Jason Venesky has made several successful fishing trips to the North Branch of the Susquehanna River.

Perhaps Pennsylvania's greatest angling resources, our major rivers furnish outstanding and often overlooked opportunities.

In the northeastern portion of the state, the North Branch of the Susquehanna features an outstanding smallmouth bass fishery, as well as solid numbers of other warmwater gamefish.

Initially formed at the outlet of Otsego Lake in New York, the North Branch enters the Keystone State in northern Susquehanna County, only to curve northward back into New York.

After a brief east-to-west flow, it again turns to the south into Pennsylvania, this time in Bradford County. From there to its merger with the West Branch near Sunbury, the North Branch provides a fine multispecies fishery.

"I've found the North Branch to be a consistent producer of fish — spring, summer and fall," said Jason Venesky, a highly experienced and well-traveled river angler. "I've fished it in all three seasons and it always seems to produce not only good numbers of fish, but enough quality-sized fish to keep you on your toes."

Venesky said that while smallmouth bass are the premier species, one is never sure just what will be on the end of the line.

"It might be a bass, but then again it could be a walleye, a nice northern pike or a big muskie," he said. "The river is in a beautiful setting, flowing through some wonderful valleys and terrain of northeastern Pennsylvania."

The fishing is of high enough quality to make guiding on it a viable venture, something Greg Smith of North Branch Outfitters has been doing for several years.

While the Susquehanna River basin as a whole has been considered an outstanding smallmouth bass resource for decades, the habitat within the North Branch differs from what anglers experience on the river's main stem.

"We don't have the ledge, boulders and rock outcroppings that are so common on the main stem," said Smith. "It's more of a riffle-pool situation more similar to sections of the Allegheny in Western Pennsylvania than the main Susquehanna to the south.

"Also, we haven't had the problems with smallmouth bass spawns that they've had on the lower Susquehanna. We've had pretty consistent spawns over the past eight to 10 years, which has resulted in some pretty good fishing," he added.

The problem Smith speaks of is die-offs of young smallmouth bass in both the main stem and the West Branch, which originates in Cambria County, over the past four years.

Research by the Fish and Boat Commission and other agencies identified the culprit as the bacterial infection columnaris. Since the bacteria that causes the infection is commonly found in waterways, extensive work has been done to determine what other stress factors are allowing the disease to infect young-of-the-year bass, why the event is occurring only during certain years and why the main stem of the river is more highly affected than either the North or West branches.

Mortality from columnaris within the Susquehanna watershed occurred in 2005, '07 and '08 during the spring of each year. Only young-of-the-year smallmouth bass, which would be one- to two- months old, have been involved.

The ongoing research is examining factors like dissolved oxygen levels, nutrient concentrations, pH levels and fluctuation, vegetation and algae growth, and variations in water temperature.

At the present, good smallmouth bass fishing remains in the main stem of the Susquehanna, as adult populations haven't been affected by the disease. But well-warranted concern remains regarding the future of those waters as older fish are creeled or die and fewer young replace them.

Smith said excellent smallmouth bass fishing is available on the entire length of the North Branch. Access sites are plentiful.

Fall is an excellent time to target all of the North Branch's species, as bass, walleyes, pike and muskies migrate into the slower wintering holes that will hold them until spring.

Jeff Knapp is an outdoors columnist for the Butler Eagle.