Susquehanna River Report for May 2011

By Lance Dunham

   This month just seems to continue to be one of the wettest springs I can recall since I started guiding 31 years ago. We have been fishing in some extreme high, fast, muddy waters lately but we have also been catching some really big fish.

  Now to start with, let me take you back to the end of last month. It was raining very hard, as usual, when my clients drove up. It was John Snyder and Jeff Trauger from South East Pa. We nearly didn’t go but after an hour of talking the rain stopped so we decided to give it a try just for a half day. The water was high and muddy so we concentrated on whatever slow water we could find behind islands, up in creek mouths, or any slack water found along the side of the river. We needed a bigger profile lure that would show up in the muddy water. The water was also very cool so a slow working was needed. I chose a black tube jig, fished as slow as we could in any slack water we could find. We started to catch small mouth bass here and there and with the conditions faced, we were doing fine. We had caught 12 smallies when Jeff thought he was caught on the bottom which was common with the fishing pattern we were using. He was tugging at it when I saw his line start to move. I leaned over to Jeff and suggested that he set the hook firmly because his snag was now on the move! And with that the fun began. At first I thought it was a big 30lb plus carp and told him to just keep constant pressure on the fish and have fun. “Lets see if you can get him in for a photo” I said. Jeff fought him well keeping his cool and not getting excited over what we thought was indeed a big carp. I kept the boat out of the way and positioned so he could keep pressure on the fish from just one angle, that way the jig wouldn’t open up a bigger hole in it’s mouth making it easier for the fish to get off. Also with that much strain on the 10lb line I didn’t want it to touch the boat which would have cut the line immediately.

After about 15 minutes or so I got a glimpse of the huge tail and the color of the fish itself. “Musky and a big one, get the cradle net” I said to John in maybe a too excited voice!  “Just keep fighting him the way that you’ve been doing Jeff and when it’s tired enough, slide him into the cradle net”. I looked at the five foot long net and then at the fish and I thought to myself, is this thing going to fit in! After going around in circles and back and forth for what seemed forever, the big fish finally came up to the top after about a 30 minute total fight. Jeff led that fish into the cradle net just like a pro and I put the aluminum poles together closing the top like a big purse. John helped me lift the monster fish in to the boat. I let out a war hoop that could be heard in the next county! Along with some very basic, but very happy words that can’t be printed here. After getting some photos it measured out to 48” and weighed 32lbs with a 24” girth, the biggest musky that ever came into my boat, that’s for sure! We put that monster fish back in the river unharmed and watched it swim away to spread its genes and maybe give another angler the fish of a life time. I was by far much more excited than either of my two clients over Jeff catching that trophy musky. I realized just how special that fish was and it wasn’t until Jeff sent in for his catch and release angler award from the fish commission did he really realized what he had caught.

According to their e-mail, the Fish Commission didn’t know that the musky got that big on the North Branch up here and sent the information to several department heads. Jeff is getting a reproduction mount done by Just Fish Taxidermy in Stevensville, Pa. That big musky was the 13^th fish caught on that day. The number 13 may be unlucky for some folks, but for Jeff it was his lucky day. That little 3” black tube must have just gone by the big fishes head and he snapped at it in the muddy water. Fish that big will not expend the energy to chase after baits that small. The jig was in the center of the muskys top lip away from all those big teeth.

  Just last week another client was fishing with me and at the end of the day he caught a 30” musky on a crank bait. Up from the tail about 8 inches there were teeth marks on both sides showing where a much bigger musky had tried to eat the 30” one! There was also a chunk of flesh taken out of it’s side. We caught this fish about 16 miles from where Jeff Trauger caught his monster. Could there be even a bigger musky lurking in the depths of the Susquehanna bigger that Jeff’s? I sure hope so. Kind of makes one think of the “Jaws” theme music playing in the background. Anyone for a swim?

   Since the river is still  high and muddy I thought you would like to know what we are using this month. Pretty much, when the water gets muddy you need to increase the lure profile, go with dark colors for contrast, and slow down your speed. Blacks, dark blues and purples work good. I make a jig spinner called the “Ultimate Thumper” which is a #4 deep cup Colorado blade for maximum vibration in a gold color. This is attached to a spinner arm to which I attach a 4” black tube on a 5/8 oz jig head that has a 3/0 or 4/0 hook. I can slowly work this spinner across the bottom of the river for maximum vibration and attraction. I suggest you use a clip swivel when using this bait because the extra vibration will weaken your knots.  Another thing is to take a large crank bait with rattles and a big bill so it gets down to and almost plows the bottom of the river. Paint the lure black with a plastic spray paint in muddy situations. It doesn’t need to be a great detailed paint job, remember it’s muddy water. When just using a black tube, add a glass rattle up into the plastic by the head. Also you can add scent to your tube by applying it to the lead jig head first, then inserting it into the tube. Run out of dark lures of any kind on the water, no problem, just use a black magic marker to darken lures up. I always keep one in the boat. In place of the tube you can substitute a large stick worm or creature bait in a dark color.

   Well that’s all for this month, for further reports, photos, and chartering information, visit me on my web site at www.ldguideservice.com . Boat safe and I’ll see you on the water.