Fishing Report

The river level has come down to about 4.5 feet and a flow of 22,000 at Harrisburg, with good visibility. Hard jerkbaits, tubes and hair jigs are catching some nice smallmouth. A pair of smallmouth over 21 inches were caught over the weekend in the area of the Turnpike bridge on hard jerkbaits. Largemouths are being caught in the pool at Goldsboro on jerkbaits too! Rapala X-Raps, Smithwick Rogues, Lucky Craft Pointers and Xcalibur jerkbaits are rocking and rolling on the river.

The bass fishing on Pinchot is extremely slow right now. A pair of anglers spent the better part of the day out in a boat on the lake Tuesday. They managed one bass that weighed a little over 4 lbs. That was their only fish of the day.

Chain pickerel are being caught in LARGE numbers in the shallower end of the lake, by the bridge. Just about any lure is catching the pickerel with a jerkbait getting most of the action. The pickerel are moving into the cove behind the bridge to spawn and make for some fun catching. Don't be suprised if you encounter a musky or two as well as they will move into spawning areas in the next few days.

Crappies have all but moved out of the dam area again. Tim was down there again on Tuesday and only caught 3 crappies and a pair of nice bluegills. All crappies that Tim caught were over 12 1/2 inches and released to fight another day. He got them on a mix of fathead minnows and marabou jigs.

One thing we wanted to mention was that yellow perch have been caught in the lake for a few weeks now near the dam area. According the the Fish and Boat Commission as well as the Park Office, yellow perch have never been stocked in Pinchot. Where they came from nobody knows but they are there. Some perch up to 14 inches have been caught by crappie anglers but most of them are 5 to 8 inches long.

Reports are coming in of crappies over 13 inches being caught up by the bridge in the shallow end of the lake. Red/White small shad darts are doing well for anglers along with fathead minnows and the usual white and pink/white soft plastics. If you are going to fish minnows in that area behind the bridge, be prepared for a few "bite offs" as the pickerel are very active.

With the warming trend in the weather over the next few days, this weekend should be awesome to get out on the river or Pinchot! Hopefully the warmer weather will bring the water temp up to get some hybrid striper action going. The striper action hasn't kicked in yet on the lake due to the colder water temps the last week or two.

We just received a large shipment of live bait so we'll have plenty of fresh bait for everyone getting out in the next few days. With temps in the 60's and maybe even 70 on Saturday, it's time to put some fresh line on your reels and get out for a few hours.

Good luck everybody!

Crappies A Little Slow Right Now

The crappie action at Pinchot has slowed down the last few days, most likely due to the cold nights we've had.

Tim, who works at the shop, fished the dam area today (Saturday) from 5:30 am until 10 am. He caught about a dozen and kept the 4 largest which included a pair of 12 1/4 inchers, a 12 incher and an 11 1/2 incher. The rest he put back and were between 5 and 9 inches long.

He caught 3 of the biggest on a 1/16 oz white marabou jig and the other on a 2 inch chartreuse twister. The rest of his crappie came on a mixture of soft plastics and marabou jigs in white and pink/white.

There were about 6 or 7 other guys down at the dam this morning but not much catching going on. Some anglers have reported catching crappie near the bridge in the upper end of the lake so the crappie are scattered in both ends right now.

Tim caught his crappie at a depth of 6 to 8 feet down using a slip float and a bobber stop.

The river is fishing very well with many anglers reporting catches of over 100 smallmouth, mostly above Harrisburg. Hair jigs and jerkbaits are being reported as the top baits.

In a tournament today on the river out of Montgomery's Ferry, there were 27 boats and 7 of them weighed in a fish (have to be 18 inches or larger). Lunker was a beast of 4.88 lbs and second lunker weighed in at 3.84.

Fishing Update

Anglers are still catching crappies at Pinchot down near the dam. Small soft plastics and fathead minnows are what they are using. Many crappies are being caught over 15 inches. The water temperature has dropped in Pinchot due to the cold nights we're having. Water temp was as high as 55 but now has dipped back down into the low to mid 40's.

The largemouth in Pinchot are starting to perk up just a little bit. Smithwick Rogues in firetiger color is doing good for guys as well as Lucky Craft Pointers. A couple guys are using the new Xcalibur jerkbaits and say they are also doing well.

The river has been good for smallmouth and walleye. Even though walleye are not out of season, some guys are still fishing for them below the York Haven Dam with jerkbaits that have an olive back to them.

Smallmouth are being caught all over the river from Wrightsville up to Sunbury. HawgHead hair jigs in 1/8 oz black and brown are the top two colors. Jerkbaits fished SLOWLY are pulling in some good fish too. Again, a bait with an olive back is outproducing other colors lately.

Let's hope this warmer weather coming this weekend stays for a bit and we get a break from the wind!

Crappies Crappies Crappies

If you can get out now at Pinchot at the dam, DO IT! The crappie action for the past 3 days has been awesome! It was real slow over the weekend but Monday through today, the fisherman are doing very well back down at the dam. Even in the wind, crappies over 10 inches were caught on a regular basis. The best time is from sun up until 11 am, and then again the evenings.

The best bait this week has been small soft plastic tubes and twister tails. Fathead minnows are going mostly ignored by the crappies. Usual Pinchot colors of pink, white and pink/white are the top producers. Average catches are in the 40+ fish for numbers per angler and that is just fish over 10 inches! We don't know how long the bite will be back on so get out now if you can! Still no big hybrid striper action on the lake but that can change any day now.

The Susuquehanna River has risen from a level of 3.9 to 6.6 at Harrisburg. This should scatter the fish some. Small soft stickbaits and hair jigs as well as Lucky Craft Pointer 78's are doing well for smallmouth anglers. Olive colored jerkbaits and gold jerkbaits are the hot colors.

The wind isn't nearly as bad today as it has been so it would be a good idea to get out there and wet a line. Good luck!

River Is On Fire!

WOW what a beautiful weekend. Our annual spring sale ends tomorrow and everyone was getting out to enjoy the weather today, Saturday.

The river between Harrisburg and Duncannon is absolutely on fire. Small, 3 inch and 4 inch, soft stickbaits such as our Slop Sticks as well as Senkos are absolutely tearing up smallmouth bass. The best technique is to rig them up on football jig heads to get to the bottom of deeper holes. Jerkbaits such as Rapala X-Raps and Smithwick Suspending Rogues are also doing well.

The walleye have been on fire too below the York Haven Dam. The best color the last 10 days is any shade of olive back on a suspending jerkbait. Again, Smiwthwick Rogues and Rapala X-Raps are catching some awesome walleyes. The best action is after dark, from 8 pm until 1 am or so. One angler has been fishing this area each night and catching numerous walleyes over 20 inches with his biggest going 25 inches, and many of that size are being caught. Medium shiners are also working on the walleyes in this area.

Pinchot Lake is in a transition phase. The crappie have almost completely moved out of the area by the dam. They are migrating up lake towards spawning areas, as mentioned in our previous reports. Right now your best bet is to try small fathead minnows and soft plastics in the coves that are mid-lake, on the southern York side of the lake. It won't be long before the crappie are in large numbers up by the campground.

Lake Pinchot Update! Early Spring Bite Is Almost Here!

Who's ready for some warm weather? We sure are! This week is shaping up to be an awesome week for fishing at Pinchot Lake!

The shad are now just starting to die off in small numbers down towards the dam. It's easy to spot the large flocks of birds picking shad off the top of the water. The old shad in the lake die off each spring, typically around the first week of March and this year is right on time.

In previous years, give or take a few days, March 14th is some of the hottest action on Pinchot for big largemouths and hybrid stripers. Lucky Craft Pointer 100 jerkbaits in Lazer Rainbow Trout, Chartreuse Shad and Shell White will starting catching some quality fish now that the shad are starting to die off.

The crappie should start moving away from the dam in the next few weeks and into the shallow coves by the campground to spawn. Crappie fishing will be good by boat off of the "dead beach" by the campground as well as near the main campground beach. Fathead minnows will be the top bait with some twister tails and crappie tubes doing well too. White. pink and pink/white will be the best colors for soft plastics.

With the weather they are calling for later this week and this weekend, it will be a great few days to get out, wet a line and get some fresh air.

Stop by the shop, across the road from the Pinchot State Park Office, and grab up some awesome deals at our fantastic Spring Sale before heading out on the lake this weekend!

See you on the water!

Bring on the BIG SALE....!!!!!!!

I know our reports have been a little slow right, but it has truely been status quo right now. Crappie action is good on the lake with those who fish the river experiencing fairly good results. However, keep in mind that this weather has been UP and DOWN alot, so give us a call (TOLL FREE) so we can give you the best up to the minute fishing reports available.

Hey all, with spring around the corner here comes our BIG YEARLY SALE!!!! We have gotten a great response this year as the Food will be out of this world AGAIN, believe me! CHICKEN in our big charcoal roaster, TONS of huge JUMBO SHRIMP, baked beans, all kinds of salads, hamburgers, hot dogs, and who the heck knows what else. If nothing else, swing by and say hi, eat for nothing and drink whatever on US!! We owe it to you guys and gals who have made us what we are! Door Prizes will be in full affect with some good'rs to be had.

This event has become more of a party and we can't wait for it to get here. We have a blast telling stories and just "hanging" out. We will have TONS of specials with 10% to 50% of EVERYTHING in the store, details on exact discounts when you come in. Those who can't make it give us a call at 800-559-HAWG (4294) and we will let you know what the deals are, and we will ship everything to you.

We are in the process of adding new baits to the mix. Look for the NEW "FAT HAWG" tube. Yes, that is our version of the "FAT A$%#" Tube. We are also getting a NEW PACKED FULL OF SALT "FLUKE" style bait (name coming soon). It will be a heavy sinker with TONS of salt in all your favorite colors. Also, we will be introducing the new 4" SOW TAIL that will expand from our original 3" version.

Hey all, we also expanded our "JERK SHAD" color line. Come in to check them out. Jeff Little, a guide from Virginia has used this bait for two years now, and because of him we have gotten more colors made to satisfy his need (and yours) for a variety of options.

We have SOOOOO much stuff going on, make sure y'all check back with what we have going on....we are always adding new things all the time...!

** Don't forget that starting in April we also have our well known HOTDOG SUNDAY! That's right FREE DOGS and KRAUT! Chows on so come and get it.

Todd