May 26, 2022 – Young Kenny Teaches Me How to Use Spinning Gear Again – Susquehanna and Juniata Rivers

Some chunks.

It has been a while, probably since fall surfcasting, that I have picked up a spinning rod for more than ten minutes.  It has also been a while since I’ve gotten to hang out and fish with my boy Kenny.  I got to do both for a full day in Central PA today.  It was good to have four hours in the car to catch up.  It’s been a rough couple of years for all, but fishing always helps.  We met up with Chris Gorsuch of Reel River Adventures after 7 AM this morning.  It was windy at the ramp, which was not the forecast today.  Clouds yes, but not steady wind out of the NNE that was strong enough to push a tank of a boat with three full-sized dudes onboard upriver against current, but that is what we found.  We launched and fished the main stem for a while, and we caught a few fish, and we lost a couple bigger fish, but it was a challenge, so we pulled the boat and moved to the Juniata in hopes of finding better conditions for fishing.  It was a good call, as we had a good day with fish up to 20 inches, despite continued wind and chilly weather.

Chris pulled the sled to two rivers to avoid the wind.

The rivers are healthy.  There was so much bug life for the small bass to chomp on.  Some sort of large drakes got them excited enough to rise steady on the main stem.  Oddly, we could not buy a bite on topwater.  Sometimes smalls looking up can get big mama looking up too, perhaps even to feast on smalls.  Not today.  I stuck with rubber, like neds and tubes for much longer than the nimbler Ken.  He was first to switch to swims and then a shallow running crank, and it paid dividends, as he kicked my butt.  It happens, but it happens the other way just as often.  No competition between us, so it was just awesome to see so many nice fish, even if most of them were not mine!

A few dubs +  Kenny kicking my butt.

Captain Chris gets all excited to deejay the soft rock for me, so everyone wins.  He was spinning the Bee Gees, Boston, Poco, America, etcetera to get me to exercise my impressive pipes, especially my falsetto that has put a lump in the throat (and trousers) of many lesser men and women.  It was hard fishing today and a steady pick, so I did not have time to sing as much as usual, even when Chris tried to persuade me with his disco moves!  We really had to target the small plunges and land the right cast to get eaten, even on the swims.  Even the crankbait was not a toss it out and let is swing proposition today.  Wind does not help casting accuracy, of course, so I was fishing more than singing.  Plus, you know, Kenny was getting a sunburn from all the flashbulbs from his photoshoots, and I had to catch up.  There were a couple hours where the fishing was on.  Cast to the right spot, and *plink*, a good fish picked it up in the case of the swims.  A good cast with a crank was met with the soft grab of a heavy fish.

Smiles, everyone, smiles.

Speaking of which, I did loose probably the best fish of the day at the boat.  Chris already had the net in the water telling me to go easy, don’t change angles like a pro basser, and so on.  My instincts for fighting large brown trouts kicked in, of course.  As this pig was digging for a boulder, I changed the angle on him like he was a trout and I could persuade him to turn the other way.  Nope.  Treble hooks with barbs pulled, go figure….  I did not care, as I have touched many a large smalljaw in my lifetime, but Chris was sad.  For a couple hours after, he could still be found muttering, “That was a big bass.”  We even returned to this spot before calling it a day to see how stupid this fish really was, or if he had equally swole friends hanging in the same spot, but only Kenny picked up another decent fish here, trying yet again another lure style and approach.  The simplicity of a davy knot is dangerous in his hands, and I recalled our days in Canada when he littered the decks of boats with all his lure changes!  Some days that willingness to switch it up works, so he deserved the success he had today, even if he is still a certified mitch.

A true mitch with another nice fish.