Conestoga River Lancaster County, 10/13/19

[JeffP]

I was planning to hit Muddy today but since my son was home from college we needed to stay closer to home. I admit we used twisters and spinners to start but it was clear they wanted worms. We started at Brownstown but that was a bust. We headed to the old Dam off Quarry and Snake Hill Road. I had never fished there before but we did well. Smallies seemed stacked in the calm water below the dam. We must have caught 25 bass (1 largemouth) and a lot of rock bass and a handful of sunnies. A nice couple hours outside.

 

[Mariner]

Thanks for the rare Conestoga report. This river seems much more consistent than most mid-sized smallmouth rivers. Any size to the fish? I'm always waiting for this river to "break out." Been waiting a while...

 

[JeffP]

Hey Mariner! All were about 6 -11 and they all seemed to be stacked in that 1 place. Fish did not seem to be in some other fishy looking spots. I've only fished the River down in Lancaster for carp near the Dirty Ol tavern and why down near Millersville. They latest survey I thought were disappointing for both the Conestoga and the Cocalico.

 

[Maurice]

I am concerned with your post Jeff. I mean spin rods and worms? Maybe you can find a BFA meeting near you before you hit rock bottom. I mean this is great deal worse than using green weenies and mop flys.

Praying for you. Get help!

LOL.

 

[JeffP]

I would never use a green weeny or a mop fly! Heresy!

 

[afishinado]

Maurice wrote:
I am concerned with your post Jeff. I mean spin rods and worms? Maybe you can find a BFA meeting near you before you hit rock bottom. I mean this is great deal worse than using green weenies and mop flys.

Praying for you. Get help!

LOL.

JeffP wrote:
I would never use a green weeny or a mop fly! Heresy!

^ Agreed!! A worm fisherman at least admits he's fishing bait!.... 😳

 

[jifigz]

JeffP wrote:
I would never use a green weeny or a mop fly! Heresy!

I'll use a green weenie anytime on a PA stream in warmer months. Hey, I like to catch fish and they produce. I have no shame.

 

[afishinado]

jifigz wrote:

JeffP wrote:
I would never use a green weeny or a mop fly! Heresy!

I'll use a green weenie anytime on a PA stream in warmer months. Hey, I like to catch fish and they produce. I have no shame.

Yeah, I know your type. Guys like you even resort to fishing brown buggers!! 🙂

 

[HopBack]

They latest survey I thought were disappointing for both the Conestoga and the Cocalico.

I could only find a survey from 2012 and 2013. I would like to see how that data compares to today. It doesn't look that concerning but I don't have any historical data to compare it with.

In 2016 I had some amazing bass fishing on the Conestoga with both numbers and size of fish. I haven't been able to repeat that success since.

2019 has largely been a bust due to the constant high water levels. When it did sneak down low enough to fish I was only able to drum up a few in the 16 inch range.


I did talk to one spin fisherman who floated in a kayak from around Brownstown to Lancaster and had a 90 fish day. (maybe he exaggerated a bit) but I think there are plenty of fish around waiting to be caught under the right conditions.

 

[Mike]

You won’t find many changes in degraded WW streams. The SMB populations vary around some norm, but the norm is determined by the limited areas of good habitat. It would not surprise me if even in a well below avg year for YOY production, enough age 1 fish and older SMB result in future years to overwhelm the limited areas of good adult habitat.

I mention age 1 SMB in this case because it fits with the topic. While YOY numbers generate the age 1’s a year later, it is the abundance of age 1’s in rivers (and probably streams as well), not the YOY abundance, that statistically relates directly to the abundance of adults in future years. This is because first year survival is difficult and variable for YOY even without obvious fish disease outbreaks coming into play.

 

[Swattie87]

Mike - Typically how big are 1 year old SMB? Say the end of Summer when they're a little over 1 year old actually.

 

[Mike]

I would say around 7-8 inches with some possibly pushing 9 inches.

We once, yes once only, handled a 9 inch YOY in the Susquehanna, but that was extremely unusual.

 

[Swattie87]

WOW! I never would have thought that! So their growth curve slows down a lot after that? I always hear about how slow they grow.

So the 4-5 inchers I'm catching in August are same year YOY's? That's impressive!

 

[Mike]

Yes, most likely. It depends on the specific stream or river. In the lower Susquehanna some SMB YOY, the fastest growing ones, are about 75-80 mm (about 3 in ) long or a little longer by late July. By “or a little longer” I mean that they are 3-4 inches long in appearance. When doing YOY work, these occasional larger individuals escape the electrical field by swimming just ahead of the sampling crew. They are visible though. The YOY SMB grow at a rate of about one millimeter per day in the lower and middle Susquehanna during the summer and can be quite plump from abundant forage. The biggest fingerlings of the size described are present even when some others are only 35 mm long and most are 35-55 mm long. Depends on how early some adults spawned and the growing conditions shortly thereafter. Remember also that the young from the early spawners have little competition and get the first shot at the best and most abundant forage.

 

[wgmiller]

If you want another take on the Conestoga sometime, check out the headwaters south of Morgantown. It's very fishable and you'll find some willing LMB in that area.

I always fished the middle Conestoga in the County Park area and never had much luck with numbers or size. I've seen a few decent ones stuck in the area of the DOT at Engleside, but always struggled to find a nice-sized SMB. Mike hit the nail on the head with what I think its biggest problem is and that's a lack of good habitat. It's got the food (TONS of crayfish) and flow, so that whittles it down to a lack of a habitat. It's still a fun body of water to fish on a nice day.

 

[wbranch]

While I have over 10,000 flies there are on Green weenies, Mop flies, or Squirmy wormies in any of my fly boxes. Am I a fly snob? You bet!

 

[JackM]

I carry a little junk with me, but I think almost all of it has never been wet unless it fell from my box accidentally.