Conestoga River, Lancaster County 7/10/16

[McSneek]

Trying to scratch this warm water itch a little more as of late. Hit a couple of spots on the Conestoga yesterday. First spot was behind Millersville U at a popular launch site. There is a beautiful riffle just below where people put in that I wanted to try. Pounded it hard and all I had to show were two brief hook ups. Drove down to the mouth and fished from the top of the park most of the way down. Hooked four fish - landed three. All on a chartreuse and white clouser. Three landed in the 8" - 9" range. Much fun on a 6 wt. Saw a couple of decent sized bass but couldn't get them to take a drifted fly. Carp here and there. Also, dozens of what must have been fall fish throughout that stretch? These fish were schooled up and often running in pods of 6 - 8. Looked like they had forked tails.

The Conestoga is so hit and miss IMO. I was happy to find some fish at the mouth but man, that used to be easy pickins' through there.

 

[Beefheart]

Is that water near Millersville typically decent? I just got a job teaching there and will be starting in the fall. I'm keeping my eyes open for fishing opportunities before and after work.

 

[McSneek]

Beefheart wrote:
Is that water near Millersville typically decent? I just got a job teaching there and will be starting in the fall. I'm keeping my eyes open for fishing opportunities before and after work.

IMO - no. I haven't had much success in the Conestoga but others have. I think you have to put in the time to find water that holds bass on a regular basis. You can walk down the hill from the school to the water I'm talking about. As close as it is, you might as well check it out. Some very deep stretches in there even at low water levels. Actually, my more successful fishing in the Conestoga has been in early fall.

 

[Mike]

McSneek, if I lived where you do I would be selectively fishing the Conestoga between Cocalico Ck and Rt 322 or fishing the Cocalico from the mouth to at least Rt 222. Of course, that would be after gaining landowner permission.

 

[HopBack]

I can confirm that there are nice smallmouth in the areas that Mike mentioned. They are just relegated to where the habitat is best suited for them.

 

[Beefheart]

I just fished the Conestoga in the Lancaster Park while the family finished swimming in the pool. I had only 20 mins, so this isn't much of a report, but I got two smallies. The bigger of the two was about 10". Both of them crushed a popper as soon as it set down. I was casting my 6wt, which made it more fun. Nice to not be casting the 8wt for bass, especially if they're little.

Mike, thanks for the advice on those sections of the Conestoga. It's a decent river for when I can't hit the Susquehanna. Looking forward to seeing more of it.

 

[Mike]

On a positive note regarding the lower Conestoga, it looks to have been a good year for SMB reproduction in the lower Conestoga....better than usual.

 

[HopBack]

On a positive note regarding the lower Conestoga, it looks to have been a good year for SMB reproduction in the lower Conestoga....better than usual.

Today I fished what I would consider to be the middle part of the Conestoga and also observed hundreds (no exaggeration) of YOY bass and juveniles up to about 6 inches attacking my #4 bugger. The water was crystal clear so I got a good look at what was following my fly. After each retrieval I had bunches of tiny bass just hanging out by my feet. I also saw some fish in this section which I had not previously seen such as green sunfish (on redds), tiger suckers, and channel cats. It gives me hope that things are improving and that I will be looking forward to some good fishing in the next couple of years.

One other crazy thing that I saw was several bass in the 18 inch range chasing a small water-snake across the river. Unfortunately they were not interested in anything I had to offer.

 

[Dave_W]

Great report. ^
Good to see some positive buzz on the SMBs in the 'Stoga and that reflect Mike's report on YOY.

Funny about the snake. Did the bass eat it, or just follow it around? SMBs are intelligent and curious fish and sometimes they just wanna see whatsup. An 18" bass could certainly make a meal of a small watersnake.

 

[HopBack]

Dave,

The bass ran out of real estate but I feel like they could have caught it if they wanted to. I think they were just curious.

 

[The_Sasquatch]

I fished the 'Stoga for 2 hours Saturday afternoon in the Hinkletown area. Caught 9 smallies (1 sunnie, and 1 rock bass as well), all between 5"-12". Lots of healthy juveniles chasing the flies as well. Ton of smallies in the river! More than other years, it seems.