Lancaster Co SMB stream/river clarity excellent yesterday

[Mike]

If you have a desire to fish the subject waters for SMB, but always find them to be quite turbid in summer and this turns you (or the fish) off, you’re now in luck. Pequea Ck, arguably the muddiest in the county, was perfectly clear yesterday. I don’t think I’ve ever seen better water clarity in that stream in 40+ yrs of observation. Likewise, the Conestoga was clear in Lancaster and at the mouth, another near miracle. The Susquehanna was also about as clear as it gets in the lower river and SMB fishing was good (w/ surface and sub-surface lures). A couple of c cats were picked up as well. There were occasional hexes aloft in the Pequea village area and at various locations fish were rising and chasing shiners and perhaps small gizzard shad throughout much of the day. Water temp 77F.

 

[HopBack]

Pequea in the lower portion is a blast in the summer. It looks like a trout stream that has numerous smallmouth. Nothing huge but it’s a numbers game. I’ve caught several 16 inch fish in the several outings I went last year.

 

[McSneek]

Yesterday’s storms muddied the Cocalico and Conestoga. Didn’t add much water to the system. If we get more storms this evening fuggedaboutit for awhile.

 

[Andrwhite610]

I fished the Schuylkill briefly Thursday and saw a huge number of 8”-10” smallmouth in a 2-300 yard stretch. Also fished the Susky Friday and of course there was plenty of smallies. I noticed on the Susky the water clarity can very greatly across the width of the river.

 

[tjsingle]

Yesterday Mahantango Creek was muddy, it muddied up the Susky a little bit by Sweigerts Island.

 

[wildtrout2]

I fished the Schuylkill briefly Thursday and saw a huge number of 8”-10” smallmouth in a 2-300 yard stretch. Also fished the Susky Friday and of course there was plenty of smallies. I noticed on the Susky the water clarity can very greatly across the width of the river.

That's very encouraging! What stretch of the Schuylkill were you fishing?

 

[Andrwhite610]

That's very encouraging! What stretch of the Schuylkill were you fishing?

Muhlenberg Twp. I visit this stretch often. It’s a particularly rocky, flat stretch. Almost no silt. Push water before a rapid. There were many fish chasing my bait or a hooked fish back to my feet and just smallies swimming all over in general. Saw 2 or 3 14” range fish but they weren’t as silly as the smaller ones.

 

[Mike]

That's very encouraging! What stretch of the Schuylkill were you fishing?

You can typically find those populations in the stretch from Port Clinton area downstream to Gibralter. Other reliable habitat occurs in short segments as pools become longer and gradient declines from Birdsboro downstream with questions remaining in my mind regarding the recovery, if any, of the populations in decent habitat from Limerick/Royersford/Spring City down to Falls Bridge in Philly.

 

[TimB]

Lower Pequea is one of my regular haunts and may be the most fickle stream I've ever encountered. I'm targeting SMB, but have caught carp, channel cats, holdover or wild browns, large stocked rainbows (placed without a NOS according to the WCO), and rock bass. Smallies up to 18", but that's rare. All in the same two-mile stretch.

As Mike pointed out clarity can be an issue. It clears up nicely in winter when there isn't much upstream farm activity. In spring/summer/fall, I won't fish it without checking the USGS gauge. If there's been a recent spike in the 7 day graph, don't bother. It'll be heavily stained and won't fish well at all. I give it 4 days of steady or slowly dropping flow before fishing it.

Spotted the biggest smallie I've ever seen in PA about 5 years ago from the rail bed above in clear conditions. My buddy Jim positioned himself behind a boulder upstream and I talked him through the drift from above with a crayfish pattern. Hooked that beast on the third drift and it was an epic fight. Before I could scramble down the bank with the net, she rubbed the fly off on a rock. Haven't seen a fish in that spot before or since.

Pequea is also effected by heavy pressure at times (empty bait containers in the gorge) and transient SMB populations. Some years it fishes exceptionally well with high numbers of 12-15" fish. Some years you might think it's barren. I hit it prespawn every year and can often guess what the rest of the season will be like. This year, meh. The flow is really low.

If you give it a go, get ready to be skunked... or have an epic day.