The Susquehanna-Juniata river system is one of the top smallmouth bass fisheries in the country. Regardless of the columnaris problem and low recruitment for the few years preceding 2005, fishing here is still very good.

This is but one element of the Pennsylvania bass scene, however. Elsewhere, the outlook is generally better in comparison to previous years.

That said, even though other river systems in Pennsylvania have more encouraging news relative to the long term, the Susquehanna River basin still has the best smallmouth fishing among our river systems.

"Anglers are going to see a lot of small fish in 2006, and releasing those fish carefully is going to be important," Lorantas advised.

LAKES AND PONDS
Studies are ongoing in Pennsylvania's lakes and reservoirs.

Said Lorantas, "We're in the process of doing some summary work on smallmouths and largemouths in lakes and reservoirs across the state. Generally, warmer-than-normal conditions tended to affect survey success."

Tournament anglers last year reported results that were down somewhat. Reports from bass tournaments are just one of the ways these fish are studied in our standing waters. More about this as we look into bass fishing region by region.

Following a recent trend resulting from dam safety inspections, Duke Lake in Greene County and Opossum Creek Lake in Cumberland County have been drawn down to facilitate dam repairs. Both lakes were in the PFBC's Big Bass Program.

"Those lakes had some pretty nice bass that won't be available to anglers this year," Lorantas pointed out.

SOUTH-CENTRAL REGION
In 2000, Perez Lake was drained for repairs to the dam. The following year, the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission restocked the lake. A survey last year found a hardy population of largemouth bass up to 15 inches. This lake is in the Stone Valley Recreation Area and is owned by Penn State University.

Bass fishing has also been getting better at Koon Lake. During nighttime electro-shocking surveys conducted in May 2005, Fish and Boat Commission biologists reported a catch rate of 174 bass per hour, the best ever for this water. For bass over 12 inches, the catch rate was more than 69 fish per hour and for bass over 15 inches, it was nearly 16 fish per hour. The largest bass sampled was 22 inches in length and weighed 6 pounds, 3 ounces.

Part of the study at Koon Lake is of growth rates determined from scale samples. It takes bass three years to grow to 9 inches, five years to reach 13 inches and eight years to reach 18 inches.

Koon Lake in southern Bedford County is a 268-acre impoundment owned by the Evitts Creek Water Company. It supplies water for the city of Cumberland, Maryland. Boats must be carried to the lake. Only electric-powered motors may be used.

"It's an excellent place for largemouths and smallmouths," said biologist Dave Miko.

SOUTHWEST REGION
Since Big Bass Program regulations were implemented in 1998, they've had the desired results at Lake Somerset. Although the night electro-shocking catch rate of 45 bass per hour doesn't rank among the top lakes in the commonwealth, it's a distinct improvement. The catch rate of bass over 12 inches was 17 per hour and for bass over 15 inches, six per hour. The largest bass sampled was 22 inches in length and weighed 7.8 pounds. It's a pretty sure bet that this lake holds even larger bass.