The Susquehanna River, like many rivers, offers various species for those who love to fish. When it comes to freshwater fishing, the Susquehanna is one of the best places in the Eastern United States. There is plenty of fish and various fishing areas to be found, and the waters are always very manageable. Just be careful of the rocks. Whether you want to fly fish, fish from the shore, or from a boat, the Susquehanna River offers it all. The options change with the seasons.
FLATHEAD CATFISH
(Pylodictis olivares)
Also called by several common names including mudcat, yellow cat, Johnnie cat, or shovelhead cat, it's a large species of North American freshwater catfish in the family Ictaluridae. The flathead catfish prefer live prey. It is a voracious carnivore and feeds primarily on fishes, insects, annelid worms, and crustaceans. It also feeds on other small catfish and almost anything that moves and makes vibration.
SMALLMOUTH BASS
(Micropterus dolomieu)
Its common names include smallmouth, bronzeback, brown bass, brownie, smallie, bronze bass, and bareback bass. One of the black basses, it is a popular game fish sought by anglers throughout the temperate zones of North America and has been spread by stocking. They have been seen eating tadpoles, fish, aquatic insects, and crayfish.
CHANNEL CATFISH
(Ictalurus punctatus)
It's North America's most numerous catfish species. It's popular. It's the official fish of Kansas, Missouri, Iowa, Nebraska, and Tennessee. Sometimes referred to as a channel cat. It's the United States' most-fished catfish with around 8 million anglers after them every year. They've rapidly expanded as the core of aquaculture. Catfish have enhanced capabilities of taste perception, hence called the “swimming tongue”, due to the presence of taste buds all over the external body surface and inside the oropharyngeal cavity.
MUSKELLUNGE
(Esox masquinongy)
Also known as muskelunge, muscallonge, milliganong, or maskinonge (and often abbreviated "muskie" or "musky"), it's a species of large, relatively uncommon freshwater fish native to North America. It's the largest member of the pike family. They eat all varieties of fish present in their ecosystem (including other muskellunge), along with the occasional muskrat, rat, frog, or duck.In the spring, they tend to prefer smaller bait since their metabolism is slower, while large bait are preferred in fall as preparation for winter.
WALLEYE
(Sander vitreus)
The common name, "walleye", comes from the fact that the fish's eyes point outward, as if looking at the walls. This externally facing orientation of the eyes gives anglers an advantage in the dark because a certain eyeshine is given off by the eye of the walleye in the dark, similar to that of lions and other nocturnal animals. Because of their visual acuity under low light, they tend to feed more extensively at dawn and dusk, on cloudy or overcast days, and under choppy conditions when light penetration into the water column is disrupted.
(Cyprinus carpio)
COMMON CARP
The Common Carp is a widespread freshwater fish of eutrophic waters in lakes and large rivers and is often considered a destructive invasive species. They are the third most frequently introduced (fish) species worldwide, and their history as a farmed fish dates back to Roman times. Common carp are omnivorous. They can eat a herbivorous diet of aquatic plants, but prefer to scavenge the bottom for insects, crustaceans crawfish, and benthic worms.
BROOK TROUT
(Salvelinus fontinalis)
A freshwater fish also known as the eastern brook trout, speckled trout, brook charr, squaretail, or mud trout, among others. They prefer clear waters of high purity and a narrow pH range and are sensitive to poor oxygenation, pollution, and changes in pH. Brook trout have a diverse diet that includes larval, pupal, and adult forms of aquatic insects like caddisflies, stoneflies, and mayflies. They'll eat terrestrial insects like ants, beetles, grasshoppers, and crickets that fall into the water. They'll eat smaller fish, invertebrates, and even small aquatic mammals such as voles.
BROWN TROUT
(Salmo trutta)
Cover or structure is important to trout, and they are more likely to be found near submerged rocks and logs, undercut banks, and overhanging vegetation. Cover provides protection from predators, bright sunlight, and higher water temperatures. Access to deep water for protection in winter freezes, or fast water for protection from low oxygen levels in summer are also ideal. Trout are more often found in heavy and strong currents.
RAINBOW TROUT
(Oncorhynchus mykiss)
Wild-caught and hatchery-reared forms of this species have been transplanted and introduced for food or sport in at least 45 countries and every continent except Antarctica. Rainbow trout are predators with a varied diet and will eat nearly anything they can capture. They are not as piscivorous or aggressive as brown trout or chars. Rainbow trout, including juvenile steelhead in freshwater, routinely feed on larval, pupal and adult forms of aquatic insects
AMERICAN SHAD
(Alosa sapidissima)
The American shad is not closely related to the other North American shads. Rather, it seems to form a lineage that diverged from a common ancestor of the European taxa before these diversified. The shad spends most of its life in the Atlantic Ocean but swims up freshwater rivers to spawn. An important fish to past generations of the Washington Boro area, it's not nearly as plentiful as it once was. Read more about that here.