The discharge wasn't running at full tilt so the water was still quite cold ranging from 35 degrees to about 40 degrees. What the discharge did do is create a "swath" of water clear of floating ice chunks. The strip of clear water extended about 3 miles below the discharge and ranged from 1/3 the width of the river or a little less in some areas. Had the river been full of ice...I would not have paddled.

I ended up with 2 smallmouths in about 4 hours of fishing. I spent a lot of time paddling. As a matter of fact I paddled about 2 miles upstream scouting various areas. I found two really promising looking areas. One didn't produce but I'm confident it holds fish. The second area was a nice eddy caused by a "small wooded point". This area produced two fish for me. A 16 incher and a nice 18.5.

All my fish came on a Winco's Chillee Willee. I hate to sound like a broken record but that bait has been producing for me this winter. A slow drag and a looooong motionless pause was the ticket. I felt taps on both fish but they were VERY faint. I missed a third fish in the same area.

The water was very low and VERY clear. Air temps while I was fishing ranged from 18 degrees to a high of 25 degrees. It was snowing...it's always a blast to fish in the snow!

When you see one of these it may not be a good day to fish. Check out the ice chunks on the river in the background. You can barely make them out...but they are there.

 

No Wade, I'm not going yak sledding?

One of my winter football fatties.

For more information about Juan check out our recommended guides list or his website kayakfishpa.com.