On Wednesday August 4 , Jerry Sanker hosted a fly fishing trip to the Juniata River in central Pennsylvania. Joining Jerry were John Waters, Jim Sparks, and Bruce Mitchell. The group met at 6 a.m. at the Exit 2 entrance of the New Jersey Turnpike for the estimated 3 hour drive to Lewistown PA. Using pontoon boats the group floated approximately 5 miles of the river above Lewistown.  The cicadas were already announcing that it was going to be hot day by the time the boats were loaded and launched for the day’s fishing.  Heading down river from a nice public launching site near Grandville the group spread out and began casting. The water temperature was eighty degrees and helped to keep everyone cool as we all wore wading shoes and shorts. As we floated along we could see the bottom of the river very clearly. Mixed in  with the rocks were many nickel size fresh water clam shells.  There were also many small fish and on several occasions a crayfish was seen.

In the deeper water there were some large carp. Using a variety of underwater patterns we did catch a few small mouth bass. With the hot weather the fishing was slow but we all caught a few fish throughout the day. With none of us ever floating this section of the river by 4 p.m. we started to get a little worried as to how much farther we had to float before reaching our take out point. Not long after passing under a railroad bridge we all started rowing more than fishing. As we passed around a bend in the river we expected to see the ramp to exit the river. This was not the case and we kept rowing what seemed like another mile before finally reaching another bend in the river. Someone at this point said they were glad that we had not experienced any bad weather.

As we rowed around the bend the sky started getting darker and it wasn’t long before off in the distance was the rumbling of thunder. Looking down river we finally could see our take out destination. By now everyone was rowing a little faster than previously and a few isolated rain drops were putting rings on the water. One by one each of us reached the ramp as the lightning was now very close to us. John and Jerry left the ramp area and drove back to pick up the other vehicle. By the time they returned the hard heavy hit resulting in Bruce and Jim getting soaked. The rain lasted about an hour which delayed packing everything up. It was a little after 7 p.m. when we started our journey home. It was a fun adventurous day and we all enjoy our eight hour float on the river.        

John Waters, Jim Sparks and Jerry Sanker on the ramp near Grandville.

Jerry and Jim in their pontoon boats.

Jim and John floating down the river.

Juniata River small mouth.