ElonDO-fishing
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Safe wading for River Smallies???
I've heard nothing but great things about the Susquehanna River Smallie fishing. Unfortunately I'm not sure exactly where I can safely approach wade fishing for them. I've gotten some overall recommendations of locations, but no one has been able to really explain how to get there. I'm currently living in Harrisburg off of Union Deposit Road. Any information or suggestions on how & where I might be able to safely wade would be greatly appreciated. I want to try to take advantage of this great fishery if possible. Thanks for the help in advance!
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sudsy1000
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RE: Safe wading for River Smallies???
2007/06/25 00:49:11
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Well your about three years too late for the "great" fishing but the smallies fishing is still pretty good. The river has not had very good spawns over the past 6 years or so and the smallie population is way down. In the mid to late 90's 100 fish days were the norm. Now a great day is 20 fish. The good side of things is that the lack of competition is allowing the fish to eat as much as they want and they are growing very big. If your looking for a trophy this is the place. Find the Ft. Hunter ramp along north front street in harrisburg and start wading. The river is so low right now you can pretty much cross it if you wish.
Good luck, no live bait and please practice catch and release.
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ElonDO-fishing
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RE: Safe wading for River Smallies???
2007/06/25 16:57:08
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sudsy1000-
Thanks for the info, I really appreciate it. Maybe my expectations are low, but overall I consider a 5-6 fish day fantastic. So if there's the potential of a 20 fish day that'd be awesome. I think I know about where Ft. Hunter is, so I think I'm going to check it out. I may even hit the water tonight if I get a chance, I'll have to wait & see. Thanks again & no worries, only flies and always catch & release with the occasional photo opportunity.
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boatnik13
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RE: Safe wading for River Smallies???
2007/06/25 20:15:18
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sudsy1000 what do you mean "no live bait" ?
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ElonDO-fishing
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RE: Safe wading for River Smallies???
2007/06/25 21:48:51
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sudsy1000- Thanks for the advice. I was able to make it out tonight & it was a beautiful night. I checked out Ft. Hunter ramp like you said, but wasn't sure exactly which way to go. I ended up hopping back on 322 & heading up to the Stoney Creek/Dauphin Narrows exit. I ended up fishing the rocks in the middle of the river just up from the Liberty Statue. Unfortunately no takers this evening, but it was nice to get out & experience some new waters. Although, next time I head out I think I will leave the waders at home & wet wade to avoid the possibility of going for an unpleasant swim. Thanks again!
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boatnik13
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RE: Safe wading for River Smallies???
2007/06/25 22:27:23
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ElonDO-fishing ! I sent you e-mail
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ElonDO-fishing
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RE: Safe wading for River Smallies???
2007/06/25 23:01:57
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boatnik13- I just checked my email & didn't see anything there from you. Feel free to try again, my email is keeperstud@aol.com. I'll keep an eye out for it. Of course, maybe my email is just being slow tonight.
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Porktown
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RE: Safe wading for River Smallies???
2007/06/26 09:59:11
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If you fly fish, try checking out Clouser's Fly Shop in Middletown. The guy is truely a living legend. He'll point you in the right direction of where to go and what to fish with. His crayfish patterns, are like smallmouth candy on the Susq. at least back in the late 90s... Not sure if you guys get the white fly hatches anymore too. A good friend is from the area, and used to destroy fish on that river. If you don't fly fish, try tossing around some rebel crayfish or other crayfish lures. I really don't know the place that we accessed, but it was close to some smaller town's fire house, and we had to walk the train tracks for a while, then down a steep hill that was mostly overgrown. I tried fishing there on my own one time, and left after dark. It took me about an hour to find the path and get back to my car. Make sure you note where you are, and take a light if you are fishing late. That river is so nice to wade, it is easy to end up a good bit off of where you started from. Great fishery there. Would love to kayak fish the area some time. http://www.clouserflyfishing.com/
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boatnik13
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RE: Safe wading for River Smallies???
2007/06/26 20:19:10
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ElonDO-fishing Took your mail address by whatever you have on your profile. I'll try again now (8:17pm)
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ElonDO-fishing
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RE: Safe wading for River Smallies???
2007/06/26 20:36:40
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Email received, i'll have to check my profile to make sure I don't have any typos. Thanks for the info, I really appreciate it!
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sudsy1000
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RE: Safe wading for River Smallies???
2007/06/27 10:31:04
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ORIGINAL: boatnik13
sudsy1000 what do you mean "no live bait" ?
Well, let me rephrase that, if your going to use live bait make sure your using circle hooks. Smallmouth are so aggresive that they really suffer from hook mortality. They will completely inhale minnows, madtoms, helgies ect.. and that small size 6 hook your using goes down with it. I personally think live bait is for the lazy but I understand that it's big kicks for some. Elon, go up from the ft hunter ramp.
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