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This time last year throughout our region, we were in the grip of a dreadful drought.
Three months without any significant rain had reduced many smaller streams into ditches full of wet rocks. Trout fishing on most streams was little more than an exercise in futility. Even my favorite summertime fishery, smallmouth bass on the upper Juniata River, was affected by the meager flow on that waterway.
What a difference a year makes. Despite a lack of snow last winter and the resulting springtime runoff, we have been blessed with plenty of rain throughout the spring and summer this year--sometimes a little too much rain, which had the waterways of our region high and blown out unfishable. Because of that abundance of water, I enjoyed great trout fishing on some of my favorite small streams well into the latter part of June. Those same rain events, however, kept me away from my beloved smallmouth fishing on Juniata River, a that waterway always seemed to be too high for my liking when I had an open day or two on my schedule to go fishing.
I finally got back to the Juniata last month and have spent every possible day there I could in the past several weeks. My fishing report for that period would simply be this year is the best summertime fishing on the upper Juniata River (Huntingdon and Mifflin counties), both in terms of average size and numbers of bass, I've ever experienced in the more than 50 years I've fished that part of the river.
And several other river regulars and guides I know have expressed similar opinions regarding the bass fishing on the upper Juniata as well. So if you would like to enjoy some great river smallmouth fishing, by all means, try the upper Juniata in the next week or two.
Beside the abundance of larger than average smallmouth bass on the Juniata his summer, anglers have also had to deal with more than average river flows as well. I use the USGS gage at Mapleton Depot on the Internet as my guide for the section of the Juniata River that I fish. During the month of August most years, the gage height at Mapleton will be around 2 to 2.6 feet. This August, that gage height has ranged from 3.5 to nearly 7 feet. That volume of water has changed the typical summer fishing patterns.
The higher water this summer has the smallmouths more spread out than usual, rather than sequestered in deeper pools for most of the day. This also means a slight change in tactics. In the lower flows typical of late summer on the Juniata, catching bass there during the day usually means finesse baits fished slowly and methodically in the deeper pools and runs on the river. Smallmouth bass are predators near the top of their food chain. The higher water levels we are experiencing this summer allows them to invade the shallow-water domains of much their prey much easier, and the bass are taking full advantage of this opportunity. Because the bass have more water to prowl in search of prey, anglers need to cover more water in search of bass.
Shallow or medium running crankbaits, depending on the water depth you are fishing, are the best lures for searching and covering larger areas of the river when the levels are up. This summer, I've also had an absolute ball catching Juniata smallmouths on spinner baits this summer. Spinnerbaits have long been one of my "secret weapons" for river smallmouths, and I wrote a column about them this spring for pre-spawn smallmouths. Now, I'll also share that spinnerbaits are equally deadly for summer smallmouths well. I like to throw spinnerbaits on bait-casting tackle, so I prefer them in 1/4- or 3/8-ounce sizes. I'm not too partial to color, but white has been crazy good this summer for some reason. Spinnerbaits with willowleaf blades seem to track better in river currents, and I strongly suggest trying particular brands and styles on the water before stocking up.
Of course, I'm still taking plenty of bass on my favorite soft-plastics and other finesse baits this summer. Tube jigs have caught some of my biggest bass this summer, including a pair of 20-inchers one afternoon two weeks ago. Another great lure has been the Bass Pro Shops Split Tail Stik-O. Throw it out there, and if a smallmouth is within 10 feet of it, it will kill it.