Susquehanna River Fishing Guides and Conditions, Pennsylvania

About the Susquehanna River

The Susquehanna is the largest river on the East Coast and the most important smallmouth bass fishery in the mid-Atlantic. Through central Pennsylvania it is broad and shallow, running over limestone ledges in a braid of channels around wooded islands, and at Harrisburg it is nearly a mile wide with water you can wade across in places at summer flows. That geometry, ledges and grass and current seams, is exactly what smallmouth want.

Guided trips here run out of jet boats and shallow-draft skiffs because the ledges make a conventional prop boat a bad idea. Anglers throw topwater in the low light, tubes and swimbaits on the ledges through the day, and flies on floating and intermediate lines all summer. The river also holds a well-regarded muskellunge fishery, walleye, and both channel and flathead catfish, and the flathead population has grown substantially in recent years.

The Susquehanna smallmouth population went through a serious decline in the 2000s tied to disease and young-of-year mortality, prompting catch-and-release regulations on much of the river. The fishery has improved since, and current regulations on the main stem reflect ongoing management, so check the season and gear rules for the specific section you plan to fish.

The Harrisburg gauge reads a very large basin. Summer fishing flows are typically in the low thousands of cfs and the river wades and poles easily; spring and storm flows in the tens of thousands make it unfishable and dangerous. Visibility is often the limiting factor rather than level.

Harrisburg, Duncannon, Marysville and Sunbury all sit on the water, with ramps and lodging throughout.

Access

Sunbury and the West and North Branch confluence: top of the main stem.
Halifax, Millersburg and Liverpool: mid-river ramps north of Harrisburg.
Duncannon and the Juniata confluence: a major access point and a productive reach.
Fort Hunter and City Island, Harrisburg: town ramps near the gauge.
Highspire, Middletown and Falmouth: ramps in the lower Harrisburg pool.
Columbia and Marietta: access to the lower river above the Holtwood and Conowingo pools.

Seasons

April and May: pre-spawn smallmouth, high water, big fish; check catch-and-release dates.
June through August: the main season, topwater at dawn, wading and poling the flats.
September and October: fall feeding, the best month of the year for size.
November through March: musky and walleye focus; smallmouth hold in the deeper pools.