Lakeside Quarry Lebanon County 3/18/09

[salvelinusfontinalis]

Talked to my best friend today who informed me that the Upper Tully is actually closed to fishing. Even though they stock it miles downstream of the private section I fish, the PFBC has the entire Tully in Lebanon marked as approved trout waters. I thought crap, i really wanted to fish there. He told me about this place.

The Lakeside Quarry is located in Myerstown and is stocked with brook trout to the teeth. This water is an Approved Trout Water Open Year-Round fishing. He has a canoe and 2 of his friends came along to chuck hardware at them.

Seeing that all of us couldnt fit in the canoe 2 of us stayed on shore and fished. Myself included. The fish were rising everywhere. Size 18-20 Black Midges where in the air. Not that it mattered. Those brookies took, white woolly buggers, midges(black,gray,white and adams), BWO's, various caddis patterns and spinners. Between the 4 of us we probably caught about 80-90 fish. It was a blast.

All of the fish range in the 8-12 inch range with a few big pally's in the water. This is the only time I ever fished a body of water like this for stocked trout. It was fun though seeing that the wild trout stream I wanted to go to, was closed and I knew they were rising there. I really wanted some top water action today and found it.

On your way to the quarry you cross the gated road on foot and the Tully runs under it. You cant fish there as it an approved trout water but they already stocked it. There was about 5 big boys under that bridge.

Any of you guys close by should go to the quarry. Some pretty decent fishing! :-D

-Sal

 

[salvelinusfontinalis]

oh yeah no pics this time. Sorry i guys i left my memory card in the puter *shrugs*

 

[pcray1231]

yeah, I had the same thought. Never fished up that far, but wanting to get to it, I had thoughts of this weekend. Then I checked regs, and crap, its ATW. Gotta wait a few weeks.

The entire stream is actually ATW. But downstream of Blue Marsh its DHALO, and below Red Bridge its all-season ATW. I fished that last weekend, why doesn't anyone fish down there at this time of year, yet it'll be shoulder to shoulder on opening day? I don't get it....

 

[wgmiller]

Sal,

Face it - you're nothing but a "fish whore"!!! :-D

 

[salvelinusfontinalis]

Wish i got paid! Guess im a fish slut ;-)

 

[albud1962]

Are you sure the Tully below the red bridge is open year round?

 

[tocar]

Sal, thanks for the report. I live a short 10 mins. from there but have never fished it. My curiosity has risen, as I have a kayak that needs some exercising :-D

If you're ever in need of a fishing buddy, drop me an e-mail (sent you a PM). I'm just over the Leb/Lan border.

peace-tony c.

 

[salvelinusfontinalis]

yep ;-)
http://www.fish.state.pa.us/fishpub/summary/troutregs_se.htm#approved_yearround

Heck ya man a kayak would be perfect. Take lots of dry flies. When i was there today, when they didnt take the dry right away, i would skitter it across the top. Usually got a strike. I might go back there again this week or weekend. I was impressed by the quality of this stocked fishery. Lots of bugs and lots or risers. Of course I always loved them brookies too 🙂

 

[afishinado]

albud1962 wrote:
Are you sure the Tully below the red bridge is open year round?

Yup. This is from the FBC site:

Approved Trout Waters Open to Year-Round Fishing

BERKS Tulpehocken Creek -- from covered bridge at T-921 downstream to the mouth

Also, FBC Mike recommended it as a decent place to fish this time of year. Good luck.

 

[Fishidiot]

Sal,
Interesting post. I'll admit I don't fish much in Lancaster Co and so don't know the waters there well but a quarry stocked with brookies is neat. Do you know if the fish hold over thru the summer? My guess would be that, if they do, they hang deep and would be tough on flies but, if so, there could be some real trophies in there. The concept of stocking cold water quarries with trout I think holds a lot of promise although some wouldn't be suitable for safety reasons.

 

[Mike]

Glad that someone has finally discovered Lakeside quarry. I had been having it stocked with rainbow trout fingerlings through much of the 1980's and 1990's, and maybe into the early 2000's. I later learned from a WCO that relatively few people fished the quarry except for bass anglers and that there were few rainbows being caught, although anglers had done reasonably well in the 1980's. Largemouth bass predation was a likely suspect regarding the possibly poor survival of the RT. The good news was that the facility had become a park of sorts, so about three years ago I added the lake to the adult trout stocking program - one stocking of a few hundred brook trout inseason only. In January some larger brook trout "fingerlings," up to 7" long, became available, so I ordered some for the quarry. (Obviously surface water was cool enough to stock at that time). So thanks for the feedback, Sal. It looks as though the large fingerlings may be the beginning of a success and that the larger ST that you were catching were probably holdovers from the past adult stockings that have occurred in spring. Based on past water chemistry and temperature data, the trout should survive year around.

 

[salvelinusfontinalis]

Good to hear Mike. I have fished the quarry with my buddy the past few years for bass in the summer. Some nice bass in that quarry. No doubt the trout go deep in the summer. Glad to hear they can holdover through the year. I will say some of the brookies caught had great color and all their fins. Could have been holdovers. Also some could have been mistaken for wild they looked so good. I know they werent but they looked good.

P.S. Im sure they could holdover as long as they dont get harvested after first day. Also i was shocked they stocked the Tully a few weeks ago. With those big pally's by the bridge hanging out, people have to see them. I wouldnt be surprised if they get poached.

Either way thanks to the PFBC for stocking a fine quarry with those brookies. It is an enjoyable place to fish and has good bug activity. Also thanks for another much needed year round fishery hear in the southeast. I know i dont thank the PFBC enough for the work they do, but in this case, you guys are doing the right thing 🙂

 

[wgmiller]

Sounded like a blast. May have to make a road trip one of these days!

 

[sholgate]

I fish the section below the red bridge. There's fish in there.

🙂

 

[spectorfly]

I went there Sunday to see what all the fuss was about. No risers, no bites, no fish seen. Didn't see anyone catch one either. I think they have all taken for the deeper water and have had enough fun with you guys already.

 

[salvelinusfontinalis]

When i was there on Friday i caught about 16 of them little buggers. I did notice however that the rising fish were on the north and east side of the quarry. Interestingly enough, they only began rising when: there was no wind or blowing in a south/west direction. I dont know why but anytime the wind blew north/east it would put them down. After i caught most the fish on that side of the quarry they stopped rising. You might be right. Maybe they are getting smart. I know Matt has been fishing them also.

 

[Achtung]

Sal

Went to the quarry for first time. Cold and Wind; very tough fishing. Went with my brother and his buddy who brought all the their spinning gear (spinners, power bait, worms). They had 5 rods out using slip bobbers and throwing metal. I fished b/h princes, b/h flashback p/t etc.; stripping streamers...2 fish total and missed 3. Free falling nymphs got me my hits The baiters ended with 1 each. Fished 10:00 to 14:00. Fish looked healthy but were shorts. No big pallys by the bridge, but some decent fish just upstream. Had to say my expectations where much higher. Bottom line, wrong day to go. Sucks; would''ve have been nice to hang em like you did. Seeing risers everywhere on flat water there must be a sight to see

 

[spectorfly]

Yeah, it was a sucky day. I also got skunked at 3 wild brookie streams earlier in the day so my Sunday fish total = 0.

 

[cmkrachen]

hey what do ya know!! i went this weekend to just to check it out since i never heard of the place and you guys posted the name (so much for people not running to check out spots because they get name dropped) anyways, didnt even fish, just ran my dog...i was less than impresssed...no palis under the bridge, a ton of trout downstream of the sewer plant though...

couple of snow geese and a coot... saw a bunch of guys fishing and noone catching...

 

[pcray1231]

I did well on Sunday at Bear Creek, Soutehrn Schuylkill Cty. 9 trout. My intentions were to hit some "new to me" brookie streams in the area, but my plans A and B were foiled by posted property and access issues, so I ended up on Bear.