Lower Hammer Creek Lancaster County 7/17/2022

[JeffP]

I went out from 10-12:30 try try to catch some smallies. I fished up from Brunnerville Road in the section that was re-engineered about a dozen or so years ago. In the end, I caught about a dozen fallfish, some pretty sunnies, 2 fingerling largemouth, and tiny smallmouth. I haven't caught any decent bass in years despite the nice deep pools with fast water at the heads of the pools. I used buggers, a beetle, and missed a bigger one on a clouser. There were a few rises but when I switched to the beetle, they totally ignored it. My legs said about 72 when I stepped in. Has anyone else had any luck fishing Hammer for bass?

 

[Fish Sticks]

I went out from 10-12:30 try try to catch some smallies. I fished up from Brunnerville Road in the section that was re-engineered about a dozen or so years ago. In the end, I caught about a dozen fallfish, some pretty sunnies, 2 fingerling largemouth, and tiny smallmouth. I haven't caught any decent bass in years despite the nice deep pools with fast water at the heads of the pools. I used buggers, a beetle, and missed a bigger one on a clouser. There were a few rises but when I switched to the beetle, they totally ignored it. My legs said about 72 when I stepped in. Has anyone else had any luck fishing Hammer for bass?

I know a lot about the issues effecting the upper hammer from 100’s of hours in the watershed surveying with restoration consultants up there over the years or gathering info for what we are using as a watershed implementation plan but don’t know about the issues on lower hammer or if it can be productive fishing wise down there below speedwell. Just got a house that will put me about 10-15 min closer its on my list If I catch anything of size I’ll pm you and let you know.

 

[JeffP]

Sounds good! By the way, a few of the sunfish were redbreasts and very pretty. I seem to remember a post where you asked for tips on where to find them. I'm sure if I used bait or smaller flies I would have caught a lot more.