disappointed, we had SIZE and NUMBERS.

Friday night and Saturday I fished with Ken V.  Ken first went out with me for smallmouth late Summer of '08 and he's got the bug so bad he's already on his second jetboat. Friday evening we worked tubes early and found conditions were near perfect for Top Water and Flukes. However my flukes were in the truck. So Saturday,  that is what we threw.  Let me define perfect conditions for Top Water and Flukes.

1.  Clear falling water.
2.  Mostly cloudy skies.
3.  Some light rain showers.
4.  Water temps in the low to mid 60s with fresh grass beds

Morning: Ken has become an accomplished tube and spinner bait angler and has spent the last 7 weeks developing his jerk bait skills. Saturday was Fluke 101 and while he's fished them, this was a focused workshop (LOL). He often worked the flukes behind my top water plugs, grabbing the fish that swung and missed on my plug… that near dead soft fluke was crushed shortly after. Action was steady and we had some monsters, including a spawned out 19"  that crushed an XCalibur top water plug within the first 15 minutes of our morning.  By lunch time we had 29 bass and two walleye and were ready for some grilled burgers.



Evening: By 2PM we were fed, restocked with more flukes and ready for the second part of our day. Passing light showers allowed some sunshine to break through turning off our top water bite but allowing the fluke bit to continue. We had  several 17's and 18's on flukes in the afternoon. Smaller fish were found on hard jerk baits so we quickly abandoned them.  Ken landed a nice bass on a War Eagle spinner bait, but we couldn't get a consistent SB bite going. We worked a new Swim Bait (no details yet) and caught some real nice bass. By 4PM the top water bite was back on and I switched to a Heddon Spook . I was teasing up bass, many breaking water but missing the plug. Ken was throwing flukes behind these explosions and collecting the bass. One of those teased-up bass (lower left) spit up a partially digested duckling. That's a first for me with SMB, I've seen that with Large Mouth. Last bass of the day (lower right) was a bit of a surprise, not that a bass would strike, but one of this caliber and so close to areas most anglers (self included) never fish. It was the heaviest bass of the day.



Finished with 56 bass and 2 walleye, with quality size and numbers, it is the stuff that angler dreams are made of. Stay tuned to my blog, I plan to do a segment on fluke fishing detailing specifics on fishing Case , Winco and Zoom brand flukes. I guarantee there will be something for ALL bass anglers to gain from.

Like it or not, bass in lakes, rivers, streams and ponds cannot resist the subtle quiver of a 4.5 or 5" sinking worm. It is mid May and most of the bass are in a post spawn mode. With water clearing and warming into the 60's, bass are feeding but may require a less aggressive approach.

This time of year I always have a handful of YUM Dingers on hand for such a bite. With weeds still absent for the most part, a wacky rigged worm is simply deadly. The natural fall rate is just about one foot per second, it can reach bass no matter where they are in the water column. One of the first complaints on wacky rigging is how fragile these salt impregnated worms are once you run the hook through the middle of the body. Often one or two fish and the bait is destroyed. that can be an expensive day on the water.

One simple and inexpensive way to resolve this issue is as close as the nearest hardware store. This solution requires no special applicator to set the ring in place and the cost is minimal. It is also clear, flexible and invisible as compared to the black or colored rubber ring. It happens to also be much more durable too. Clear Vinyl PVC tubing with an inside diameter of 5/16 is the perfect size for stick worms . At approximately 20-25 cents per foot, 1/8" rings can be cut for about 2-3 cents each.


Fitted with  a #2 short shank octopus circle hook, or better yet, a #2 drop shot hook, it is a near perfect fit for maximizing the catch potential for each sinking worm and the circle hook helps to eliminate bass from swallowing the hook.  More often that not, a light sweeping motion sets the hook into the side of the mouth. Our  bass resource should be a top priority for any serious bass angler.



Check in next week for more fishing and soft plastic tips.

Tight Lines Everyone-  Chris G.

Bass on the Main Stem are still quite active. My daily totals for two anglers the last 4 trips have been 27, 28, 28 & 31 bass with walleye and other rough fish bringing the totals a bit higher. This past Friday was right in line with those totals. The bite has been consistent the last 4 trips, but there have been some down time middle of the day when the sun is highest in the sky. Bass on the Main Stem are wide and fat, there is no guessing the strikes when they come.

Kim and George found bass on Jerk Baits which are still taking many of our larger bass. The key is to find open flats that are 3.5 to 5' in depth and slowly work the area and let the fish locate the suspending baits. These bass have been our largest, usually post spawn females out cruising and feeding.

Some happy faces below.



Wacky Worm brand tubes have been steady and will continue to be a staple as crayfish are very active in the 57-62F water and are quite visible.  I am using "Goby Chartreuse" and "New Shell Craw" in water with good visibility and on the east side, the "Roadkill Purple" and "Green Pumpkin June bug" continue to dominate interest.

Recent rain fall should keep the bass firing on the Main Stem, it may create some of the best fishing in weeks. For more photo's of Friday's trip, please click on this Slide Show

North Branch Teaser:
I arrived at our seasonal site Friday evening to further ready camp for the long season ahead. I fished a few short 2-3 hour outings throughout the weekend. Bass were active with a catch rate of 5 bass per angler hour  + walleye and rough fish in each of these short outings. Of course, I selected prime times to get on the water. Once again, New Shell and Roadkill Purple tubes took good numbers of bass and I may soon need a trip to Wacky Worm to stock up.  Red and orange lipless cranks also took good numbers of bass.

Bass are engaging in the spawn, but the active feeding bass are on the current seams right where the soft water meets the swift. Significant rise of 5'  is expected through mid week. Could introduce some challenges Tuesday through Saturday, but this river usually fishes well under these conditions. If not, I have a few days to work on my new dock.

Friday, April 16th was a warm bright day with a bit more wind than I would have liked. Joining me was a seasoned angler and his neighbor who is just getting into bass fishing. Our bite was on Jerk Baits in deep open flats with current. Our back deck angler dropped 4 of his first 5 hook ups, but was getting a hang of it by the end of the day. Glenn and  Butch finished with 28 bass with only a few under 15". Two largest of the day were over 19" and one that weighed 5lbs 1oz. Nice fish Glenn.



Saturday, April 17th was cold and windy. The kind of day where it chilled you to the bone when that wind below. Bill and Don were troopers as the day time high of 47F, the T-Shirts of Friday were far from my mind. The bite remained on the Jerk Baits and size was once again very impressive with very few bass under 15". Once again, we landed two 19'sand a good number of 17 and 18" bass.  Total for the day was 31 bass with a few that jumped the lures just inches from the net. Should have finished in the mid to upper 30's.



Sunday's clients canceled due to the wind forecast of 15-25. So knowing Don and Bill (from Saturday) was staying over, I invited them you share 4 hours with me on Sunday morning. Heck, I was fishing anyway - why not enjoy the company! Day started out at 30F with light welcome winds at 5mph. We combined we had 22 bass in 4+ hours, winds came around noon and we collected our gear and were off the water. Would have been a 40+ fish day, once again all very nice bass.

Bass on the Main Stem of the Susquehanna are spawning. It is 1-2 weeks earlier than last year and likely due to the unseasonably warm weather weeks ago. Higher numbers of smaller fish are likely possible, but one risks fishing spawning grounds where males will be protecting eggs and fry  the next few weeks. As much as I want to put clients on fish, that is a slippery road. My last trip on the Main Stem until June will be this Friday.

Tight Lines All  -Chris

The early heat wave, while welcome to some was not what I wanted to see. Shedding the coveralls was nice, but the cost was far more than a little comfort. Water on the Susquehanna Main Stem hit the 60 degree mark two weeks ago and while the temps have normalized, the bass jumped on the spawn and anglers are working harder for every bite. We went from averaging 50+ bass a day, to 30 bass a day a week later to feeling good when you manage 20 bass. The“only” benefit is that the vast majority of the limited bass caught are simply HUGE. I’ve talked with guides from three other outfitters and the catch rates and experience is identical. Big fish, but you have to work for every bite you get.

 

Saturday April 10 was spent preparing the camper for the haul up to our permanent site on the North Branch of the Susquehanna, an area we guide from throughout the spring, summer and fall. While I was there, I couldn’t resist the opportunity to spend a few hours on the river to see what is happening 100+ miles above the Main Stem. Water was 5 degrees cooler,stained and it was clearly “pre-spawn” conditions. We landed 30+ smallies in less than 4 hours Saturday evening.

 

For my guide trip Monday, I placed a courtesy call to Bruce and Carl to give them the option to head North instead of heading West as originally planned. That’s an option with the Backwoods Angler Guide Service;we will fish wherever the bass are biting at a moments notice - Susquehanna Main Stem, North Branch, Delaware, Juniata and Schuylkill Rivers. Providing our clients with the best angling options possible. Monday Carl and Bruce put 59 bass in the boat and two rough fish. Size ranged from 12” to a 19.5” which was Carl’s best smallmouth bass ever. Bass came on Wacky Worm tubes and  Short Arm spinner baits.

We have option to fish where conditions are best and the bass are most active.

The word of the week is WIND. Mom always warned me about the impact of those bad 4-letter words and WIND is definitely one of them. I was only able to get 2 of my 4 trips in this week due to the wind. Granted, we could have fished 4-5 hours wind free and dealt with the afternoon wind, but it's not enjoyable for "most" normal folks.

Wednesday I met Chris and Rick early morning and we hit the river just before the sun rose. On his second cast,  Rick pulled his 3" Blue Killer Wacky Worm tube off snag let it rest as second and "bang" Fish- On. The first fish of the day was a fat toad of a smallmouth that just scratched the 18 inch mark. The bite would turn on and off throughout the day but one thing remained consistent, the fish were all nice size.

Tubes provided the early bait followed by Jerk Baits that stole the show. We would have a few more on tubes, one on a spinner bait and another on trap, but everything else after early morning was caught on a Jerk Bait.  The guys worked hard for me and put 21 bass and 4 rough fish in the boat together. While they dropped 6 or 7 (two on that silly trap) , the size of their bass was impressive. Nothing under 15" and 5 over 18".  I did add 5 bass trying lures each time the bite slowed.



To view more pictures, check out the slide show by clicking here;  April 7 Shots

In the afternoon, just like it has all week, the 10mph winds turned into 20, 25 and even 30mph at times making lure control near impossible. Today and Saturday the forecast is calling for wind in the upper 30's. Water temp ranges from the high 50's to the low 60's. The west side is clearing and gains more stain the further east you go. Mud-line is about mid river.

I am back on the water Monday, April 12. Until then, tight lines - Chris