Ledges, Whitewater & Bridge Pilings

River Smallmouth Trip, early summer, Susquehanna River
June 30th, 2023. Access Point: West side, just upstream of Rockville Bridge in Marysville, Pennsylvania. USGS Streamflow Gauge height at Harrisburg: 4.03 feet, steady. Weather: clear skies as far as cloud cover, but haze from Canadian wildfires. You could smell it. Visibility reduced to less than 3 miles. Occasional brief showers in the afternoon.
Pattern 1: Crankbaiting the upstream side of LEDGE ROCKS in a deeper pool - this was ACCELERATING CURRENT as the ledge rock pinched the flow upward. Casting parallel to the ledge rock to keep the crankbait in the sweet spot for the entire duration of the retrieve was key.
Pattern 2: White Z-Man Jackhammer tossed into the WHITEWATER of a major ledge system rapid. These "eat spots" are productive at certain times of the day and certain river level trends. Dusk and Dawn are the times of day. Rising river is the preferred trend. I got my largest of the trip, a 19.5 incher with this pattern near dusk. I slept in too much to hit the dawn bite.
Pattern 3: Any moving bait thrown across current seams and log jams around BRIDGE PILINGS.
Other topics covered: custom rods, crankbait maintenance, rigging a kayak for standing up and sight fishing, reading water.

[@justinkemper8209]

My favorite videos to watch on KZbin!

[@TheLittleStuff]

Thanks Justin. My river smallmouth videos get the most views.

[@kerrylongjr.4534]

So much knowledge love the videos and all the preparation u put into them always learn so much from your videos

[@TheLittleStuff]

Thanks Kerry. I enjoy teaching it.

[@jasonvenesky2438]

Some outstanding footage pointing out the push and accelerating water. I love watching you dial in patterns. Great work!

[@TheLittleStuff]

The wild thing is how quickly these “preferred positions” shift with the river level coming up or down. I need to print some gauge graphs and match some illustrations to them and discuss these position shifts in response to more streamflow or less.

[@user-ux7wh1yd5e]

Your a good fisherman but a good artist too!!!

[@TheLittleStuff]

Thanks. I enjoy that aspect of the story telling.

[@qqqwertyuogfdksjhyui]

Awesome content as usual especially like the drawings. Doing a whiteboard Wednesday once a month with nothing but drawings covering maybe 2 or 3 of the presentation/location concepts you’re trying to teach people that month might be a pretty cool. Kinda like an instructional seminar for us 3%ers. Thanks for all the great content.

[@TheLittleStuff]

I’ll do more illustrations soon. I actually have one worth drawing up on fan casting to figure out where they are in that ledge, ledge trench, taper up sequence at different river levels. Thanks for the comment and watch time!

[@riverrat988]

Way to put a pattern together. You rock Jeff

[@TheLittleStuff]

Thanks! I’ll apply some of these to the New River Smallmouth soon!

[@meyouknow1226]

💪good video

[@TheLittleStuff]

Thanks! 😃

[@zoommaster7253]

Can’t wait lol happy 4th

[@TheLittleStuff]

Happy Independence Day! 🇺🇸

[@jeffreyriddle4645]

Fishing 101 by the drawing master! Awesome content. Ty.

[@TheLittleStuff]

Thanks Jeffrey.

[@JakeHarshman]

Hell yeah it's drawing time!

[@TheLittleStuff]

I knew you would like that Jake.

[@jeffreyriddle4645]

You get entertained easily

[@JakeHarshman]

@@jeffreyriddle4645 you better lower the bass in your voice when you're talking to me lol

[@timothythompson6549]

Jeff, in the future if you have trouble with keeping the reel in there tight try putting a few wraps of Teflon tape on the threads.

[@TheLittleStuff]

I’ll try that. There’s more issues with that rod, and the replacement custom one I used yesterday for the first time was perfect! It’s a little more powerful than this one, and I horsed the first few fish, but I got my fighting speed dialed in quickly. It will be able to move them away from wood better than the one in this video. I’ll go put the Teflon tape on this one though. I can keep it as a back up for a friend.

[@ryandoll3684]

When you pulled that Big Jackhammer out with the 7” trailer in the whitewater I had a feeling what was going to happen 🔥 Thanks for all you do Jeff ! I’ll be coming up in a few weeks I’m pretty sure 🙏

[@TheLittleStuff]

Let me know when you’re coming Ryan!

[@aceboardtheangler5252]

Nice video 🤘🏽 You may need a neck gator for that smoke.

[@TheLittleStuff]

Yep. That was the worst day of it so far.

[@ChuckEarls]

Great video Jeff!! Always jam-packed with knowledge

[@TheLittleStuff]

Thanks Chuck.

[@georgetollefsen994]

Jeff I went fishing yesterday and the smallys were picking up the jackhammer off 😂bottom so I started letting it fall then picking it off the bottom and dropping it and starting picking up fish where I was powering the same jackhammer? Who knows what these fish will hit next. Great video as always 👍

[@TheLittleStuff]

I did some of that yesterday- intentionally letting it fall to the bottom, then restarting it. I used a green one with the Z-Man BatWingZ craw trailer to make it crawfish like instead of baitfish like. Good to hear you’re experimenting with varied retrieves. So few people do that.

[@georgetollefsen994]

@@TheLittleStuff I have a lot of baits and I always fall back to green pumpkin ! Lol I think I waste my money on other colors? Shad color, black and green pumpkin seems to be the only color you need and Green pumpkin 95% of the time is really the way I have the most success? The Nikko Helgermite drifted on a Zman bullet jig head 1/15 or lighter is picking up fish really well and big fish 19 to 21-3/4 my biggest. My local river is the South Branch Raritain River which is small. Maybe that will get some bigger fish in the Susquehanna? The larger fish in my river won’t touch a hard crankbait or a swim bait lately, to much pressure. Just finesse baits ?

[@colinkelly279]

Recommendations on Treble replacements? Seem to recall recently seeing a pic you posted of what looked like a bulk bag of them.

[@TheLittleStuff]

Yep. Go find my Instagram account JeffLittleKayakFishing and read the description on the post where I am holding a bunch of the craw cranks. The Owner ST-36, size 4 is the way to go. The Gamakatsu ones I used did not poke a single fish yesterday. They were all hooked on the Owner, even though I experimented with the Gamakatsu ones in the belly position. By the way, those Gamakatsu ones are the right hook for striper fishing. They just don’t do as well on the smallmouth, which believe it or not is the slower hitting fish of the two. Stripers speed through the hit. The highly pressured smallmouth on the Susquehanna approach it from behind, mouth it to see if it’s real, let it out of the mouth, then go back to eat it once it’s disabled. They do that with real craws. They suck it in, spit it out, then eat. The Owners are a fiber wire hook and gather flesh easier on that first hit. But you need a moderate action rod to not straighten such a fine wire hook. I have a video coming soon on my new custom crankbait rod.

[@harkleroadster]

Always love the drawings along with the explanations,Thank you! I mostly river fish in East Tennessee, seems like the top water disturbances are more from random big boulders instead of a seam…? ….but I am an old rookie, so it’s just a guess

[@TheLittleStuff]

I’ve fished some in eastern Tennessee. Yes, you have more individual submerged boulders than linear ledges like we do on the Susquehanna north of Harrisburg. These features are in a lot of Appalachian rivers, but on the Susquehanna they are incredibly dominant where we have seven major mountain ridges that the river wore through over time. The Shenandoah watershed has a lot of these linear ledges as well.

[@harkleroadster]

@@TheLittleStuff if you have and advice, and time to give it, it would be much appreciated! No worries if not, you’re a busy fella 👊

[@georgetollefsen994]

Happy Fourth!

[@TheLittleStuff]

Thanks George! We are the luckiest people on earth to live in this country. So few people realize that. 🇺🇸

[@juancanon1459]

Have you guys ever tried mounting one of those spot lock remote controlled trolling motors on the osprey?

[@TheLittleStuff]

Nope. Bow mounts are slow and have no place on a river kayak, at least not in the manner I am fishing it. I need a motor to kick up, so it belongs on the stern. Lake fishing? Sure. River fishing is different.

[@albertgremmel3899]

I like the crankbait with the blue bottom, the crayfish on Susquehanna have the blue along their edges. What brand has that color?

[@TheLittleStuff]

The Berkley Money Badger comes with that blue and brown combination. The cranks in this video are LiveTarget. They were discontinued some years back. I keep rehabilitating the ones I own. I’ll dive for one that is snagged and does not come back when I slide the 2 oz lead plugknocker down my line to dislodge it. Color is pretty far down the line in terms of what makes them eat it. Motion, noise (rattles and the noise of the bill smacking rocks), if it runs straight and doesn’t roll at high speed, the depth it runs all matter more to me.

[@TWC6724]

I flipped my kayak for the first time in the middle of a cove last week. My own stupid move. I was next to a submerged tree and wanted to back up to throw a jig to the bottom of it and instead of using my pedals to back up, I used my hand to push against the tree and it had way too much give, lost my balance and down she went. Lost 2 rods and my lithium battery box to my sonar unit sank as well. Total bummer! I always thought my first time would be from a boat wake or something. Live and learn I guess. Especially hurts when I know it was my fault!

[@TheLittleStuff]

That stinks. It happens. It happens less when you have flipped intentionally a bunch of times as practice.

[@bradleygarman3436]

Thanks for another great video, what is the name of the knife that you have on your vest?

[@TheLittleStuff]

It’s the NRS Copilot. If you use an anchor, it’s important to have a knife on your lifevest.

[@johnwhite993]

Congrats on becoming a Batson staffer. They couldn’t pick a better ambassador. Is the blue bait caster the solid one piece that you showed a while back? What brand is it please. Great lessons as always Jeff. A big thank you for sharing all your knowledge with us ant taking us along on your adventures. Proud 3%er. Some nice smallies there too. Looking forward to the next adventure

[@TheLittleStuff]

Thanks John. Yes, the Baitcaster is the Bates Fishing Co “El Jefe”, a solid CNC machined from bar stock aluminum reel.

[@johnwhite993]

@@TheLittleStuff I remember it being a solid aluminum but couldn’t remember the name.

[@colinkelly279]

As I will be unable to save the cash for a Torqueedo any time soon, is that area realistically fishable under pedal power? It is a 2 hour drive, and I want to make it for sure, but I also want to know that it I am capable of making a run at it when I get there. Thanks.

[@juancanon1459]

Been wondering the same thing myself except I’m even farther away

[@TheLittleStuff]

Pedal? Maybe the Jackson one that kicks up. Paddling is better. I paddled this river for years before putting a Torqeedo on my kayak. That being said, my number of casts increases 1600% with the Torqeedo and foot control steering compared to paddling. The river is just rough on a pedal drive. The Ultralight 1103 is tough and handles the grind and strong current.

[@colinkelly279]

@@TheLittleStuff I suppose the answer for me is to find a good launch spot that is paddle distance from where I can hook up. Started to scout the area and I am sure I can figure it out. Appreciate the insight.

[@TWC6724]

What size reel is that you’re fishing with? I’m thinking of getting something smaller for small finesse baits like neds and micro baits.

[@TheLittleStuff]

The baitcaster is a Bates Fishing Co “El Jefe”, 8.1:1, 33 inches of line pickup per crank. The spinning reels vary. Some 2500, 3000, 3500 sizes.

[@brendanlee8287]

Jeff when the river is on the rise are you still focusing on the same areas Seams, ledges, bridge pilings or are you doing the tributaries more

[@TheLittleStuff]

Brendan, I filmed this last Friday. I filmed again yesterday and the river was higher and rising. The “immediately upstream of the ledges” part of the pattern dissolved with the increase in flow. When the river rises, they tighten up into the calmer areas downstream of the ledges. They also move to shoreline eddies. I can’t give you a specific gauge number, but the Harrisburg gauge reading on the day of this video was 4.03. Yesterday it was rising from about 4.3 to 4.4. I was also further upstream, so the rise was hitting me sooner than the Harrisburg gauge showed. I smashed them good yesterday. I would not resort to fishing tributaries this time of year. That’s better in true flood conditions or spring. Watch the video “Creek Mouth Hopping” for that intel.

[@brendanlee8287]

Thanks Jeff. I hope to get out on Friday.

[@flyslinger2]

If I recall you are a tall dude. Do you think standing increases the chance of you being seen? For smallies I always stay low, no matter what the water.

[@TheLittleStuff]

If you drift through motionless, looking I don’t think it hurts you as badly as it helps with reading water and spotting individual fish and cover from a distance. Now creeks and bumps in the kayak- that ruins your chances by spooking fish. The inflatable kayak insulates your movement from carrying unnatural noise to the fish.

[@flyslinger2]

@@TheLittleStuff I watched the video that Innovative Sportsmen had on their website about the Osprey (they named their boat after a squawking nuisance? lol) . I primarily fish the upper and lower Potomac and the Susquehanna. It's not uncommon to take 2 footers or higher over the bow if you are headed into the wind. How do you keep from having all of your gear getting washed overboard? I notice there are no scuppers, and rightfully so.