Smallmouth in Full Post-Spawn Swing on the Susquehanna and Allegheny

What's Biting

What's Next

River temperatures at 73°F signal that summer patterns are now fully in effect across the Susquehanna and Allegheny drainages. No precipitation or cold-front data is available in the current feed to suggest an imminent cool-down, so conditions should hold stable and fishable over the next several days.

For smallmouth bass, the most productive windows will be low-light periods: the first two hours after sunrise and the final hour before dark. As Wired 2 Fish notes, post-spawn fish are transitioning between spawning areas, current seams, rock ledges, and offshore structure — anglers who cover water and probe multiple depth zones will out-fish those locked to a single bank spot. Tube baits, drop shots, and shaky head rigs account for fish that deepen as the day heats up. When fish are actively feeding in the morning shallows, Tactical Bassin's June two-bait combination — swinging wobble head jig plus shaky head worm — is a strong search pattern to run early, with crankbaits dialed from shallow to mid-depth as the bite transitions through the morning.

Channel catfish enter their peak summer feeding period as river temps push through the low-to-mid 70s. Night sessions on the Susquehanna main stem with cut bait along deep outside bends are typically where the biggest fish concentrate at this stage of the season, and conditions this week look well-suited for that approach.

Walleye will be holding deeper and cooler during daylight hours. Dawn and dusk windows near current breaks and tributary confluences give the best shot, with warm surface temps generally shifting this bite toward low-light or after-dark timing through June.

The waning crescent moon produces darker skies over the coming nights, which typically favors catfish and walleye activity after sunset. Night-fishing pressure on major river systems tends to build under waning and new moon phases — worth flagging on your calendar if you're targeting either species.

PA Sea Grant has announced a free June 25 webinar on harmful algal blooms, noting they are "a growing threat to waterways across Pennsylvania." Bloom conditions accelerate when flows drop and temperatures hold elevated. Keep an eye on backwater areas and tributary mouths, and verify conditions before launching.

Context

A water temperature of 73°F on the Susquehanna in early June falls near or slightly above the historical norm for this stretch of river, though precise year-over-year comparative data is not available from the current intel feeds. Typically, the main stem Susquehanna reaches the 70–75°F band sometime between late May and mid-June depending on spring runoff timing and air temperature trends. The 2026 gauge reading suggests the season is tracking close to schedule, not notably early or late.

The PA Fish & Boat Commission publishes regional biologist reports that would normally provide the most direct season-over-season comparison — that feed was present in our data pull but returned no article content this cycle, so a formal year-over-year comparison from that source is not available today.

Flow of 4,820 cfs at USGS gauge 01540500 places the Susquehanna in a normal late-spring to early-summer range — not flood-elevated, not drought-low. Moderate flows favor wade and bank access, opening up rock ledges and deeper current pockets that are difficult to reach at high water.

Nationally, Wired 2 Fish and Tactical Bassin are both reporting a post-spawn bass transition pattern as of early June 2026, consistent with the expected timeline across Mid-Atlantic and northeastern freshwater systems. Fishing the Midwest reinforces that rivers offer productive summer fishing across multiple species, with warmwater fish on moving water entering a strong window as temperatures stabilize. The combination of stable moderate flows, 73°F water, and a post-spawn smallmouth transition puts early June on the Susquehanna and Allegheny in a recognized productive period for anglers willing to adapt to roaming, transitional fish rather than targeting the more predictable spawning lies of May.