Windy, Sunny, Rising Water 04/29/10

Hello Folks,

I launched from the Swatara Creek Access today and fished up along the creek bank before venturing onto the windy river conditions. It was definitely a lot worse going out this morning than running back!

The wind was blowing strong in the morning and seemed to be between 15-20 mph with greater gusts. I had white caps on the water. The breeze diminished as the day progressed to about 10-15 mph. It was a bit easier run back to the ramp. I didn't get beat up as much in the modV.

The river was rising throughout the day and was a little over 5' when I launched and 5.32' when I returned at 3:00 p.m. That's approximately a 3.6" rise throughout the day.

I launched around 8:30 a.m. and caught one 14" bass on a spinnerbait in the creek. I met a couple of kayak anglers who were staying out of the wind today and fishing the lower Swattie. I don't blame them. It would have been a killer for them to be out on the main stem in all that wind.

After fishing the creek for the first hour of the day, I decided to run north and see what I could do on the main river. The water was rather dirty as I approached the Dock Street Dam. The "cleaner" (far from clear) water was running in the middle.

The east shoreline was a dirty brown and getting worse. Below New Cumberland on the west shoreline, the water was a better quality with a visibility of 2.5'.

The creek was showing a temperature of 49.8 degrees. The main river fluctuated between 52.2 degrees and 53 degrees. It wasn't that much of a rise even with the blue bird sky I had today.

I was able to catch only two bass the entire windy day. Although I threw crankbaits, jerkbaits, and tubes, the spinnerbait helped me not get skunked.

Take Care,
Dad

p.s. There was a glitch in my I-Kam sunglasses. I couldn't reset the date and time. Therefore, I'll be returning this pair for a brand new pair. Let's hope all goes well with the new sunglasses so I can get back out there and make more I-Kam videos!