Paulinskill river smallmouth

[Bill Willix]

I live in Blairstown and the Paulinskill river is a cross the street from my house. The amount of Smallmouth bass in this river always amazes me. I went today with my son and a buddy from work. Between the 3 of us we had to catch over 50 smallmouth and quite a few 12inches or bigger. Plus a lot of Redbreast as big as your hand what a fight on an 7ft ultralight rod. We even caught some trout also. It was a great day. As I always say I am truly blessed

[buzzbaiter]

And it should get better in the years to come when the Paulina & Columbia Lake dams come down which will leave only one dam left and that's Paulinskill Lake dam which is not going anywhere. There are still a few hurdles to clear as there always are with such projects but both should be knocked down eventually. Only a few locals oppose with no reason other than the lake is part of their back yard. Dam is no longer used for hydropower so its use is no longer needed. Bust that sucker down and let freedom reign. Walleyes, shad and smallies can now move up from the D.

Wikipedia fun fact: smallmouth will travel great distances to seek out cooler water with some traveling 12 miles in one day and up to 60 miles in a season so if you know the areas of cool water(springs/cold tribs/shaded areas) in July/August, you may find the motherload.

[Bruce Litton]

Originally Posted by buzzbaiter

And it should get better in the years to come when the Paulina & Columbia Lake dams come down which will leave only one dam left and that's Paulinskill Lake dam which is not going anywhere. There are still a few hurdles to clear as there always are with such projects but both should be knocked down eventually. Only a few locals oppose with no reason other than the lake is part of their back yard. Dam is no longer used for hydropower so its use is no longer needed. Bust that sucker down and let freedom reign. Walleyes, shad and smallies can now move up from the D.

Wikipedia fun fact: smallmouth will travel great distances to seek out cooler water with some traveling 12 miles in one day and up to 60 miles in a season so if you know the areas of cool water(springs/cold tribs/shaded areas) in July/August, you may find the motherload.

Agreed on those dams. Good to hear the river's thriving even as is. Haven't been up in a couple of years.

[FASTEDDIE29]

Good fishing dude! Once the damns come down you'll have shad, Stripers and all kinds of others species to catch. It's going to get interesting no doubt.

[Bill Willix]

I have caught shad and Walleye belowe the Columbia lake dam. I also caught a musky belowe the dam. The river is a really good river. It has good populations of Smallmouth, Rock bass, crappie, yellow perch some walleye I think from swartzwood lake. The river is not small but not huge it has plenty of deep warter. And the fishing is great