The Susquehanna River is looking good. Smallmouth are in the spawning mode in many areas.

One of the things I've noticed over the years is that smallmouth may be spawning in one section, but a mile or two upstream or downstream, they may have already spawned or they might not even be thinking about it. Perhaps it's nature's way of insuring that some successful spawning occurs somewhere. If the river remains somewhat stable over the next few weeks, we should have another good spawn year.

Fishing the river during the bass spawn is an item that will usually get an argument going among anglers. Many river anglers abandon the river for trout season. There are diehards, however, who fish the river all the time. Does taking a guarding male from the fry for a few minutes impact spawn numbers?

The next question would be how much impact does taking egg-laden females in late March and early April have. Anglers are allowed to harvest smallmouth up until the second week of April. By that time, females are carrying eggs and looking for spawning sites.

Most other states and bass organizations allow fishing during the spawn, with no apparent ill effects. I would think that our river, with its lower smallmouth numbers at present, would likely benefit from some sort of change in regulations concerning the harvest of smallmouth.

Besides anglers, there is a skilled array of feathered predators. Ballooning populations of cormorants, mergansers, herons and egrets pick away daily at fish populations.

There is also a deadly gauntlet of finned predators for baby smallmouth to run. Channel catfish, flathead catfish and walleye are all efficient bass-eating machines. Ask any walleye fishermen what he finds in their stomachs, and it is very likely they have found young smallmouth.

Flathead catfish are a concern, even to the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission. According to Robert Lorantas, head of warmwater fisheries, flatheads are an integral part of the sportfishery in the Ohio Valley drainage, which includes western Pennsylvania.

Lorantas also said that their impact on the Susquehanna drainage is uncertain, and in the past anglers have been advised to keep and utilize any flatheads caught from the Susquehanna watershed.

Flatheads are known for their voracious appetite. (Flatheads are not to be confused with boneheads. Boneheads are a human sub-species with no ethics or common sense who fish for trout. Their preferred habitat apparently is wherever my esteemed colleague Mr. Steese and his cohorts happen to be angling.)

Fortunately, smallmouth are resilient critters. They have been able to withstand extremely low flows, high water temperatures, finned and feathered predators, and heavy fishing pressure. The lone recent regulation change made to help them was the ban on catch-and-kill tournaments.

Trout are another story. In mediocre streams where they don't hold over, you might as well keep them and have a fish fry. On better streams with holdover and natural reproductive ability, turn some of those wild fish loose. It will be better in the long run.

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