JeffP
Well-known member
Fished the Donegal for an hour while my son was at soccer. Water looked nice but no hits. I was using a black bugger. Anyone know how the stream is doing since the spill?
Donegal Creek, Lancaster Co., 2/2/20
- Thread starter JeffP
- Start date
What was the date you fished? I added the county.
(We ask for stream/county/date format in the subject line.)
Thanks,
DW
(We ask for stream/county/date format in the subject line.)
Thanks,
DW
JeffP
Well-known member
Sorry! I was out on Sunday the 2nd.
wgmiller
Well-known member
There are survivors after the fish kill of last spring, surprisingly. You gotta hunt and poke for them, but the fish are there. It's rebounding nicely and barring any future events, we should have a good number of wild browns back in the system in the coming years. I was out a few weeks before you and had a decent day landing a half dozen or so browns.
JeffP
Well-known member
Beautiful! Looks like all natives. That's great news!
wgmiller
Well-known member
For most of the day I went with "natural" patterns such as scuds, etc., which got some strikes and a few fish. But I didn't really start having success until the end of the day when I tied on a red squirmy worm. I have no shame in tying on a "trash fly" if it puts fish in the net. And quite honestly, red worms (San Juan, etc.) have always done well on spring creeks for me, so a squirmy is really just a modern-day variant of that.
larkmark
Member
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- Jun 11, 2019
- Messages
- 876
Cool. hey whatever works. I have used a green weenie and wet ant in that creek with good success. Interestingly I have seen "hatches" of house flies on the Donegal with trout actively eating them. This was in summer of course. I put on a black caddis and it worked.
JeffP
Well-known member
Fished again today. Similar day! Similar results! I was impressed with the the nice holes and amount of gravel. Has anyone seen reds on the stream. I know the last stream survey showed a good population of native browns. I was also wondering about fish movement into the chickies. The chickies looks pretty nice off of 23. I know it is pretty seriously impaired.
HopBack
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- Aug 5, 2013
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- 1,210
The impairment in chiques is mostly due to sediment and some nutrient run off due agricultural use. Certainly nothing worse than what is already in the donegal.
Since the removal of the dam it’s now possible for fish to move from the susky to the donegal but but there are no other wild tour streams around the area, at least not of any significance anyway. I dontt see this as a game changer for the trout but it will have a nice impact for the smallmouth.
For what’s it’s worth I’ve never caught a trout out of the chiques in that area or near the mouth of the donegal.
There are so many variables that influence the wild trout on the donegal that dare I say that it may be a better fishery if it remained a stocked fishery. Unfortunately with development and at use I don’t see things changing anytime soon.
HopBack
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Yes but only in the open water above the fly fishing only section I think. Raftman would be able to confirm that.
The pafbc used to stock fingerling rainbows but I guess not enough survived to continue the program, I always caught a decent amount of those rainbows in the 10+ inch range but they seemed to disappear once they reached that size.
The pafbc used to stock fingerling rainbows but I guess not enough survived to continue the program, I always caught a decent amount of those rainbows in the 10+ inch range but they seemed to disappear once they reached that size.
wgmiller
Well-known member
I really don't think this happens like it does on other Susky tribs (Condoguinet, etc.). The fish seem pretty content in the Donegal as water temps and food supply seems to keep them happy year 'round. The water from 23 to the confluence of Chiques (Chickies?) is fairly devoid of habit and I've never had any luck in that stretch. It just seems to be wide and flat with little going on. The area upstream of Long Lane got posted a number of years back, although I'm not sure how far upstream it goes.
Hello everyone— new member here from Mount Joy.
I’ve been keeping an eye on the Donegal this winter and water color and levels seem to have returned to normal ( for mid-March). Has the state issued any updates on the health of the stream or must we continue to depend on anecdotal reports?
I’ve been keeping an eye on the Donegal this winter and water color and levels seem to have returned to normal ( for mid-March). Has the state issued any updates on the health of the stream or must we continue to depend on anecdotal reports?
JeffP
Well-known member
Does anyone know if Donegal Fish and Game is up and running its hatchery. I checked out the video from the storm. That was something!~
