I've been lurking this forum for a few months and finally decided I should join and post something.

 

This morning I spent a few hours wading the Raytown Dam spillway that connects to the Juniata River. Specifically, in the area of Corbins Island. It's been almost 20 years probably since I had fished there. I caught several nice smallmouth using a green pumpkin 5" Senko. The biggest was probably 4 or 5 pounds if I had to guess. If i can figure out how, I will attach some pics.

 

I was only able to fish until about 11:30 this morning. The bite was on until sometime around 10. From that point on I was getting nibbles but nothing was taking the hook. A storm rolled through around noon. I don't know how much of an affect that may have had.

 

All in all, it was a good day that reminded me of why I used to love fishing so much and of an old friend who passed away way too young that I used to fish these waters with.

Welcome to BR. Nice first post. 

Hello and welcome to the forum.

Some pics of the smallies from this morning...

 

This was one of the smaller ones. Unfortunately I can't seem to get more than one pic to upload for now.

Yesterday I got to do some fishing in the Lewistown area of the Juniata River. I caught 6 smallies in a matter of about 3 hours. 4 of them were caught with a weightless green pumpkin stick bait. 2 were caught using a weightless green pumpkin SK Rage Craw, including the biggest of the day. It was probably a 2 pounder. Unfortunately I haven't figured out how to resize pictures to make them fit yet.

 

I'm trying to gain some confidence using other lures as I mainly stick with a Texas rigged Senko most of the time. I started with a chatterbait but quickly switched over as I wasn't getting any bites.

 

How do you all recommend learning new lures? I have a hard time sticking with a new lure if I'm not getting bites. 

3 minutes ago, Marvin25 said:

How do you all recommend learning new lures? I have a hard time sticking with a new lure if I'm not getting bites. 

Use them when they fit what are the ideal conditions for them. Hopefully that can help you gain confidence in them. 

Hey all,

 

I'm headed out to our deer camp (near Six Mile Run) for a kayak/canoe float trip with some buddies this July.  A few years ago we floated from Cypher to Riddlesburg.  It was a lot longer than expected and we got sunburnt to a crisp.  We caught a decent amount but nothing bigger than 12".  Has anyone done Riddlesburg downstream?  Is there anywhere that would be a good 4-5 hour float with good spots to put in/take out?  We don't have the yaks registered so it would need to be a spot that isn't state owned.  Thanks for the advice in advance.