{Tidal Potomac Fly Rodders} Susquehanna Float....What happened to the upper potomac...

This summer has been by far the hardest I have ever worked for smallies on the Potomac.  When I was first beginning to fly fish, I would wade the river around lock 7 and always pick up a couple of decent smallmouth even though I could barely cast.  Now, after about 7 years of fly experience under my belt, I have been lucky to catch 1 fish in a couple of hours of fishing in the same spot...  It just seems as if the number of smallmouth in the river from great falls up to the confluence of the shennandoah have significantly diminished since ~2016.  

Having said that, I have always heard great things about the Susquehanna.  I decided to rent a skiff from the guys at Riverfront Campground and as per recommendations did a 6.5 on the Juniata river and took out where it converges with the Susquehanna.  This river is just a better fishery than the Potomac.  It seemed as if every cast there was 2-3 smallmouth chasing my fly.  I must have landed 25 smallies duirng a 4.5 hour float (however, about 20 of them were less than 10 inches).  Even though most of the fish were small, towards the end of the float I switched to a large articulated streamer and promptly hooked a ~17.5 inch fish dead drifting in a deep pool.  Other than that fish, I caught 2 fish that were probably about 13-14 inches or so.  To summarize, this fishery is absolutely full of smallmouth.  When I would take a break from casting and look down into the water while drifting I would see scores of smallmouth, carp, catfish, baitfish, crayfish, etc...the place is just exploding with aquatic life.  

Wanted to know if other people have been having similar experiences this summer on the upper potomac.  As much as I do like catching smallies the 2 hour drive each way to the Sus is draining and would like to have some productive fishing a bit closer by.

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