September 15, 2024 – Some More Smallmouths Until We Get More Rain and Consistently Cooler Temperatures – Delaware River

Some early evidence the leech might just work.

I know there are a lot of species out there to chase, but I guess I am mostly a wild trout guy at heart these days.  After the good outing last weekend, I was really wanting to chase some trout this weekend, but I just could not see the point when better days are surely ahead.  I do have two other favorite fish, of course, and you may have even seen them featured here on this blog.  One is definitely the striped bass in the surf, but I have also had a long love affair with the smallmouth bass.  Since I’ve been a kid, I have enjoyed chasing the smalljaw, especially in rivers.  I have fond memories of floating the Delaware with my old man in a Grumman squareback canoe.  I don’t remember the bass back then being as porky as they are now, so some things do change for the better over time, even if it’s just my skills.  That said, I have even seen evidence that a couple other local rivers that were once in decline have bounced back.  There are a lot more striped bass in the river too, but that is another story for another time.  Putting the trout on hold for now, I rigged up the 7-weight last night and decided to head upriver.

Deer didn't make it; some bonus fish pics.

Today, I decided to continue my “research” project with the bobber and the balanced leech.  One evening when I was on the Juniata this summer for the Josh Jamboree, I had a great evening drifting the level-sinking leech over the tops of weedbeds.  I was wondering if I could make this same system work in more rocky environments with more gradient.  I have a favorite little stretch of the Delaware that would be treacherous to wade fish in anything but late summer low flows.  The boy and I fished it this summer with spinning gear, with limited success, but we caught a few, and I actually saw many more spooky bass than we caught.  Today, I got out there early and was assisted by a fog that persisted into the 9 AM hour.  I tried an olive leech, but once I switched to a purple/blurple one, which probably does a good job of imitating a dobsonfly nymph/hellgrammite, it was game on.  I caught three nice bass, a few average ones, and even a couple fallfish before I decided to call it good.

Another nicer fish on the leech

The sun was hot and right in my face once the haze burned off, and the walk down into this spot is pretty aerobic, so I was happy to end things and hike back around 10:30 AM to avoid the 80-degree heat that was coming.  I was wet wading, and the morning was pretty darn comfortable, with low humidity and a slight breeze once the sun got up, but it was actually cooler at home because of the East wind and the clouds those conditons typically bring to Philly and the nearer suburbs.  Had it stayed that cool and cloudy in Northampton County, I may have stretched the proceedings another hour.  I was content with the leech experiment and very pleased with the size of a couple of these bass, so four hours was enough this morning.  

Some early river pics.

I partially have Lars to thank for me heading to the river this morning.  Not that I fished one of his spots or anything, but he shared a positive report from a couple days ago.  He had fish on topwater and the murdich minnow, but I resisted the urge once I caught a good bass using my chosen method today.  Sometimes you want to catch them the way you want to catch them?  Of course, if I was handed a goose egg early, I may have thrown everything in the box at them.  Thankfully, I did not have to.  The leech thing would be great from a drift boat, maybe even better with some long-ass drifts, and it definitely excelled in the Juniata, especially in the uniform grassy flats.  The Delaware took more adjustments for depth and variable and competing currents (a lot of mending) but it works, yo, so call it another tool when conditions are right.  I am praying that the forecasted rain for midweek actually amounts to something.  I miss those brown trouts, who will be feeding up before the spawn pretty soon, but there are far worse ways to spend a morning than how I spent this one.

Another chunker.