Lititz Run, Lancaster County, 5/4/08

[jhguster23]

Fished Lititz Run in the meadow section below the Millport Conservancy beginning around 6 a.m. Saw a ton of fish, but struggled to find any takers. Tried olive and white wooly buggers, san juan worm and Walts Worm without any success. The water was very clear and it was difficult to approach the stream without scattering the fish. I wanted to try my hand with some dry flies, but was ill equipped to do so. Another explanation for my lack of success could possibly be that I suck.

The good news is there was an immense amount of insect activity. At various times throughout my four hours of fishing, I observed multiple clouds of midges, a sustained hatch of small mayflies (BWOs?), a small number of medium sized, cream colored mayflies, and a decent number of tan caddis skittering on the surface. In spite of the foregoing, did not see a large number of fish feeding on the surface. They were probably waiting for the fabled "pellet hatch" which, as I understand it, is pretty frequent this time of year. Does anyone know at what point the fish on this stream are going to stop being fed pellets?

Finally broke through at around 9 a.m., after moving up to the lower end of Millport Conservancy. Caught a 12" brown on an olive bugger. More interesting than the fish I caught, however, was the 24" + brown that attacked the fish on my line as I was reeling him in. Chased him right to my feet. Unreal. I'll be returning for him. Does anyone know of any patterns that imitate a 12" brown trout? ;-)

Apparently, this week the Wohlsen family donated Millport Conservancy to Franklin & Marshall College. I'm curious if anyone on this site is aware of what impact, if any, this will have on the fishing opportunities within the Conservancy.

 

[salvelinusfontinalis]

yes there is a thread in the general forum about the conservancy. I talked to Lynn who donated the conservancy and she assured me that fishing will remain open to TU, Millport Conservency Members and of course with that comes the badge. but you will still need the badge.

as far as fishing the C&R area....it isnt that you suck. The fish are very letort like in attitude. you need to make long casts while staying low and stay out of the sunlight. Walk very lightly or they feel you. The best advice I can give is try fishing on the opposite side of the stream than everyone else does. sometimes when using a woolly bugger you can trigger a strike by having them see it streamed the "other direction". another thing is to fish the stream banks ahead of you FIRST. most of the fish will sit along the edge waiting for anglers.

browse through previous lititz run posts and you will see tons of advice ive given for this stream. bottomline is: you can be doing everything right and they still wont bite. Its the nature of the beast. But you wont find a stream nearby the area that has as many large trout in it. also when was the last time you caught a 10 year or older stocker in the commonwealth. the stream is quiet amazing.

you nailed it right on the head with the hatchs. in fact i was there recently and the brown caddis were emerging so hard they were bouncing off of my chest and flying in my mouth. lol. this stream is really starting to recover.