Monster Pinchot Crappie Picture

A local guide and regular at the shop named Dick Brown caught one monster crappie over the holiday weekend at Pinchot. It weighed 4 lbs! One big beautiful crappie.

Hybrid striper action at night can be hit or miss the last few nights. Most anglers are reporting the best action after dark, from a boat, up by the main beach area. Large schools of hybrid stripers are crashing baitfish in the shallows. Each angler is reporting catching one fish each. There is just so much baitfish they are feeding on it can be tough and frustrating to get them to look at a lure. Hard jerkbaits in silver/blue back, silver/black back and solid chrome being the better colors as they best imitate the shad in the lake. Excalibur Swim'n Image lures are also good as they closely resemble the shad.

Bass anglers are finding the best action between 8 pm and 10 pm. Especially with the hot weather we've had, the fish turn more active closer to dark as it cools down. During the day, anglers are doing well on white pearl soft jerkbaits fished around weed edges.

River anglers are reporting slow catches due to the fish being in post spawn. Try spinnerbaits, crankbaits, soft stickbaits and tubes.

Tim

Susquehanna River Report

The smallmouth fishing on the river the past several days has slowed down considerably. This is to be expected this time of year as most of the smallmouth are in a post spawn funk and the bite typically slows down for a short period of time while the bass recover from spawning. Baits anglers are catching a few fish on include tubes, Senkos, Slop Sticks, Gray Shad Spinnerbaits and Bandit 200 crankbaits. Most anglers are reporting catches of 2 to 10 fish per 8 hour trip. Another reason the bite has slowed down is due to the increased boat traffic from the holiday weekend. Keep at it though as the smallmouth will start feeding heavily once they are rested from spawning.

Once the bite picks back up, expect tubes and other crawdad looking baits to be among the top producers. The weather is calling for a gradual cool down each day this week so the weather should be very comfortable for your upcoming trips!

Tim

Get Ready For Memorial Day Weekend!

It's shaping up to be a great weekend folks! We are stocked to the gills with all of your favorite tackle and just received a large shipment of fresh live bait. We will be receiving another shipment of Chatterbaits today, mostly in White and Shad colors for those who have been patiently waiting for them. Don't forget Saturday is free kraut hotdog day too! So stop by mid-morning for a bite to eat on us!!!

Fishing on Pinchot is pretty good the last few days. Largemouth bass are on fire. Soft stickbaits, soft jerkbaits and spinnerbaits are catching most of the largemouths, and smallmouths too! Best areas to try are from the main boat ramp up to and including the cove by the Rossville bridge. A few anglers are also catching bass on tubes and jig-n-pigs fished around grass beds that are starting to surface.

Hybrid stripers are still being caught after dark on large topwater baits like a Smithwick Devil's Horse and hard jerkbaits like Rapala Husky Jerks, Lucky Craft Pointer 100's and Smithwick Rogues. The cove at the main boat ramp is the best area after dark and near the main beach during the early morning hours.

Crappie action has slowed to a crawl and only an angler or two have been fishing for them this week. Those anglers reported catching 3 to 5 crappie each trip, most of those over 12 inches. Target deeper water brush piles in 10 to 20 feet of water for the best chance at a nice crappie.

Several anglers reported catching many catfish at night this week. They are using small and medium shiners, chicken livers, nightcrawlers and raw bacon! One catfisherman caught a nice hybrid striper on chicken liver so keep an eye on those rods because stripers will hit and run fast and hard!

I fished Opossum Lake outside of Carlisle Thursday evening from 6 to 9 pm. I was mainly fishing for catfish. I caught about a dozen catfish, mostly on raw bacon and some on nightcrawlers. I also caught 8 largemouths on nightcrawlers. The problem with using bacon at Opossum is the number of turtles in the lake. When you get a bite with bacon there, you run a good chance to catching a turtle. Right before dark I switched over to just fishing for bass with a Chatterbait and landed 7 more largemouth bass on it. The faster you retrieve a Chatterbait, the more it darts around so try that method instead of just a slow, steady retrieve.

Enjoy the holiday weekend!
Tim

Pinchot Largemouths

The largemouth bass on Pinchot are pretty active still with anglers reporting good trips. Some fish are being caught on 10 inch plastic worms on the edges of the creek channel. Most guys are catching bass on white pearl soft jerkbaits and spinnerbaits worked around the outside edges of any grass patches. Senkos and Slop Sticks are also catching a good number of bass.

I've been catching both largemouth and smallmouth off of the point at the main boat ramp using a Gray Shad spinnerbait. Smallmouths seem more active in the mornings and largemouths in the evenings, at least on this particular point at the main ramp. I'm slow rolling the spinnerbait so it just barely ticks across the bottom. The smallmouth have been averaging 18 inches and the largemouths are averaging 15 inches.

Crappies are very hard to come by lately and not many anglers are fishing for them. There have been some walleye anglers on the lake lately but walleye are scarce on Pinchot. We know of 4 or 5 walleye caught each year on Pinchot. There aren't many caught but they are usually over 25 inches when they are found. Deep water drop offs near the dam are the most productive walleye areas. Try slow trolling a crawler harness with bright blades or drifting a nightcrawler on a jig head.

Musky and pickerel routinely steal anglers lures in the area of the lily pads, near the Rossville bridge. Don't be surprised if you set the hook to find the end of your line has been bitten off.

We expect the stripers to be active this upcoming weekend once this warmer weather hits the end of this week. Target rocky coves with hard jerkbaits and big topwater baits like a Smithwick Devil's Horse lure for some awesome topwater striper action.

As always, we will be stocked to the gills with live bait and tackle for this upcoming Memorial Day weekend. Stop by before you head out and say hello!

Tim

Chatterbaits Are In Stock Now!

The hottest bait of the year for bass, the RAD Lures Chatterbait, is finally in stock in our shop! We have 1/4 oz, 3/8 oz and 1/2 oz sizes available in Chartreuse/White, Chartreuse, Black/Blue, Brown/Black and Green Pumpkin. Price is $6.99 each and they are up on our website now for ordering. If you have been waiting for these baits, get them now because they won't last long!

Pinchot Update

The bass fishing on Pinchot is good the last few days. Spinnerbaits in Gray Shad and White Pearl Super Flukes and Jerk Shads are catching most of the fish now. As before, from the main boat ramp up to the campground end of the lake is the better area. The main beach area being the best area right now.

I fished for about 20 minutes this morning before coming in to work at the shop, from about 11:30 to 11:50 am. I caught one rock bass, one smallmouth and 2 largemouth. All were caught on a 1/4 oz Gray Shad spinnerbait off of the main point at the main boat ramp. Then after work I went back down for 30 minutes from 8 pm to 8:30 pm. I landed 3 largemouths within minutes of each other at 8:15. All three largemouth were between 15 and 18 inches and I caught them on the 1/4 oz Gray Shad spinnerbait.

Tim

Pinchot Fishing Report

Hey folks, wanted to give an update on the fishing on Pinchot.

Bass are really turning out now. Spinnerbaits in White and Gray Shad, soft jerkbaits (Jerk Shads and Super Flukes), soft stickbaits (Senkos and Slop Sticks) and jig-n-pigs are catching a lot of largemouth bass now. Black and black/blue jig-n-pigs are the hot colors. The guys are using NetBait Paca Chunks and Zoom trailers for their jig-n-pigs. For Senkos and Slop Sticks, the best colors lately are Green Pumpkin, Watermelon/Purple and White Pearl. Use White Pearl or Blue Glimmer colors for soft jerkbaits.

Most of the bass are being caught from the main boat ramp up to and including the shallow end of the lake by the campground. Pay close attention to the area by the main beach at the Quaker Race Day Use Area (Route 177 side of the lake) as that has been a hot area for several days now.

The crappie fishing has been real tough the last week or so. Some crappies are being caught off of deeper brush piles as they are just about done spawning. Fathead minnows, small shiners and twister tails are the best bet for crappie action. Fish main lake points from boat ramp #3 down to the dam for the best chance at crappie now.

Hybrid stripers are still being caught at night on hard jerkbaits and large topwater baits. Best hours are from 10 pm to 4 am at the main boat ramp, down the hill from the park office. Try to use colors that mimic the shad in the lake.

Channel catfish and bullhead catfish are also being caught at night. Nightcrawlers, chicken livers, raw bacon and large shiners are the best baits.

Here's a tip regarding using the bacon that works great for me - cut some leftover, RAW bacon into little pieces and microwave for 30 seconds prior to going fishing for Pinchot catfish. This will get the bacon juicy and greasy. This leaves a nice scent trail in the water. Keep a close eye on your rods as the big channel cats in the lake, over 20 lbs, are known to do their best to take your rod with them! The bacon works great as it stays on the hook very well and can be used for numerous fish before having to re-bait.

Tim

Fishing Report

We sure do need this rain and the fish don't seem to mind one bit!

My buddy Ron came up from Virginia and we did a float trip on Monday, above Harrisburg. The weather started out absolutely miserable with strong wind, heavy rain at times and air temps in the 50's. We started about 9 am and fished until 5 pm. The first 4 hours were pretty slow fishing and we only caught a few. But once the rain stopped, we made up for it. We landed just over 40 smallmouth bass. A couple under 12 inches, a couple between 12 and 15 inches and lots of fish over 15 inches. Most bass were between 15 and 18 3/4 inches long with Ron getting the big one of the day at 19 inches. Spinnerbaits in Gray Shad caught all of my fish. Ron used Gray Shad and white spinnerbaits for his. We did catch just a few on tubes on a green pumpkin/junebug tail Right Bite tube.

We found the active fish in areas that had large chunk rock with pretty good current rolling by. The fish were tucked into shallow eddies on the sides of the current. Typical spring areas along islands in the river held few if any fish due to there being almost no rock. You had to find chunk rock to catch fish.

If there were any laydown trees or logs nearby, the better. The level at Harrisburg was up to 4.77 at the end of our trip with visibility ranging from a foot on the West shore, 6 inches in the middle and zero visibility on the East shore.

Tim

Small Stream/River Levels

We received just about an inch of rain last night from the heavy storms that came through. This caused all local streams to rise in level and be pretty dirty. They should clear up quickly, hopefully in just a few days. That doesn't mean you won't be able to catch any trout though. Target shoreline eddies with gold spinners and fathead minnows and you should find plenty of hungry trout. Time of day of your trip will matter less now since the trout will be a lot less spooky than they have been in the clear and low water.

The river at Harrisburg is only forecasted to rise to a level of 4.5 feet. At this level, most areas will be navigable by jet boats and floaters. You will still need to use caution, especially when running any motor with a prop. Smallmouth will be spawning still as the water levels shouldn't be high enough to alter their spawning activity. Anglers using spinnerbaits are absolutely hammering the smallies down in the area of Goldsboro, the main pool.

Pinchot levels remain steady as of this moring. Lots of shad of busting on the surface at boat ramp #2, the main boat launch. Soft and hard jerkbaits and other shad imitation lures will be your best bet for the hybrid stripers. Jig-N-Pig, spinnerbaits and soft jerkbaits are your best bet for largemouth bass. Don't be surprised if you latch into a nice big Pinchot smallmouth too as they are getting active as well.

A crappie angler stopped in this morning to get bait. He was out on the lake yesterday and reported catching 19 nice sized crappie and almost as many largemouth bass. He was using fathead minnows and small shiners. He targeted water depths of 8 to 10 feet, trying to locate any available brush piles.

The weather only calls for showers this weekend so it should be good fishing for your weekend trips. Have a great weekend!

Tim

Fishing Report/Summer Hours

Our store hours are changing over to our summer hours starting Monday, May 15th. We will be open from 7 am to 8 pm Monday through Thursday, 6 am to 8 pm Fridays and Saturdays and from 6 am to 5 pm on Sundays.

The bass on Pinchot are on their spawning beds. Anglers using white pearl soft jerkbaits, HawgHead Jerk Shads and Zoom Super Flukes, are doing the best the last few days. Spinnerbaits and jig-n-pigs are still picking up some good bass too.

A few anglers are finding some nice crappie this week too. Small 1 inch twister tails and fathead minnows fished along deep brush piles are doing well. Most fish are being caught in the 8 to 10 feet deep range. One angler was fishing the rock point across from the main boat ramp and got 3 nice crappie over 12 inches.

Spinnerbaits are the hot bait on the river. Gray Shad and White being the best colors. Jerk Shads in Blue Pearl Glimmer and solid White are also catching some impressive smallmouth.

Trout anglers using White Coachdog Rooster Tail spinners and Super Duper spoons are finding some hungry trout on the Yellow Breeches. One angler caught several nice trout using a Trout Magnet soft plastic bait. White being the best color of the Trout Magnet.

The weather forecast calls for some steady rain overnight on Thursday and then just some on and off showers through the weekend. It should be a little cooler and just about perfect weather for a fishing trip!

I fished Opossum Lake Wednesday night, fishing for bullhead catfish. I wanted some fish to fry up so I used nightcrawlers and large shiners cut in half, fished on the bottom in 3 to 5 feet of water. I lost count of how many bullheads I caught but I brought home 13 of them for the fryer. The last hour of light from 7 pm to 8 pm was the best with that hour producing absolutely non-stop action on the catfish. Most of them were in the 12 to 14 inch range and a lot of fun!

Tim

Fishing Report May 9th

Hey folks! Anglers are reporting the bass in Pinchot are really starting to turn on the last few days. Spinnerbaits, jig-n-pigs and soft jerkbaits are all doing very well. Many bass in the 2 to 3 1/2 lb range are being caught. Bass are starting to move up shallow to spawn. The crappie action has died down quite a bit now as they are almost done spawning and starting to move back to their deeper homes.

More hybrid stripers were caught the last few nights, after dark. Excalibur/Heddon Swimmin' Image crankbaits are getting the most attention from the hybrids. Hard and soft jerkbaits are also working well. Best time is after 10 pm up to about 4 am.

I fished Opossum Lake Sunday and Monday. It's a small lake outside of Carlisle that is drawn down some 14 feet due to the dam leaking. You usually don't catch big bass but you can catch quite a few smaller ones. Between Sunday and Monday, I caught 48 largemouth bass. Biggest bass was only 12 inches but lots of fun. I also caught some panfish and bullhead catfish. The majority of the bass were caught on that HawgHead prototype lure again, similiar to a Chatterbait. I'm anxious for us to start carrying this bait in the shop so others get a chance to use it. The rest of the bass were caught on spinnerbaits and Texas rigged smoke/purple flake lizards. I also threw some Suick musky lures, Jakes, custom in-lines and 3 ounce spinnerbaits without any follows or strikes.

Bass are spawning on the river now. Anglers using jerkbaits and spinnerbaits are catching fish that are getting ready to spawn but haven't moved up onto the beds yet. Gray Shad spinnerbaits are just knocking the heck out of 'em lately. Lucky Craft Pointers in Matt Pumpkin, Chartreuse Shad, Pearl Aju and Aurura Brown being the better colors. Don't be afraid to throw the smaller Pointer 78 along with the larger Pointer 100 size.

Trout anglers are using fathead minnows on the Yellow Breeches for tout. A few guys are also using small Rapalas and catching trout over 18 inches on them. Silver/black and gold/black being the best colors. You might also want to try the small Glass Minnow color.

Have a great week and we'll be back in a day or so!
Tim

Bass Action Today

A couple of bass fisherman stopped by the shop this afternoon after they were done fishing. They started at day break and had a pretty good day. One guy landed 8 largemouths, 2 on spinnerbaits and 6 on a white pearl Super Fluke soft jerkabit. His buddy caught 3 fish today. That's the best bass report we've heard in several days. The lake is clearing up nicely.

I fished off the bank at boat ramp #2 this morning before I came into the shop at 6 am. I only fished for about 10 minutes but caught a nice 18 inch smallmouth right at the rock point. I was using a prototype HawgHead chatterbait style bait. Lots of shad moving around early this morning as the sun was just starting to come up.

River anglers are still doing great on smallmouth bass using spinnerbaits and a few guys report doing well on soft jerkbaits.

Enjoy the weekend!
Tim

Finally Stripers!

We're happy to report that we finally heard of some striper action on the lake. An angler told us he got a 25 inch, 9 lb striper at boat ramp #2 the other night, after dark. He caught it on a stick bait. The angler said the stripers were crashing shad up against the rocks at the boat ramp!

Water temps on Pinchot are up to 63 degrees now so hopefully that kicks everything in to high gear on the lake.

Trout are providing anglers lots of action on the Yellow Breeches. Early morning hours are the best times right now.

The river level is dropping and starting to clear up nicely in some areas so keep tossing those spinnerbaits for smallmouth! Some anglers are reporting finding smallmouth on their spawning beds in some areas and other areas are post spawn.

Several walleye anglers are catching BIG NUMBERS of walleye below the York Haven Dam. Small soft plastic minnow imitations are taking most of the fish. Toss out a small Bass Assassin "Panfish Assassin" in white pearl on a small jig head for some awesome action.

Fishing Report

Smallmouths on the Susquehanna River are absolutely hammering spinnerbaits right now. A few anglers are also catching fish on soft jerkbaits such as the HawgHead Baits Jerk Shad and Zoom Super Fluke and Super Fluke Jr's. The fish are just starting to move up onto their spawning beds. Soft jerkbaits are working for smallmouth in the tributaries of the Susquehanna too.

The walleye are hitting hard at the York Haven Dam. Remember, walleye does not come back in to season until this Saturday, May 6th. Medium shiners and hard jerkbaits are getting most of the fish. Many walleye are being caught over 20 inches and lots of 'em!

Pinchot is starting to clear up in the middle of the lake now. Crappie fishing slowed some as far as numbers per angler but size is still up there with many crappie over 15 inches being caught. Fathead minnows and small shiners are doing most of the crappie catching.

Channel catfish are really hitting well at Pinchot too. Try chicken livers and medium shiners fished along the bottom near shore access areas. Early morning up until about noon seem to be the better times right now.

Bass are hitting spinnerbaits and Rat-L-Traps. Still no real good action on the hybrid stripers yet. Bluegills can be caught easily along the shoreline as they move in to spawn soon.

Trout anglers using Super Duper spoons and fathead minnows are catching some moster trout this week on the Yellow Breeches. Fish early in the morning and late in the afternoon and evening for the best action.

White perch are on FIRE down below the Conowingo Dam. A pair of anglers caught over 300 white perch on Saturday on redworms with some shad and catfish mixed in too.

The best spot at Marburg is still at the second bridge for white perch. Use a half of a nightcrawler on the bottom for the best action.

More River Smallie Pictures

Hey folks, Tim here. I just wanted to post some more pictures of the smallmouth my brother and I caught on Sunday. With the weather they are calling for this week, it should be awesome fishing on the river. Throw those spinnerbaits!