Lititz Run C&R Area Lancaster County 9/29/08

[salvelinusfontinalis]

I fished the C&R area of Lititz Run and had a pretty good time. The water is off clor but running with a good flow.

I started at the top of the C&R area and almost immediately caught 2 15 inch bows on a size 18 scud. The same one I used at the Upper Tully last week. Seems as though it is another main food forage in this stream. While i did catch about 100 chubs...(some 10 inchs long and bigger) i caught a total of 5 trout in the C&R area. All but one where rainbows. All the big boy trout just laughed at the scud and held position until I walked by.

The good news! I caught 2 wild rainbows in the riffles at the farmers lane. One was 9 inch the other was 11 inch. This stream is starting to go on the up swing. Lets keep our fingewrs crossed.

P.S. Hey squaretail remember when i told you about the killer sheep field? I told ya bro...gotta watch out for this sucker! Look under the chapter planner and read the Fly on the Run Ram on the Rampage. that darn thing is gonna get it someday 🙂
RAM

 

[wgmiller]

Thanks for the heads up on the chubs. I was pulling these in the other day on my first fly fishing trip at the Donegal and couldn't figure out for the life of me what they were. I had a sz 14 Copper John on and they seemed to like it. All of my other presentations scared the trout away!

Couple questions for ya' on Lititz Run:

What was your rod setup? I've got a 9' 5wt and would like to try out Lititz Run.

How is the fishing from Reflections on south (under 222, etc.)?

Have you ever fished the Millport Concervancy? I know you have to be a DTU member and also purchase a "stamp" from the Conservancy to fish this area (neither of which I comply with). Just wondering if the fishing is 'better' in this section or the C & R area is just as good.

 

[salvelinusfontinalis]

My rod set-up is a Orvis Superfine 3wt 7'6" 2.5 Full Flex. This is a small stream rod and Lititz Run is a small stream. With that said your set-up would be just fine. The C&R area is wide open (not many trees) and is a meadow stream making casting easy as pie. Sneaking up on the fish and getting them to take your presentation is another story. These fish are not stupid and are looking for pellets as opposed to natural food sources. Exspecially the big boys.

I have fished that section below Reflections once and didnt like it much at that point in time I had never seen a trout down that far. I have heard rumors of a few big monsters escaping down that way and it is very possible. I would venture a guess if a large trout did go down that far and was no longer being fed pellet supplements....he probably eat almost anything. Could be worth a try. Then again maybe not....its hard enough to catch one fish in Lititz Run.....I always at least want to be casting over a fish...not to where one isnt.

Yes i have fished the Millport Conservancy on a number of occasions. I had a badge a few years back and last year but not this year. The Millport Conservancy is better water. It has more aquatic vegatation and the stream has alot more work done to it than through the C&R area. Also it has more smaller fish in it. But make no mistake there are alot of big trout there also. In fact I was there just the day of this report and walked over the bridge in the center of the conservancy. This is a feeding spot for the trout(pellets). There were a number of very large fish waiting for food. I was just pokin around and looking ...i did no fishing. There is also a hole in the conservancy that is never ending in depth. They had dredged this hole out and kept going ....hoping to make a summer refuge spot for trout. Once I had a size 10 bh bugger on a 2 split shots, I counted to 10 and still didnt hit bottom. I have yet to ever hit bottom in that hole. The conservancy also is wooded.

Now while i say there are more smaller fish in the Conservancy with prettier water and trees.....the C&R area has more large bruiser trout that are very very old and wary. The lack of trees makes it so your game has to be at top notch preformace in order to sneak up on them. Also it is free. This area is for everyone to enjoy......the biggest plus of all. The upper end of the C&R area has alot of nice pools and riffles.

So it all depends on what you are looking for and prefer. I would say the Conservancy is better but just slightly. 🙂

 

[wgmiller]

Thanks for the info. This sounds like a nice option to my "home waters" of Donegal Creek. I make it over to Lititz once a week, so I'll have to incorporate a couple hours worth of fishing on Lititz Run into that. I'm not sure if I'm going to make the jump to fish the Coservancy yet, but the open water sounds like a good option.

As far as the pellets go, who feeds the fish? Would it not be possible to come up with some type of foam imitation of a pellet? With all of the other terminal tackle out there, certainly there has to be something similar to a pellet. Or perhaps nothing works like the real thing which is obviously not a possibility.

I think I'm going to pick up a 3wt. 7'6" rod in addition to my current setup. The Donegal has lots of tight areas that I think that would work well in. Perhaps Santa will come through...

 

[salvelinusfontinalis]

Well I do have a few friends that have come up with punching circles out of brown foam and then applying to the hook. You could also use deer hair. Like clipping the hackle and wings off of an adams irressitable. Donegal Trout Unlimited feeds the fish. The only problem with using pellet flies is sometimes the fish dont respond to them. In most cases, the fish can smell the real pellets in the water and look for the splash of many pellets being dropped in. Dont get me wrong though, sometimes the pellets flies work on thier own. Its always a good idea to have them on you, just in case.

I know you havent been fishing Donegal Creek for a real long time. Or at least im assuming as much. I fear the worst for that creek now. Even after all the rain we had the stream is still amazing low. Im starting to wonder if something is robbing water from the stream upstream leaving it dewatered. The wild browns have disappeared and the wild bows are declining. I fear the worst for my old friend donegal creek. :-(

 

[wgmiller]

That sounds like good info on the pellet flies. I'll have to remember that when I make my way over to Lititz Run. It may work, it may not, but it never hurts to try!

No, I haven't been fishing the Donegal long, that is a correct assumption. This summer the stream got REALLY low and I stayed away for a while so as not to stress the fish. That a stream like this could exist in the middle of farmland is amazing to me in the first place. With all the farm runoff and other associated by-products, the stream certainly has its work cut out for it. Not to mention the poaching pressure it gets.

When I first started fishing the creek this spring, it was relatively clear and I had no problem spotting fish. Over the past few months it has been a real challenge to spot fish. Perhaps this is a function of the time of year, I don't know. Hopefully there are no drastic changes occurring to the stream as IMO it truly is a gem.