In looking at this season's prospects, Lorantas alluded to last year's history: "Perhaps the best news for 2006 was that there was no news in terms of disease problems or serious broad-scale habitat problems. Hopefully, those circumstances will continue and be reflected in good bass fishing in 20007 and beyond."

NORTHEAST REGION
Last summer, Northeast Region anglers gave the PFBC quite a scare when fishermen reported finding skin lessons on largemouths in Lower Woods Pond. Following incidents of skin growths and bad fishing on the lower Susquehanna River in recent years, there was concern that a further spread of columnaris would cause immense problems with Pennsylvania's bass populations.

According to Area 5 fisheries manager Dave Arnold, bass anglers in a tournament noted that some of the bass had open sores around their heads and reddish blotches on their sides.

In July, a team of biologists surveyed Lower Woods Pond in the Poconos' Wayne County. In a little over an hour of daylight electro-shocking, biologists collected 27 largemouths Indeed, skin lesions were found on some. Eight of the 27 bass exhibited regions of skin irritations.

The affected bass were placed on ice and transported to Lamar, Pa., for analysis at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Fish Health Unit.

"Test results from the largemouth bass submitted for pathogenic analysis were negative for viral and certifiable bacterial pathogens," Arnold said. "Toxicology tests were also negative. What we do know is that motile aeromonads, a bacterial group, were present in five of the 16 bass sampled."

Motile aeronomads are common bacteria in soil and water and can become pathogenic when fish become stressed.

"Although the exact cause is not known, motile aeronomads are the leading candidate for causing these skin irritations," Arnold said. "Very cool May and June temperatures might have prolonged the spawning period, extending the physiological stress associated with spawning.

"The age of the bass noted with lesions should be four to seven years, based on previous Lower Woods Pond age data. These are the prime ages for spawning. Largemouth bass younger than the spawning age did not exhibit external signs of skin irritations as noted during our survey."

The bottom line was that the Lower Woods Pond bass did not have the columnaris associated with the Susquehanna River.

According to 2005 tournament records, Northeast Region anglers at Fairview Lake, Lake Wallenpaupack and Tobyhanna Lake caught above the state of fish-per-angler average.

SOUTHEAST REGION
The decline in smallmouth fishing on the Susquehanna River has been a source of worry for the Fish and Boat Commission over the last few years. Branches of the big Susquehanna stretch across the state, reaching far into the Northeast, North-central and Western regions.

The Susquehanna's two major forks merge at Sunbury, and the united river flows into the South-central and Southeast portions of the state. Smallmouth fishing seems to have suffered most from the forks down through the southern region and remains problematic.

But there is a bright spot.

Last September, a team of biologists surveyed a stretch of river near Marietta in Lancaster County. The survey team found good numbers of smallmouths in the York-Lancaster county region.

Biologists recorded a catch rate of a dozen legal-length fish per hour, comprising 43 percent of the catch over 12 inches. This marked a record high for the sample site, according to a PFBC report. Legal size for fish in this area is 15 inches or longer.