“Susky 5 Slama-Jama” Top Baits
- kayakjaknebraska
- Aug 21
- 10 min read
By Marty Hughes
Presented by Omnia Fishing, where you can purchase most of these baits and get a $50 gift card when you purchase their Omnia Pro app ($60) by using code KASPRO
Lately, the Susquenhanna River has been a very popular destination for kayak fishing tournaments including the Kayak Adventure Series! With big smallmouths that inhabit just about every nook and cranny on the river it is a must stop for any national kayak fishing series. Top anglers from numerous states took part in this exciting event producing giant bags of smallies! Lets see what the top baits were for the top finishers in the “Susky 5 Slama Jama!”
The KAS champion, Joshua Brewer spent the Friday evening portion of the event looking for sizable fish that would put him in the hunt for a high finish. Coming from New York he grew up fishing the northern section of the Susky which gave him plenty of experience in knowing productive areas and the type of water that would hold the bigger smallmouth. Although he didn’t find the bigger fish that evening he did fill most of the micro bag which is a fun event in itself. Brewer started off Saturday morning at a different launch throwing a Choppo 90in MF Bluegill color on 20lb Viscous no fade braid around bridge pilings and some rocky shoals. He was throwing it on a 7’1” medium fast FishUSA Flagship spinning rod with a Kast King Spartacus II 2000 series spinning reel. Brewer’s bigger fish were caught on this setup.
By late morning the Choppo bite had slowed, even though he was still getting a few blowups but the smallmouth were missing it. Brewer decided to downsize to a smaller Booyah Boss Pop in a chrome/black color. He was throwing the Boss Pop on 20 lb Viscous no fade braid with a 7’1” medium Fish USA Flagship rod with a Kast King Spartacus II 2000 reel. He was casting to shady pockets and along current breaks where he picked up a few more fish. By midday he headed back to the rocky shoals where he started earlier in the morning. He found the fish were holding on rocks and that is when he switched to using a ZMan Big TRD in PB&J color on a Strike King weedless Ned Jig head. He was throwing that on a 7’6” medium light 13 Fishing Fate V3 with a Kast King Royale Legend Glory spooled with 20lb Pline Endurex braided line. He would sight cast to the larger fish and find the ones that would bite. He also caught a few in some shallow backwater pockets at the end of the day.
Kristine Fischer of Nebraska basically threw three baits the entire week of practice and during the tournament. The Berkley Choppo is a staple on the Susky and she had success with it along with a wake bait. Another bait that produced some of Fischer’s biggest fish will be announced later this fall. There wasn't one dominant bait, they all caught fish for Kristine. Her sticks of choice were a Fenwick 7’ 2”medium heavy/medium fast world class rod and a 7' 0” medium heavy/fast world class rod.
Jordan Welliver of Pennsylvania expected a very slow start to the afternoon bite, and “thankfully” he was wrong. By 3:30 P.M. he was after one more good one. He caught all of his fish with a vintage Heddon Torpeedo! This 1950’s lure is a classic topwater presentation best known for its spinning prop that creates quite a disturbance on the surface. Welliver mentioned, “This was an awesome experience fishing the KAS!”
John Dalton of Tennessee was not able to pre-fish but he did fish an area previously about a year ago. The water level was quite a bit lower and it fished differently than his previous trip there. Dalton mentioned, “Fishing the Susquehanna is different from any other river I’ve ever fished. I use my Bonafide RVR kayak paired with a Newport 180 Pro motor to make loops in about a half mile area to find fish.
Dalton was able to catch fish on a few different lures, but Day Two he really dialed it in and started catching fish on two specific lures. The 5” Daingerous Swimbait from Bass Mafia and the 4.25” Nikko Hellgrammite were vital to his success. Dalton used the hellgrammite to catch the smallmouth in faster current off shoals. He would just let it drift along the bottom of the river. Then he went on to use the 5 inch swimbait when he started covering water with longer casts.
Joe McElroy of Alabama used a Berkley Choppo Beaver with a Yakrods 7’3” medium heavy/fast X-Chatter rod paired with a Shimano 150 XG 8:5.5 and spooled with Seaguar Smackdown braid. McElroy also threw a Sixth Sense Speed Wake bait on a Yakrods Tethered 6’8” medium heavy/fast rod with a Shimano 150 SLX XT and 16 lb Sunline Super Natural Monofilament line.
Eric Hawks of Georgia strategized a three pronged topwater approach using a Lobina Lures Rio Rico popper which are designed to catch larger fish. Legendary professional angler Rick Clunn made this lure famous with his 1983 US Open win. Hawks threw this lure with a Lews TP-2 fast action 7’ rod paired with a Team Lews Pro 8.3:1 reel. He spooled this reel with 30 lb Power Pro braid and a 12 lb Berkley Big Game 4’ monofilament leader.
Hawk’s number two choice was a Berkley Saltwater 120 mm Choppo on a 7’4” medium heavy Daiwa Tatula regular tip casting rod. The reel was a 7.4:1 Shimano Curado 150 MGL spooled with 17 lb Suffix Advance Monofilament line.
The third lure in this trio of baits was a Berkley 75 mm Choppo on a Daiwa Tatula 7’4” regular tip casting rod combined with a 8.3:1 Lews Tournament Pro LFS casting reel spooled with 15 lb Berkley Big Game Monofilament line.
On Day One, Hawks started off by running a long shady bank with current, rocks, and just enough depth to hold fish; one of only a few banks in the entire middle Susquehanna that offered these key characteristics with its low river levels. He missed several quality fish in the 17 to 20 inch range during the first couple of hours and only had one 16.75” fish by 5:50 p.m. Hawks made his way to the late evening area focused on islands with current, shoals, and rock ledges. With sunlight dimming as the evening progressed, Hawks felt these areas should become more productive and they did, yielding an 18.5” and 19.75” smallmouth as the top producers for his fish by 6 p.m. He followed up with a few others to round things out to an 88.25” Day 1 limit.
Day 2, I started where I left the evening before running the same islands that had yielded a 19.75” and 18.50” fish back to back. My first fish came at 6:22 a.m., a 17.25”er. Shortly after, I lost 2 fish back to back after hooking each for approximately two to three seconds before they both got off. The next bite was the most explosive blowup I had all week of fishing, including pre-practice. I was 1 for 4 on my bite to land ration and I started having flashbacks to the day before when I failed to fish clean. The sun came up soon after and I turned to covering as much water as possible, picking up fish here and there to have a small limit of 80-82”. Around 10 am I had began working my way upstream towards the bank. I had several bites the day prior. I arrived by 11:30 a.m. and the next hour was filled with several catches including a 19, 18.50, 17.25, a couple of 16’s, and a couple of 14’s. The fish bit better on Day 2 in this area and I was able to fish clean up and down the bank, which really helped my standings in both KAS and Native no limit.
The biggest keys for Hawks was covering as much water around grass, ledges, and current areas during low-light. Once the sun was high, it was crucial to find shade and pick it apart. The problem was finding shady areas that had all the right ingredients. On Day Two, Hawks passed numerous kayaks floating down toward him while he was on his way upstream towards the productive shady bank. “If any of those anglers would have fished that bank I wouldn't have had the success I did.” Hawks went on to say, “Those fish would’ve bit for any of those anglers, I’m confident in that. Those fish were aggressive and were there to eat.” Hawks was thankful that none of them fished that bank and he had it all to himself.
Ryan Mentzer of Maryland covered a decent stretch of water in his pursuit of these aggressive smallmouth on the Susky. Mentzer mentioned, “Having the NK180 Pro helped a lot.” He never really dropped anchor or stuck around long to fish spots for extended periods of time. Instead, Mentzer bounced around looking for certain structures where he found them as well as pockets of shade. He noticed the Whopper Plopper spooking a decent amount of fish in the super clear, shallow water so he decided to try burning a ZMan Goat on top of the water instead. Mentzer thanks Jeff Little for the tip on a YouTube video. Mentzer went on to say, “The plopper did end up being my main fish catcher but the goat played its role well when needed.” He had an awesome weekend and hopes that the KAS returns to the Susquehanna next year.
Mentzer’s top presentations:
Size 90 Whopper Plopper in “Loon” with changed split rings and hooks. His rear hook was a size 6. (Helps prevent the bait from rolling he learned) The rod was a 7’ medium heavy/moderate Phenix X Series crankbait rod and Suffix Siege Monofilament 14 lb line.
ZMan Billy Goat in black/blue on a 3/0 Mustad KVD grip-pin hook. The rod was a Phenix X series 7’ heavy/moderate with a 13 Fishing A2, 8.3:1 ratio reel spooled with 14 lb Suffix Siege mono.
Brad Crum left Eastern Tennessee early that Wednesday morning with a 7 and ½ hour drive straight up Interstate 81 in hopes to get an evening session on the river before dark. “After a lack luster practice looking for those Susky giants,” Crum was still optimistic, knowing that the Susquehanna was capable of producing big fish.
He and his teammate elected to do an A-B style float on Thursday. Crum picked up on fish relating to “dirt shallow” water feeding on some form of dragonfly. He immediately knew a topwater bait would come into play because it would have been difficult to throw anything else that shallow effectively for feeding fish. He also knew that river smallmouth like to stay in the shade line after fishing Eastern Tennessee rivers for 15 plus years.
When Friday evening rolled around his team arrived at the ramp about 30 minute before lines were allowed in the water. They launched at their allotted time and started their five mile A-B float. His teammate picked the east side of the river and Crum picked the west. They didn’t really have a pattern but had an idea that the Susquehanna would provide one from past knowledge. They figured to cover water and fish what is front of them and let the fish tell the rest.
The goal for Friday was to get a limit with at least one good fish to have in the bag for Saturday. He was hoping the first two hours on Saturday morning with the previous night’s full moon would be good. Little did he know that Friday evening would be magical! Crum's'first good fish came on a buzzbait around some shallow isolated wood. That locked him into finding more isolated wood that was shallow and fished it. His second fish clued him in on the fact that they were in “wolf packs” so if he caught one in an area he would stop and anchor down or get out and wade. He would follow up with a ½ oz. Baby Jackhammer with a Ned BLT as a trailer to look like the dragonflies that the bass were feeding on at the time. To keep the smallmouth honest, Crum threw a bone colored Whopper Plopper 75.
Crum threw the buzzbait on a 7’ MHX medium heavy rod with an 8.2 Shimano XLT and 18 lb Sunline Sniper line. The Jackhammer was thrown on a 7’3” TFO medium heavy/moderate rod with a Lews Custom 7:5.1 reel and also spooled with 18 lb Sunline Sniper line. The Whopper Plopper was presented with a 7’3” Little Miami Outfitters rod, a Revo STX reel and 50 lb Power Pro braid.
Ewing Minor of Virginia used three basic baits to gain a top 10 finish on the Susquehanna. He threw a Berkley Choppo 105 in “Perfect Ghost” on a 6’10” medium fast rod. His second bait was a Mega Bass I-Loud jointed wake bait on a 7’1” medium fast rod. One of his favorites is the Evergreen Gizmo bug on a 6’10” light Little Miami prototype spinning rod.
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