hammer creek, lancaster, pa

[gfig19]

going to do some fly fishing over the weekend....coming from the southern end...any tips on how far up should i go this time of year(near 322 and downstream or just stay below the lake just off 501) thanks for the tips in adavance!

 

[osprey]

Above Speedwell Forge to where Hammer conects with Segloch run and onwards GOOD LUCK n HAVE FUN!!!

 

[gfig19]

not sure what you mean.....i dont see where hammer/segloch meet anywhere in lancaster. does this happen in lebanon somewhere?

 

[osprey]

By "the dam" i thought you meant Speedwell Forge and that might be in Lebanon county but it's close to the border , are you wanted on a warrant in Lebanon county or can you cross the border? LOL I always thought Segloch run was the last holdout for native brookies in Lancaster county , maybe it's Lebanon.

 

[gfig19]

pretty sure they don't meet anywhere, but i did find segloch run off 322 in lancaster(gaming lands into lebanon). its just a small run. too tiny for me. nice scenery though.

not necessarily. there is native brooke's in trout run off 272 south(pensey road) i caught two there...similar to this segloch run but just a tad bigger and nicer pools.

i just dont feel like driving to another county for a few hours of fishing. i'm sort of making my way up, started in chester/lancaster border with big elk and octoraro, making my way up someone said hammer creek. never fished it this time of year though. just a bunch of pumpkinseeds and chubs. fun to a point. water looks terrible though, dirty yellowish hue(hasn't rained in at least 4 days), whats up with that?

 

[osprey]

gfig...........were you above Speedwell Forge or below? That could explain the off color water , if you were below the dam.

 

[crs5942]

Segloch Run does not enter into Hammer Creek. It is in the Middle Creek watershed. Hammer Creek upstream of Speedwell Forge lake has some wild fish. The wild brook trout were beautiful this fall. This section is also stocked with rainbows and has some wild browns. I have not seen as many wild browns in the recent years. The heavy rains earlier this fall really widened parts of the stream and filled in holes. Hammer Creek is okay for wild fish but I would not drive from southern Lancaster County to fish it. There are better streams in the southern part of the county. Several years ago I caught an 11" brook trout on Hammer Creek that I am almost certain was wild. It does get stocked with brook trout occasionally, but this fish had all the characteristics of a wild fish.

 

[gfig19]

i fished both sides. i went to the "colder" part of hammer creek, above the dam/lake(obviously). actually that was the part that the the bottom of the creek had a "yellowish" substance stuck to the bottom of it...maybe it was brownish red who knows but it was full of just chubs and maybe some suns. needless to say the bottom half of the creek(after the dam) was cloudy and dirty. anyhow, i was "what the heck is that.."

just this summer(early june) we fished the lake and the lower end and we caught plenty of trout(brown, bows) and small mouths. aside from the bass, i'm sure they were all stockies.

well really i just wanted to do some fall fishing locally. not sure other than the fly fishing only west branch of the octoraro, i can go to.

i'm willing to go away to a nicer place but aside from lancaster county i dont know where to go. i went to school at psu in state college and i hear there's great fishing in centre county. any of you know where else i can make a trip of it?

 

[osprey]

gfig..........how about Donegal Spings creek near Mt Joy?

 

[salvelinusfontinalis]

Lititz Run, Hammer above 322 and below to the turnpike, Hammers tribs, Segloch, Furnace, Trout Run, Tucquan, Donegal FFO area..........

 

[osprey]

crs5942.........you are right , Segloch run is in the Middle Creek watershed , it's been awhile , i used to live in Elizabethtown , Lancaster county. How about Cocalico creek? When i lived in E-Town there were a few wild/natives in there , which i also beleive is in the Middlecreek drainage , by the way gfig..........all these waters are fairly close to each other , not too far apart anyhow , and all in Northern Lanc./Sothern Leb. counties except for Donegal which is south of rt 230 and Mt. Joy. SAL.............have you ever fished Cocalico creek?

 

[gfig19]

what about outside Lancaster(upstate) any recommendations there. i hear world class fishing up north. if its that good I'll plan a trip!

 

[NoMoreCornChuckin]

I'm sure Sal has fished Cocalico but not sure how he has done. I fish it regularly and can tell you it's loaded with smallmouth and panfish. 2 years ago I caught a stocked brook trout close to where Cocalico meets Hammer creek near Brownstown. I don't know how it got there because as far as I know, they don't stock brookies in this part of the county, private club maybe? Seems like a bad choice of water to stock with brookies. This past spring I caught a 21" rainbow from the same area. Probably a big breeder dumped into Hammer and traveled to Cocalico? On another note, this summer near the same area of Cocalico, I found a pile of filleted FLATHEAD CATFISH in a gravel pulloff right beside the creek. There were about 12 of them. I don't know if someone caught them somewhere else and dumped them there or if they were caught from Cocalico. I pray they were from somewhere else. I'd hate to think they are traveling from the Susquehannah into smaller tribs.

 

[Mike]

There are wild trout in the headwaters of Cocalico or an unnamed trib thereto. Don't remember if they are brooks or browns. The population has not been documented by the PFBC.

 

[Acristickid]

This creek reminds me of this

 

[salvelinusfontinalis]

Cocalico is a great smallmouth bass stream.