Fishing Report: Juniata River, Lewistown

One of my long time friends and fishing buddies flew in from Chicago so I decided to re-acquaint him with the smallmouth bass of Central Pennsylvania. Our early morning maneuvers on the Juniata paid off with a hand full of hard fighting smallmouth. We boated a total of 15 smallies in three hours of fishing. There were a few “dinks” in the mix but overall the fish were decent size. The largest fish was probably 14”. I didn’t have my “de-liar” with me so I’m guessing on the size but I tend to be very conservative with my estimates unlike my fishing buddy who swears it was a 17 incher!

Baits
We used a combination of baits to catch fish. White Slug-go’s in the 3” size worker very well in the shallow areas and over weeds. When fishing deeper water water (3+ feet) we switched to 4” Yum Dingers in dark pumpkin/chartreuse or pumpkin/chartreuse rigged tex-posed with a split shot.

Pattern
No solid pattern was established. Most fish, however, came from the deep water behind shallow running ledges that created riffles. By “deep” I’m talking 3 to 5 feet.

Water Conditions
Water level low. Temp unknown. Water visibility 3-4 feet.

Weather Conditions
Overcast for most of the morning. Once the sun burned through around 11:00 the fishing definitely slowed down.