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Coming of autumn marks a time of transition

The Labor Day weekend traditionally marks the unofficial beginning of the fall season for many folks. Most kids returned to school last week, and the early hunting seasons for Canada geese and doves opened on Thursday. Fortunately, opening day wasn’t the scorcher that hunters encountered last year.

But the official arrival of fall is Sept. 22 this year, and the long-term weather forecasts I’ve seen, unreliable as they may be, are for continued hot weather and little or no rain for the next couple of weeks.

Whether you consider the next several weeks late summer or early fall, the transition between those two season is inevitable and will occur on nature’s timetable rather than some specific block on a calendar grid.

Looking over my notes from this time last year, I found it interesting how many days fishing was all but impossible because of some torrential rainstorms we experienced during late June and early July. Those downpours swelled most rivers and streams well past fishable during late June and most of July.

Once the rains subsided and the water returned to more normal summer conditions, however, fishing for both trout and river smallmouths was often quite good. This summer was just the opposite. What little rain we had this summer was infrequent and sparse, and most showers had negligible effect on the withering waterways in our area.

Trout fishing became largely an exercise in futility on many smaller streams by mid-July. The low flows and elevated water temperatures put added stress on the trout themselves, and put the fish in survival mode rather than anything resembling a feeding mood.

And that situation is not going to change until we get cooler weather and a significant rain event to swell the streams to more acceptable levels, so I’ll defer discussion on fall trout fishing until then.

In spite of the unrelenting hot weather all summer, fishing for smallmouths on the upper Juniata was generally worthwhile, with good numbers of smaller bass to provide steady action and the occasional bigger fish to keep things interesting.

Based on the current conditions on the river, the smallmouths are maintaining a late summer pattern since the river is alive with small crayfish and minnows 2 to 21/2 inches long, the perfect bite-size morsels for a hungry smallmouth. Because there is plenty of food just about everywhere, the bass tend to be spread out just about everywhere, including some shallower stretches that many anglers might overlook.

Some of my most consistent hotspots for Juniata smallmouths tend to be in water around two feet deep, so don’t be afraid to explore the shallow flats, especially those adjacent to some deeper water.

With so much easy prey about, river smallmouths love to slowly cruise an area and pick off an unsuspecting critter when one happens by. This feeding strategy is perfect for my favorite kind of summertime fishing – using soft-plastic finesse baits.

For more than ten years, my most productive summertime smallmouth bait has been a 3-inch Bass Pro Shops Stick-O worm in green pumpkin, smoke/purple flake, Houdini, baitfish and some other colors.

Stik-Os are loaded with salt so they are heavy, which makes them cast like a bullet and sink well. Fish them without weight in shallow water or with a small split shot 18 inches above the bait in deeper water.

Tube jigs in the 23/4-inch “teaser” size are also a great crayfish imitation. Fish the tubes on 1/16- or 1/8-ounce jigheads depending on water depth. Another soft-plastic bait that has grand smallmouth catcher is the Bass Pro Shops Hellgrammite in black/red flake and Houdini. Fish them with a small split shot about a foot above the bait and allow it to drift naturally in the current just as you would a live helgy.

When fall weather arrives and water temperatures cool down, smallmouths will change their feeding routines.

But if the warm weather and low, clear water persists, the river smallmouths will likely continue their lat3-summer feeding patterns. I plan to enjoy as much of that good fishing as I can before the leaves begin to change color.

As a reminder for those folks who haven’t yet bought a fishing license this year but might want to get on the water tomorrow, the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission is offering a special 1-day resident or non-resident Labor Day fishing license for just $1 plus $1.90 issuing fees for a total of $2.90.

For more information on this promotion, check out the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission website at fishandboat.com.

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