Codorus creek, York County, 8/2/22
- Thread starter Billr
- Start date
bdhoover77
Well-known member
If you don’t mind me asking, where do you park when fishing that section? I was going to go there last week but I couldn’t figure out where I could park.
Lots of spots. One just befie the Sawmill and even just past the Sawmill. On down the road is a pull off with signs. Oh before that a bridge on the right. Turn right and park on the left just over the bridge. Good lock
Right you are!
Of the available special regs at the time, the Selective Harvest Program was most well-suited for Codorus. It was similar to the trophy trout reg at that time, but the length limit was 12” rather than the TT limit of 14” then. The 12” limit was a much more realistic length limit for Codorus, as few fish grew to 14” in the special regs stretch based on numerous electrofishing surveys over the years. Additionally, the stream had an overabundance of small fish. In contrast, good numbers of larger fish were found outside of the special reg area where forage and big fish habitat was better.
The Selective Harvest Program was eliminated statewide by the Commissioners in an effort to simplify the reg book. Of the regs available today, the slot or general statewide regs would be most realistic for the Codorus special regs stretch and of these two, social factors aside for a moment, statewide regs would be best suited to the historical size structure of the Codorus population within the special regs stretch.
Statewide regs would probably reduce angling pressure over time because they would take angler focus away from the stream, which would be better for the landowners. Convincing landowners of that could be a challenge. Nevertheless, the stream has a long history of creeping lost access due to posting within the special regs area anyway and most unstocked wild trout stream sections that do not have special regs see little pressure. The conundrum, however, is that landowners along wild trout waters without special regs probably see even less attention from WCO’s or organized sportsmen.
Clearly, special regs aimed specifically at a wild trout population in this case have not been helpful in reducing angling pressure to a tolerable level. Sadly, in comparison I have seen less posting problems develop per stream on the vast majority of SE Pa stocked trout streams over the same time period. Additionally, in the Codorus case statewide regs would be a good match for a population long dominated by smaller fish.
Of the available special regs at the time, the Selective Harvest Program was most well-suited for Codorus. It was similar to the trophy trout reg at that time, but the length limit was 12” rather than the TT limit of 14” then. The 12” limit was a much more realistic length limit for Codorus, as few fish grew to 14” in the special regs stretch based on numerous electrofishing surveys over the years. Additionally, the stream had an overabundance of small fish. In contrast, good numbers of larger fish were found outside of the special reg area where forage and big fish habitat was better.
The Selective Harvest Program was eliminated statewide by the Commissioners in an effort to simplify the reg book. Of the regs available today, the slot or general statewide regs would be most realistic for the Codorus special regs stretch and of these two, social factors aside for a moment, statewide regs would be best suited to the historical size structure of the Codorus population within the special regs stretch.
Statewide regs would probably reduce angling pressure over time because they would take angler focus away from the stream, which would be better for the landowners. Convincing landowners of that could be a challenge. Nevertheless, the stream has a long history of creeping lost access due to posting within the special regs area anyway and most unstocked wild trout stream sections that do not have special regs see little pressure. The conundrum, however, is that landowners along wild trout waters without special regs probably see even less attention from WCO’s or organized sportsmen.
Clearly, special regs aimed specifically at a wild trout population in this case have not been helpful in reducing angling pressure to a tolerable level. Sadly, in comparison I have seen less posting problems develop per stream on the vast majority of SE Pa stocked trout streams over the same time period. Additionally, in the Codorus case statewide regs would be a good match for a population long dominated by smaller fish.
Flintlock
New member
This line of thinking is spot on imo. There are tons of other examples of this exact scenario statewide.
spiderman
New member
The Codorus now has a 18 inch slot limit, and only 1 fish opening day thru Labor Day in the Trophy Trout section.
Sadly so, given the info above.
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JeffP
Well-known member
So is the point that fish are stunted due to essentially no-kill? Or that pressure kills larger ones that are caught numerous times?
Fly-Swatter
Well-known member
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- Mar 23, 2014
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...or that constant angling pressure changes feeding behavior, thus limiting growth rates?
bdhoover77
Well-known member
On Saturday, we took our kids out for a day of boating and fishing (with no catching) on Lake Marburg. My two boys are obsessed with boats, so we decided it would be a fund experience for them if we rented a pontoon boat. On Sunday morning, my wife realized she had left her drivers license at the marina, so I volunteered to drive back up to Lake Marburg to pick up her license and also used the trip as an excuse to try fishing the tailwater section of Codorus Creek.
The water temp where I was was probably high 50s* or at most 60* and there was some rain in the afternoon. I fished for about an hour, throwing mostly dry droppers with foam terrestrials as the dry flies and small midge nymphs on the dropper. I managed to catch one small wild brown on a midge nymph. I did not realize how difficult casting is on that part of the creek. I was using a 9’ rod, but I’m thinking a shorter rod might be a good idea on Codorus Creek.
I met a young guy as I was getting ready to get on the water. He had finished fishing during the morning using jigged streamers on his euro rod. He said he caught quite a few fish including a 16” brown on the streamer. He even gave me one of his jig streamer patterns which I’ll try the next time conditions seem right.
I ended up only having time for about an hour of fishing…my wife kept sending me texts about how misbehaved the kids were being, so I thought for my sake I should head home. I definitely will be back again soon, however, because it really is only about another 20-25 minutes to Codorus from where I normally fish on the Gunpowder.
The water temp where I was was probably high 50s* or at most 60* and there was some rain in the afternoon. I fished for about an hour, throwing mostly dry droppers with foam terrestrials as the dry flies and small midge nymphs on the dropper. I managed to catch one small wild brown on a midge nymph. I did not realize how difficult casting is on that part of the creek. I was using a 9’ rod, but I’m thinking a shorter rod might be a good idea on Codorus Creek.
I met a young guy as I was getting ready to get on the water. He had finished fishing during the morning using jigged streamers on his euro rod. He said he caught quite a few fish including a 16” brown on the streamer. He even gave me one of his jig streamer patterns which I’ll try the next time conditions seem right.
I ended up only having time for about an hour of fishing…my wife kept sending me texts about how misbehaved the kids were being, so I thought for my sake I should head home. I definitely will be back again soon, however, because it really is only about another 20-25 minutes to Codorus from where I normally fish on the Gunpowder.
Not surprised that the fellow did well on streamers, as the stream has been very productive at times on spinners. Could be the fish’s mood or the fact that the abundance of forage fish in the special reg area has a history of being much lower than in most streams.
Yes sculpins. There were very limited numbers of blacknose dace, white sucker YOY, and possibly small creek chubs in this artificial coldwater environment. I don’t recall tessellated darters, but I would now guess that some were in the samples as well. It was a pretty long time ago. They are very common in coldwater and warmwater streams around sandy bottoms, including the tidal Delaware (Delaware Estuary) and Codorus was once a warmwater or transitional stream in the area of the special reg project.
