Conestoga River, Lancaster County, 9/5/2015

[HopBack]

I have fished the Conestoga several times this year with very limited success. I think the water has been a bit to cold for any decent action. With 4 or 5 days over 90 degrees this week I was hoping my luck would change.

I started off working weed beds in a meadow section with a black wooly bugger. I witnessed several fish launch themselves out of the water chasing bait fish. Caught a few small bass here and moved on to a more wooded section. I had good success dead drifting a small crayfish along the rocks near the banks. ( I wish I would have figured this out a lot sooner. Stripping did not produce near as well as dead drifting.)

It ended up being a beautiful afternoon and I caught about a dozen ranging from 8-12 inches. All bass seemed to be very fat and healthy. Lots and lots of YOY present. I lost 2 in the 18 inch range. Using the 4wt can be a lot of fun for smallmouth but is a distinct disadvantage when managing larger fish.


Stream Side Intel:

Water Temp = 73

Air Temp = 80

Time = 3:00 pm to 5:00 pm

Bug Activity = none ( bass actively chasing bait fish)

Location = RT 23 Manhiem TWP

Water Flow/Clarity = Low, Slow, and Clear

Fly's used= Black crystal flash wooly bugger and small crayfish

Technique= Dead drifting crayfish produced well

 

[McSneek]

A 12" fish in that section would top anything I've caught there. A fish in the 18" range would really be a surprise. I've just never caught anything of size in that stretch especially downstream of the Rt. 23 bridge where the water looks a little more "bassy."

My lone outing on the 'stoga this summer was in Central Park and it yielded one small bass. Think I'll try again when the weather cools down. Always did better once football season started.

 

[dc410]

Nice report. I find it encouraging to see some bass that size coming out of that section of the river. Like McSneek, my experience has generally been pretty small bass and lots of Rock Bass while fishing that stretch.

 

[HopBack]

Thanks guys,

I was suprised to do as well as I did given the level of success I have had on other nearby sections. I caught most of the fish below the RT 23 bridge. The timing must have been perfect because every fish I pulled out was a decent size for the river. I saw a ton of YOY bass as well so hopefully this stretch with produce well in the years to come although the Stoga is prone to major flooding.

On a side note, I didn't see or catch any other panfish/rockbass.