Lancaster PA Smallmouth

[Schaefer406]

Good morning!

I have recently purchased a rod and reel for smallmouth (I wanted a whole different setup from my trout rods). I have a 6wt with a sink tip line, and I have fished many different streams here using patterns such as gamechangers, sculpins, clousers, etc . . . and I have only caught maybe 5 smallmouth in 15 outings. That is horrible considering I am not a beginner angler. I utilize the PAFBC mapping tool to find streams to fish for them. I have fished Mill Creek and the Conestoga in the Lancaster County Park (I didn't even see fish in here last time I went), the Susquehanna near Wrightsville (difficult to wade and hardly any casting room), Pequea Creek (didn't even see a fish here). I am honestly at a loss for words at how I see some of these guys pulling these massive smallies on the fly and I can't even locate them. Quite obviously not asking for spots as I hate when people give away their productive areas, but any tips or guidance on locating them so I can finally put my rod to use would be appreicated.

 

[Schaefer406]

Good morning!

I have recently purchased a rod and reel for smallmouth (I wanted a whole different setup from my trout rods). I have a 6wt with a sink tip line, and I have fished many different streams here using patterns such as gamechangers, sculpins, clousers, etc . . . and I have only caught maybe 5 smallmouth in 15 outings. That is horrible considering I am not a beginner angler. I utilize the PAFBC mapping tool to find streams to fish for them. I have fished Mill Creek and the Conestoga in the Lancaster County Park (I didn't even see fish in here last time I went), the Susquehanna near Wrightsville (difficult to wade and hardly any casting room), Pequea Creek (didn't even see a fish here). I am honestly at a loss for words at how I see some of these guys pulling these massive smallies on the fly and I can't even locate them. Quite obviously not asking for spots as I hate when people give away their productive areas, but any tips or guidance on locating them so I can finally put my rod to use would be appreicated.

One other item, maybe I'm too early for fishing these streams? I am not brushed up on smallmouth migration patterns or timing. Are they not making their way into the tribs yet?

 

[redietz]

One other item, maybe I'm too early for fishing these streams? I am not brushed up on smallmouth migration patterns or timing. Are they not making their way into the tribs yet?

Smallmouth do migrate through the year, and they like to winter in deeper water. Give it time.

 

[tomgamber]

One of the best days I ever had for small mouth was the bank of Raystown lake using an indicator and a small bead head hare's ear. Was just gonna try for some panfish but these smallies kept hitting and they were not small. Must have caught a dozen 12-15"+ fish in about an hour. I don't have a lot of luck with Clousers for smallies. I'll fish a tan bugger like a crayfish, a white bugger like a minnow and a black bugger like a hellgrammite. I have success with all those. I love gurglers for smallies. And Schenk's white streamer is the best smallie fly I've ever used as intended. I think its easy to overthink smallmouth if you are mostly trout fisher.

 

[Schaefer406]

One of the best days I ever had for small mouth was the bank of Raystown lake using an indicator and a small bead head hare's ear. Was just gonna try for some panfish but these smallies kept hitting and they were not small. Must have caught a dozen 12-15"+ fish in about an hour. I don't have a lot of luck with Clousers for smallies. I'll fish a tan bugger like a crayfish, a white bugger like a minnow and a black bugger like a hellgrammite. I have success with all those. I love gurglers for smallies. And Schenk's white streamer is the best smallie fly I've ever used as intended. I think its easy to overthink smallmouth if you are mostly trout fisher.

I've heard if you're fishing in shallower areas in lakes that an indicator and nymph setup for smallies is lethal. I really want to get into fishing streams for smallies but just can't seem to find them despite what the PAFBC website says.... Maybe I'll have to start lake fishing using my kayak for them!

 

[tomgamber]

Not sure what access is like but I gotta believe the Conestoga river, particularly in the areas where there are those horseshoe-like bends has to hold some bass. I grew up just north of Reading and the Schuylkill in the Hamburg/Shoemakersville area was very good for smallies where some of the bigger creeks dumped in. Just a suggestion.

 

[Solitariolupo]

For what I know about smallmouth is in some creeks they can be considered residence and some do come out of larger bodies of water if it gets hot they will swim out. I hear they go to cooler waters in the summer. If they swim up the creeks go to the mouth of the creeks and start there.

 

[JeffK]

I second the give it time. A little cold for hot smallie action right now. Some of my best bass fishing comes from park ponds that are too weed choked to fish most of the summer. There is a window of opportunity in June when the water warms but the weeds aren't too bad to fish with surface flies like poppers, gurglers and deer hair mice. This time of year the lee side of a pond may fish well since the wind can push the warmer surface water to one side and the fish can concentrate there.

I like smaller rivers/larger streams in the summer with flies since can fish the hot spots better - no hero casts needed. I like leeches and buggers. Carry some in natural colors (i.e black, brown, olive) for bugs and crayfish and a few in white for minnows. Natural ones are the bread and butter for me cast to better holes/logs etc. However, in many of the places I fish the larger smallies hunt the shallows for minnows at dusk into night and a minnow fly is good. If you see fish busting schools of fish in the shallows tie on a white bugger or pencil popper and go for it. When wading around shallows during the day notice where you see schools of minnows. Head back at dusk when the better fish hunt. Minnow flies are a good choice in the Delaware in late summer when the juvenile shad are heading downstream.

One more idea, now is a good time to cast for pickerel if you have them near you. They seem to come alive earlier than smallies IMHO.

 

[Schaefer406]

I second the give it time. A little cold for hot smallie action right now. Some of my best bass fishing comes from park ponds that are too weed choked to fish most of the summer. There is a window of opportunity in June when the water warms but the weeds aren't too bad to fish with surface flies like poppers, gurglers and deer hair mice. This time of year the lee side of a pond may fish well since the wind can push the warmer surface water to one side and the fish can concentrate there.

I like smaller rivers/larger streams in the summer with flies since can fish the hot spots better - no hero casts needed. I like leeches and buggers. Carry some in natural colors (i.e black, brown, olive) for bugs and crayfish and a few in white for minnows. Natural ones are the bread and butter for me cast to better holes/logs etc. However, in many of the places I fish the larger smallies hunt the shallows for minnows at dusk into night and a minnow fly is good. If you see fish busting schools of fish in the shallows tie on a white bugger or pencil popper and go for it. When wading around shallows during the day notice where you see schools of minnows. Head back at dusk when the better fish hunt. Minnow flies are a good choice in the Delaware in late summer when the juvenile shad are heading downstream.

One more idea, now is a good time to cast for pickerel if you have them near you. They seem to come alive earlier than smallies IMHO.

Wow thus was a very in-depth reply. Thank you so much! I have ponds near me that I would love to fish, but most of them are private property of banned by the housing authorities... Thank you for the confidence booster, as I haven't had luck (but it seems I might be a tad too early to get into some serious smallmouth #'s). As for fishing, do fish the Susquehanna often? I live right next to it and I can only wade fish it, but it always seems to be too treacharous to do so. I also agree with your "no hero casts" and same applies to trout, often times the fish are right in front of you, and hero casts keep you out of touch with the fly and makes your strip sets not as good. Thanks!

 

[raftman]

Schaefer - whereabouts along the Susky do you live? I live in Marietta and fish it quite frequently via wading and/or kayak. I am by no means a great smallie angler, but perhaps we can get together when it gets warmer and I can show you some tips on wading it. Honestly, it doesn't really wade well until later summer when the levels are much lower. I like to wet wade it.

 

[Schaefer406]

Schaefer - whereabouts along the Susky do you live? I live in Marietta and fish it quite frequently via wading and/or kayak. I am by no means a great smallie angler, but perhaps we can get together when it gets warmer and I can show you some tips on wading it. Honestly, it doesn't really wade well until later summer when the levels are much lower. I like to wet wade it.

Hey, I live right outside of Columbia, PA in Centerville so like 5-10 minute drive to closest access. I'd really find it helpful if I went out with someone who is familiar with wading and kayaking in the area, as to be completely honest, I am very nervous taking my kayak out, let alone wading. I can't quite understand how I'm supposed to kayak AND fly fish. Is there a certain stretch/access near Marietta that you go to due to ease of kayaking or wading? I just can't seem to think of a good system to ensure my safety and fishing success. Thanks man!

 

[dc410]

Definitely give it a bit more time. Water temperature is by far the most critical factor. They will eventually work their way up into the tribs. You’ll get into numbers, maybe not a lot of big fish but they will eventually get there. You can also get into some really cool Redbreast Sunnies after the water warms up a bit, they are gorgeous little native fish and put up a nice fight on a lighter weight outfit. I love warmwater fishing!

 

[poopdeck]

I don’t start smallmouth fishing until June. Then I fish for them through October. Brown over white Clouser minnows, poppers and Large copper johns are pretty much all I need.

 

[JerryC]

I don't usually start fishing for smallies on the local creeks until mid to late May, by then most of the folks chasing stocked trout have disappeared. The various sunfish are on their beds at that point and smallmouth are starting to hit top water. I'm a dry fly snob. I use a 9' 6 wgt with a WFF line, but also have spare spools with intermediate and sink tip lines. Generally I find them in pools below riffles and small rapids. I've caught a few out of the riffles but they're small. Take some time to observe the water. Snags, downed timber, large rocks/boulders are good target areas. As far as flies, mostly poppers and sliders of various types for top water. When I do go subsurface, bait fish patterns, crayfish patterns, large mop flies, zonkers. I've never had much luck with Clousers or Woolly Buggers but others swear by them.

 

[McSneek]

Good morning!

I have recently purchased a rod and reel for smallmouth (I wanted a whole different setup from my trout rods). I have a 6wt with a sink tip line, and I have fished many different streams here using patterns such as gamechangers, sculpins, clousers, etc . . . and I have only caught maybe 5 smallmouth in 15 outings. That is horrible considering I am not a beginner angler. I utilize the PAFBC mapping tool to find streams to fish for them. I have fished Mill Creek and the Conestoga in the Lancaster County Park (I didn't even see fish in here last time I went), the Susquehanna near Wrightsville (difficult to wade and hardly any casting room), Pequea Creek (didn't even see a fish here). I am honestly at a loss for words at how I see some of these guys pulling these massive smallies on the fly and I can't even locate them. Quite obviously not asking for spots as I hate when people give away their productive areas, but any tips or guidance on locating them so I can finally put my rod to use would be appreicated.

The Conestoga is hit or miss. Some good spots that will produce fish and a lot of areas where the habitat just isn’t conducive to smallmouth. Central Park has some good water in one stretch and I’ve had good days in there and poor days. My go to flies for smallmouth are various colors of woolly bugger in size 4 and a white popper. I think its early for smallmouth too and won’t start chasing them until summer.

 

[C_kreek17]

TLDR: it’s still a little cold but you may still be able to locate some fish with crayfish or big streamers. A few more weeks and water temps will be prime for prespawn and spawn. Once it gets into summer fish big top water bugs dead drift.

In my few years of experience it is still a little cold to really get into bass. I have been out and handful of times near me on the west shore and have only turned up a couple fish (albeit one was the largest smallie I have ever caught). The cold front that just pushed through really put a damper on the early pre-spawn action. It seems that once the water warms up in April/is hovering in the mid 50s is when the big females really start to push up the tribs and the prespawn and spawning action heats up.

If you can find some fish in the creeks right now they’ll usually be a decent size. Most of my big smallies are caught in April on either 1) bouncing crayfish patterns along the bottom or 2) big streamers like changers or other articulated flies. Once they start pushing up you’ll definitely see them and they’ll be more aggressive.

Once we get into the dog days of summer/warm water and low I switch almost exclusively to top water (chubby Chernobyl or Gurgles fished either completely dead drifted or with very minimal twitches). Nothing gets the heart racing like a nice bass sucking up a top water bug. They seem to get real spooky if a streamer is thrown at them. I’ll also sometimes tie a small bigger dropper off the top water fly and dead drift the whole rig.

If you have any questions feel free to message me.

 

[wbranch]

The Columbia, Wrightsville section can be waded well at 22,000 cfs or less.

 

[Dave_W]

You don't need to wait until summer to fish for smallies with a fly rod.

I get most of my biggest fish this time of year (although this year has been slow). This time of year - mid March until mid to late April - is called the "pre-spawn" and is the easiest time to get big river bass on a fly. Small creeks, however, don't hold many, if any, bass this time of year -they're summer transient populations.

Here's an article I wrote awhile back on pre-spawn fly fishing for bass:
LINK

(This thread will be moved to the warm water forum shortly - thanks, DW)

 

[coyoterahn]

Dave, just have to say your article is spot on. Location, location, location is key. Although I’m primarily a spinning gear angler for pre spawn smallies, you have me thinking of getting my 7wt and giving it a go. Now is the time, especially if you’re interested in some bigger than average bass. Thanks for the article.

 

[Striperbobby]

Hey, I live right outside of Columbia, PA in Centerville so like 5-10 minute drive to closest access. I'd really find it helpful if I went out with someone who is familiar with wading and kayaking in the area, as to be completely honest, I am very nervous taking my kayak out, let alone wading. I can't quite understand how I'm supposed to kayak AND fly fish. Is there a certain stretch/access near Marietta that you go to due to ease of kayaking or wading? I just can't seem to think of a good system to ensure my safety and fishing success. Thanks man!

I like to use my kayak to get to places then stake it out or beach it on an island to wet wade the susky. You definitely should wait until the water levels are at 3.5 feet in Harrisburg or lower to wet wade without worrying about your safety. You can definitely fly fish while sitting on a yak because you don’t need to make long casts. Kayaks have such a low profile on the water that you really don’t spook fish like you do standing in a jon boat. Can’t tell you how many times I’ve had fish take my fly right next to my yak while it’s sits in the water when I am releasing a fish. Keep the paddle across your lap so you can make small adjustments during a drift.