Independence Day on the River

I got to the river shortly after 6:00 this morning. As I walked down a small foot trail something across the river caught my eye.I only got one shot and was pushing the zoom all the way on the little point and shoot camera, but you can see what it was. This river is the main water source for Lake Raystown, the largest lake to Pa. Recently eagles have begun to nest there and they sometimes travel up the river in search of food.

The action started soon after I entered the river.

A nice smallie about a foot long.

This stretch of river was home to 3 nice smallies, 2 of which I was able to land.

One of the hardest birds for me to get a pic of, this Great Blue Heron stayed just at the far reaches of my zoom.

Caught some nice Rock Bass also. Here's a nicely colored one that fell to a plastic worm.

A couple more stretches that gave me several nice fish.

After landing a fish I happened to glance downriver and this is what I saw.

At least 4 bucks and a couple of does feeding on a small island. They kept an eye on me but weren't too concerned.

A couple of these boys are going to be wall hangers by fall.

After 4 1/2 hours my back and stomach told me it was time to head back to the truck. During the long wade back I looked for something to take pics of and found these.

So ended a wonderful morning on the river. I caught at least a dozen smallies between 10-13 inches, all nice chucky, healthy looking bass of the same year class. Some nice Rock Bass too, but am a little concerned because I didn't catch any small bass. Possibly meaning that the spawn from the last couple of years didn't survive, at least in this section of the river. Those 5-6 inch smallies can be a nuisance, but they in turn become the nice bass that you catch on future trips.