Now that bass are back in season, the bass fishing is very good. The bass catching, on the other hand, is tough.

It pretty much goes this way every year. With the catch-and-release season now in place for bass, a lot of big bass are caught before and during the spawn. After the spawn, however, those big bass seem to disappear, and the smaller fish appear to take their place. The better-sized fish go into what is often referred to as the “post spawn blues.” They seem to disappear, but what they are really doing is recuperating from the rigors of spawning. That, coupled with a dramatic rise in water temperature, accounts for what many anglers are finding out is some tough fishing on the Susquehanna right now.

Bass fishing will get gradually better as the summer progresses. Bass will get acclimated to the warmer water temps and eventually their metabolism will kick into high gear.

Boaters and waders are still seeing some dead fish floating in the river. This will be attributed to the “post spawn stress” and high water temps. With the recent heat wave, lack of rain and the resulting lower flow, water temps have climbed quickly to the 80- to 85-degree range. Some cooler nights showed up this week, which should help.

ROCKING THE BOAT: I had a rather exciting experience on the river last weekend. With the water being low, running the river, even with a jet, can be a little hair raising. We were running up the north branch, which tends to be trickier than the west branch. I managed to get through the tough spots without hitting anything and was approaching where I wanted to start fishing. There was another boat in the area, so I took my eye off the river in front of me to see what the other boat was going to do. A couple seconds later, I looked back down at the river in front of me, and much to my surprise and dismay, there was one of those nasty north branch boulders hiding just under the surface.

There was no time to react, not even to yell at Bob in the back seat that we were gonna hit. I just held on and whacked the rock. The boat hit just right, sort of bouncing over the rock. I was holding on to the steering wheel, but Bob got thrown off his seat. That was about as hard as I have ever hit, a true case of operator error. Nobody got hurt, even the boat made out OK. Luckily, the rock hit the center keel, flattening it out pretty good, but easily repairable. I guess the moral of the story is watch where the heck you are going. To Bob’s credit, he sort of took it in stride, hardly even mumbling under his breath. Just another ride in the jet boat, I guess.

Today the Kickin’ Bass Tournament Series kicks off at Shikellamy State Park. Weigh-in is slated for 2 p.m. Somebody will probably find a rock somewhere. I know I’ll be looking for them.

n Ken Maurer, Herndon, is a licensed fishing guide and a regular contributor to the Outdoors section. E-mail comments to kenrose@tds.net