Pennsylvania Angler & Boater - March/April 2015 - 13

Every species has its own niche during the summer,
requiring special presentations to reach a particular species
in the expansive, deep reservoir. During the spring warm-up,
almost every species in the lake simply follows the baitfish to
the banks.
"With water temperature climbing into the 50s, it's
time to hit the main lake flats," explained Mark. "Use sidescanning sonar to locate balls of baitfish. Find the bait, and
you've found the fish. At this time of year, you only need a
handful of lures to catch a plethora of species. I always have a
suspending hard jerkbait, a weightless soft jerkbait and either
a soft swimbait or swim-tail grub. This bait selection will
catch every gamefish species swimming in Raystown Lake."
"Since the impounded river winds back and forth from
one shore to the other, many banks are simply bluffs, which
fall very rapidly into depths of 100 feet or greater. However,
during this time of year, you want to fish the banks, which
have a slow taper out to deep water."
Bringing the boat on plane, Mark headed south towards
a favorite shoreline. As we approached the bank, the sonar
reading quickly jumped to 25 feet then slowly climbed
shallower as we neared a series of deadfalls lying along the
shore, partially in the water.
Mark and Dale moved to the front deck, and I climbed
onto the rear deck where I had a commanding view for
photography. It was only minutes before Dale and Mark each
landed a Largemouth Bass on a jerkbait. Ten yards down the
bank, I tagged a Smallmouth Bass on a swimbait. A couple
bass later, Mark stored the trolling motor, and we were off to
another bank.
"This is one of my favorite Smallmouth Bass banks," said
Mark as he dropped the trolling motor. "There are more
rocks than wood in this area."
Making a single pass down the bank, we landed six,
chunky Smallmouth Bass on soft jerkbaits and swimbaits.
"Work it again?" I suggested.
"I like to make one pass and move to another bank. You
never know what you may catch around the next bend on
this lake," said Mark.
Mark was correct, and his next bank produced a few
24-inch Striped Bass, a Walleye and several perch.
Then, we hit a dry spell, working two banks stretches
without a bite. But, we made up for that lull on the next spot
with several Largemouth Bass and big fish that didn't like
being fooled with an artificial lure. The unseen monster hit
Dale's swimbait hard, stripped some line from the reel and
snapped the 8-pound-test line. Was it a big Muskellunge or
oversized Striped Bass?
Mark relinquished to my pestering to hit the Smallmouth
Bass bank on the way back. Fish immediately struck
everything we threw-hard jerkbaits, swimbaits and grubs.
For 15 minutes, it was fish after fish. However, the fish were
not Smallmouth Bass but Lake Trout. You can be sure
that I'm making plans for a return trip to Raystown Lake
this April.
PFBC website: www.ﬁshandboat.com

Smallmouth Bass fishing alone is worth a trip to Raystown Lake
in April.

Shown here is a selection of productive lures for April on
Raystown Lake. These baits are effective for Largemouth Bass,
Smallmouth Bass, Striped Bass, Walleyes and Lake Trout.
Pictured are (left column) suspending hard jerkbaits, (center
column) swimbaits and grubs and (right column) soft jerkbaits.

Pennsylvania Angler & Boater * March/April 2015

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Pennsylvania Angler & Boater - March/April 2015

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