Summer Sale - And New Products

August 11th through the 13th we will be having our 2nd anuual Summer Sale! Everything in the store will be on sale so that will be a great time to stock up on your favorite baits and maybe try a few new ones too. FREE FOOD will be provided Saturday the 12th at lunch time. So grab a plate of food while you check out the aisles and aisles of fishing tackle, rods and reels.

On another note, we now have some new colors of 4 inch Right Bite tubes. These are all Goby colors. They are Erie Goby, Saginaw Bay Goby and St Clair Goby. These tubes have a larger head to the tube that really mimics the Goby. Available in 4 inch only.

We are totally stocked up on Right Bite tubes. Melon Purple/Green Pumpkin Tail and Melon/Green Pumpkin Tail are in stock in large quantities in both 3 1/2 inch and 4 inch sizes.

Some new MegaBass lures are now in stock as well including the effective and sought after MegaBass Sr-X Cyclone crankbait in some really awesome colors. While a little more expensive than other baits, they work exceptionally well for smallmouths in the rivers. They have a unique action to them. Most lures wobble side to side but these do more of a rolling action. I've done very well on this lure for river smallmouth this year. Don Iovino Splash It topwater baits just got restocked and we have a new color called Bone that everyone has been asking for.

Tim

Smallmouth Are Active

Several anglers came into the shop on Wednesday to restock on Right Bite and Hawg Slop tubes. They all reported catching over 50 smallmouth on the Juniata and Susquehanna Rivers. Color really is a matter of personal choice as they each had they favorite color and they were different from the next guy.

If you are fishing an area that is not producing these numbers of smallmouth, either try a different area or change the way you are fishing. The fish are there and anglers are having a blast!

Pinchot Lake continues to be tough for largemouths with several anglers getting skunked on Wednesday and others catching just a few. As mentioned in my other posts, for the best action for bass on Pinchot, you have to get away from the bank and fish deeper water. Deeper being over 15 feet deep or so.

Crappies are being caught here and there, no real steady action as is typical in the summer time.

Tim

Fishing Report

The Susquehanna River continues to fish very well the last few days. Anglers are reporting catches averaging 50 smallmouth per trip. A few anglers are catching almost 100 smallmouth per trip. Tubes are the best lure. 2 1/2 inch tubes seem to be the best size followed by 3 1/4 and 3 1/2 inch tubes.

Pinchot Lake bass fishing is still a little tough. Anglers should target deeper water, over 15 feet, with soft plastic worms, crankbaits and spinnerbaits for bigger largemouth and smallmouth bass.

I took a trip up to Williamsport Sunday and Monday to take my Dad out fishing. Sunday evening we waded Rose Valley Lake. Dad and I landed 14 bass in 3 hours, a mix of largemouths and smallmouths. Biggest was 15 1/2 inches. Dad used a 4 inch Senko is color # 240, Smoke Pearl Blue for his fish. I used a 4 inch Slop Stick in Junebug for most of my fish but I also caught several on a Megabass Pop X right before dark.

Monday morning Dad and I went up to Sayers Lake crappie fishing. We fished for just short of 3 hours and caught 50 crappie. Biggest was 9 1/2 inches. We fished off of the handicap fishing pier above the bridge.

Tim

Opossum Lake Catfishing Again

My buddy Vadim came up from Baltimore for his last fishing trip for a while. This upcoming Saturday he moves from Baltimore to Washington DC for a new job. So he came up and after we got some dinner, we hit Opossum Lake from 6 pm until 10:30 pm.

We caught close to 50 bullhead catfish and kept the largest 8 of them. (We quit counting at 40 catfish caught.) The rest went back for another day. All were caught on pieces of raw shrimp. We also caught a bluegill and Vadim got a nice bass, also on shrimp.

Of course the turtles came out to play and we brought in 3 snapping turtles. These were smaller, 6 to 8 inches across their shell. They were all hooked under their front legs so getting the hook out was pretty easily with a pair of long nose pliers. We had fun BS'ing and reeling in catfish after catfish. If we would have caught every one that bit, we easily could have caught close to 100 catfish but we missed a lot. The action slowed quite a bit after dark.

We did see two guys in a canoe setting jug lines for turtles. We could see several of the jugs swimming around the lake and bobbing like crazy so I'm sure they had quite a few turtles to bring in. It looked like they had about 20 or 25 jug lines set out.

There was a PA Game Commission officer out there musky fishing from the bank. He did check one boat that came in and wrote them up for not having any fishing licenses, no life jackets in the boat and a couple of other violations. It was good to see an officer out there checking a few folks.

Tim

River Smallmouth Bite Is ON!

Anglers fishing the Susquehanna River from Sunbury down to Goldsboro are reporting excellent catches of smallmouth bass. Most guys are catching between 40 and 60 smallies per trip. They are mostly being caught on tubes and color really doesn't seem to matter much. The clearer the water you can find the better though as most of the anglers are finding the bite pretty tough in the muddier water.

Largemouths are also being caught in good numbers in the main pool at Goldsboro. Crankbaits, topwater soft plastic frog baits, buzzbaits...just about anything is getting attention for largemouths.

So grab some tubes and find some clearer water and have fun!

Tim

Walleye Below York Haven Dam

The walleye fishing this week has been fantastic below the York Haven Dam. Anglers are using small, medium and large shiners for live bait. Other anglers reported doing very well on Rapala Husky Jerks and Smithwick Rogue jerkbaits. Most of the larger fish have been in slack water areas below large boulders and also on the downstream side of grass beds.

Many walleye have been caught this week. The best times is about 8 pm up until well after dark. The anglers are really getting some nice walleyes with many over 20 inches long and several over 25 inches long.

Tim

Opossum Lake Catfishing

I wanted some catfish for a fish fry so my wife and I headed out to Opossum Lake Saturday night. I fished from 6:45 pm until 10 pm when the lake closes.
I brought home 26 bullheads ranging from 12 inches to 17 1/2 inches. Almost all of them were caught using pieces of raw shrimp for bait. I tossed several smaller ones back and lost a few too. I caught 35 catfish all together plus a big bluegill and a small largemouth, also on shrimp. I cut the shrimp into 3 pieces and threaded a piece onto a 3/0 and 4/0 Gamakatsu Finesse Wide Gap hook. These are great hooks for catfishing!

The excitement of the night was right before dark when two big ole snapping turtles found my shrimp. The largest being about 15 inches across his shell. Both of them came right in when hooked but changed their attitude when they got to the edge of the water. I cut my line close to their mouths. They were hissing, snapping and carrying on.

I got enough filets for several meals. It was a nice change of pace from bass fishing. From the time it got dark until we left at 10 pm, I had to take one rod out of the water and just fish with one because I couldn't keep up with two rods.
Not bass fishing but it was fun!

Tim

Pinchot lake is getting fishing pressure this year like we have never seen. And 99% of the bass anglers are just pounding the banks. Take a 1/2 oz or larger spinnerbait, a black/red flake tube, a 10 inch Power Worm in any color, a soft stick bait (Senko or Slop Stick) or a black/blue jig-n-pig. Put your boat far away from the bank. If you can hit anywhere near the bank with your cast, you are in too far. MOVE OUT AWAY FROM THE BANK!

Anglers that stop in the shop who listen to the advice above and fish no shallower than 12 feet are catching nice largemouth. Target rock drop offs that are 12 to 20 feet deep and you should catch some nice quality largemouth and smallies.

Tim

Pinchot Fishing Conditions

Pinchot lake received a lot of fishing pressure over the holiday weekend. That made for slow bass fishing for most anglers. Anglers fishing the lake after this past holiday weekend are finding better action. Senkos, Slop Sticks, 10 inch Power Worms and Chatterbaits are catching most of the bass. We are hearing more reports of nice smallmouth bass being caught too. The largest smallmouth we know of in the past day or two was almost 25 inches. It was caught on a Watermelon Purple Swirl Slop Stick, fished in about 15 feet of water near some large boulders.

Catfisherman reported doing very well over the weekend off of the face of the dam. Raw bacon, raw small shrimp and pieces of sausage were the best baits. One pair of anglers told us they caught 10 channel cats between 18 to 20 inches with many more between 12 and 15 inches. There were quite a few anglers catfishing Monday night off of the dam and the best spot was close to the marker buoys. The best time was between 10 pm and 1 am.

Crappie anglers are finding a few hungry fish using twister tails and shiners. Fish main lake points between the dam and the boat ramp opposite the main boat ramp, in about 12 feet of water.

Striper anglers in the last day or so landed some nice hybrid stripers using large shiners. They found the hybrids roaming rock ledges in 10 feet of water during the day.

Tim

Pinchot Catfishing

Sunday night I did a little catfishing at Pinchot. My friend came up from Baltimore and we fished from 8:30 pm until about 1 am. We set up on the main point just to the left of the main boat ramp.

We only managed to catch one small bullhead but we missed about 25 strikes. They just didn't want to take the bait, must have been smaller fish. We tried dead shiners, garlic scented dead shiners, nightcrawlers, raw bacon, shrimp and live crayfish. 99% of our strikes came on raw shrimp. Several strikes were hard strikes which are usually channel cats.

One father/son was fishing closer to the boat ramp and the boy caught 2 channgel catfish about 14 inches long. Both fish almost took his rod into the water.

Right after dark until about 11 pm, there was a lot of shad surfacing near the main boat ramp and off of the point. We heard about 6 loud explosions busting the shad, most likely stripers. But after 11 pm, everything was quiet and the shad moved away from the area.

Several other anglers were catfishing and they did not catch a fish and had very few if any strikes.

Tim

River Levels

The Susquehanna River at Harrisburg is slowly falling. The level is forecasted to be 10 feet Monday morning. Lots of catfish anglers are reporting catches of large numbers of BIG catfish in slackwater areas on Friday. Chicken livers and large shiners seem to be the most popular choices for bait.

The levels at Pinchot are just about perfect! They have closed off the pipe at the spillway but water continues to come over the top of the spillway. Fishing on the lake should be awesome this holiday weekend!

For those folks heading to the lake for a picnic/cookout, we stock items for all of your cookout needs. We have plenty of small charcoal grills, charcoal, lighter fluid, foil and other items you may need for your cookout. We also stock firewood for those that may need some good, dry wood for their campfires. So get out those hot dogs, hamburgers and steaks and cook 'em up!

Enjoy your holiday weekend!
Tim