Conestoga River, Lancaster County, 6/25/13

[elonDO]

Decided to hit the Conestoga in Central Park today. I was hoping to hit it early, but been battling a cold for the past several days, so needed some extra sleep. Got to the river around 12:30pm. Water was a little higher than I expected, gauge is reading 3.75 on USGS site, now looking at it. I fished for about 2.5 hours, managed to land (2) smallies on an orange Clouser crayfish drifted along the bottom with 3 split shot about 6-inches up the line. The first was about 12-inches, the other about 8-inches. Also caught one tiny rock bass. I wasn't expecting much for midday with it being as warm as it's been, but wanted to get out.

The cool part of the day, besides the fish, was there was a small white-tail fawn I stirred up along the bank. Poor thing wasn't sure what to think of me for the longest time & was actually walking along the bank following me for about 15-20 yards before deciding to run & find mommy & daddy. It was definitely a cool moment, I wish I had my camera with me.

I'm hoping to get out a few times later this week as well, maybe even try my hand on the Swatara Creek. Tight lines & happy warm-water fishing!

 

[wgmiller]

I use an app that shows CFS. I believe it's called "RiverFlows". Right now it's showing 318 for the Conestoga which is a bit high to be wading. Get down there in the summer months when it's around 100 and you'll have a good idea what wading is like at that level. The gage height is obviously one measurement, but the CFS is really the best barometer for a stream's wadeability. You'll have fun down there in the summer when the flow drops between 100 and 150.

 

[elonDO]

I agree that today it was a little tough wading. If I wasn't wet wading, I probably wouldn't have fished. Also, having fished the stretch I did today on several occasions was helpful, because I could remember a lot of the stream contour. I'll have to pay attention to the CFS data from the USGS, as well as gauge height. Thanks!

 

[wgmiller]

The Conestoga (as you may know) is also a waterway that rises very quickly following rain events in its drainage basin. There are so many feeders that even if Lancaster doesn't see rain, a downpour in Brownstown will bring it up.

 

[BelAirSteve]

wgmiller wrote:
I use an app that shows CFS. I believe it's called "RiverFlows". Right now it's showing 318 for the Conestoga which is a bit high to be wading. Get down there in the summer months when it's around 100 and you'll have a good idea what wading is like at that level. The gage height is obviously one measurement, but the CFS is really the best barometer for a stream's wadeability. You'll have fun down there in the summer when the flow drops between 100 and 150.

I love that app. For the Conestoga, there is a Advanced Hydrologic Prediction Service (AHPS) gauge that actually projects flows based on the weather forecast.

 

[McSneek]

Although not that high the Conestoga is very muddy as of this morning. Not looking good based on the likelihood of additional downpours over the next few days.

 

[dc410]

Geez! I just can't wait to fish the Stoga one of these weekend evenings but 1200 cfs just isn't cuttin' it. So I am stuck at home doing some long overdue electrical work as the summer wastes away. Keepin' my eye on the stream flow data and wishin' instead of fishin'.

 

[Maurice]

John, think of it this way...the fish are not getting pressured and when the weather finally gives the clearer water it should be a blast.

get your house in order....august could be the bomb.

 

[dc410]

We can only hope! ............ Thanks, Maurice for encouraging words.

 

[wgmiller]

If the 'stoga isn't cooperating, you could always look towards Mill Creek (as I'm sure you know ;-) ). Been a tough summer to get on some of these WW streams with the continual barrage of downpours. Not that it's a bad thing for the stream necessarily, but it's bad for fishing.

 

[dc410]

Yep. That has pretty much been my gameplan so far this WW season. I'm just missing spending a few evenings on the Conestoga and the chance to maybe get into a bigger fish. Although I stung a pretty heavy fish on Mill Creek earlier this week but didn't hook it. (could have possibly been a carp - not sure, never got to see it - but I'm thinking it was a decent smallie).

 

[wgmiller]

I'll hit you up for a few evening hours on the 'stoga next month. Thinking Perlman Park and up. Gonna give up on trout for a bit and do the WW thing.

 

[dc410]

Sounds good to me. I have never fished upstream from Perlman Park.