Pennsylvania Angler & Boater - November/December 2017 - 40
The
Magic
Zone
by Jeff Knapp
photos by the author
On this hot and humid mid-summer day, the coolness of the
air-conditioned office was a welcome reprieve from having
just washed my boat of the gritty evidence of a week of hard
river fishing, a productive one where big Smallmouth Bass
and Walleyes chased down our offerings. But no matter how
good the recent action's been, I suppose it's human nature to
look forward to what the next season holds.
While I appreciate what each phase of a 12-month
calendar of fishing opportunities presents, there's
something special about what I call "the Magic Zone," that
time during the fall when the water temperature of my
local river-the middle Allegheny River-falls into the mid
50-degree F range and continues a slow and steady descent
40
to around 40-degrees F. That zone has provided some of
my most memorable river trips.
During early to mid-fall, river Smallmouth Bass and
Walleyes are in transition, moving from the fast-current
areas that provided necessary food and cover when the
water was warm. Typically, by late October, Smallmouth
Bass and Walleyes will be migrating to slower, deeper areas
protected from the force of the river's current. The result is
concentrations of fish in identifiable areas still on the feed.
Some years, things fall into place just right, like that of
around 15 years ago. It was a Halloween weekend when my
friend Dave Keith and I experienced an exceptional day on
river Smallmouth Bass and Walleyes, a bite that lasted well
into the darkness, especially for the Walleyes.
On the drive home that evening, I called fellow
Pennsylvania Angler & Boater contributor Darl Black, who
asked me to inform him if I got into some hot fall river
Pennsylvania Angler & Boater * November/December 2017
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Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Pennsylvania Angler & Boater - November/December 2017
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