Quittie, Lebanon County, 10/15/2010

[Angled]

Fished the special regs on Friday. Water 55 degrees, medium flow and surprisingly clear since it rained day before and creek normally has a little color. Weather sunny and warm (64) with a brutal wind.

Only caught 1 rainbow which on some days I would be happy with. But this day was rather frustrating for 3 reasons: the leaf hatch, the wind, and the fact that somewhere were a couple 100 fresh stockies swimming around. The wind had leaves all over the stream so I only stayed for 1 hour.

At 1 point, I was standing on a high so got a very good view of how the fish reacted. Saw some trout but not a lot. They did not seem acclimated yet and were not aggressive at all. The fish I caught (and a couple missed) only hit when the fly drifted very slowly in front of their nose.

I was using a streamer but in hindsight (and after going to another stream where I ran a float) realized shoulda tried a slower mymph like pattern instead since they were not aggressive and were only gently mouthing odd stuff that floated by. Saw fish swimming by my feet on 2 occasions. There were several other guys so maybe fish were also hooked and spooked.

Some rainbows appeared to be doing the courtship dance. Got to wondering if hatchery rainbows spawn, if so why aren’t there more wild bows and do they (hatchery rainbows) spawn in fall?

 

[NCPAtrtbum]

I was there the day after they stocked just to see what was going on. I experienced the same things you did, only managed to bring in a 15'' brown on a bright orange egg pattern drifting along the bottom.. must have been a holdover. Leaves were terrible.. fish were chasing biting and bumping each other so I imagine it's that time of the year! I actually saw one bow trying to eat leaves that drifted past him on a couple occasions.. Right now it might be worth going back to see whats happening.

Apparently they float stock that? Kind of hard to believe.

 

[jkilroy]

There's wild rainbow in that creek, I know a few holes that hold them and I can catch them everytime I go. I have to go fish it now that they stocked it.

 

[salvelinusfontinalis]

There's wild rainbow in that creek, I know a few holes that hold them and I can catch them everytime I go.

I agree with this statement but I catch them out of the regs area.

 

[midnightangler]

Got to wondering if hatchery rainbows spawn, if so why aren’t there more wild bows and do they (hatchery rainbows) spawn in fall?

Hatchery rainbows do spawn in the fall. They've got them pretty screwed up, biologically speaking. I dont get the impression that this shift is bad for spawning success. I'm told that after a few generations in the wild, the hatchery stock rainbows will revert to spring spawning. That tells me that for whatever reason fall spawning is not a successful strategy for rainbow trout. Its probably a big reason that we don't see more wild rainbows.

 

[CodorusTUTom]

Something I've always wondered about this creek...how far above and/or below the regs area can trout be found. Is it public and are there even enough fish to make it worthwhile?

 

[NCPAtrtbum]

There are fish all throughout that stream. Some pretty nice stretches in the bellgrove area in back of annville.. a lot of people fish bait outside the DHALO area naturally so be prepared for litter and junk along the banks. But I've caught fish in Lebanon, Cleona, Annville.. never fished it north of Palmyra but, I'm sure you'll find something in any stretch of the Quitte.

 

[salvelinusfontinalis]

I always liked the riffles below 934.

As stated above fish are all throughout the stream and its worth exploring in an area that doesn't have very much.

 

[jkilroy]

Fished the quitty this morning and man it was tough fishing 4 in 3 hours and one wild fish, just below the falls by the bridge. Didn't even see many.

 

[NCPAtrtbum]

Nice pic! I love catching small wild fish.

 

[albud1962]

I love catching large wild fish!

 

[ratgunner]

I love catching lots of large wild fish.

 

[tomgamber]

My aunt has a farm across from the golf course. How close is she to a good fishable section?

 

[Angled]

Which golf course? Lebanon CC is close to the special regs area but likely would want to drive and not walk to the creek. Fairview is close too. I really dont know all the golf courses. Not too far downstream from that is good open water. I think downstream is best bet but really dont know since I never even tried upstream cause it seemed to developed for my tastes.

Snitz creek goes close to those golf courses so could try that. I was never there but suspect there may be a few but not many fish there.

 

[tomgamber]

Didn't know there was more than one GC..Lebanon valley CC I guess it is...their farm backs right up to the mtn. I'd drive regardless. They replaced the bridge (where I was thinking of accessing) a few years back. There is an Isaak Walton sign near the bridge if that helps...

 

[Maurice]

tom Blow it up on google maps.....you can probably see the family dog and someone sinking a put on the golf course

 

[jdaddy]

Use Bing.com maps instead of google maps. I was shocked at the difference between the two! If you can see the family dog in google maps, you will see fish rising with bing!

 

[MattBoyer]

I think it's Monroe Valley, Tom. That's the Swatara Creek, not the Quittie.

Boyer

 

[sholgate]

Beautiful fish. And great news. That stream seems a bit silty, but they found a way. That is wonderful. That is a stream that could use a clean up especially after rains.

 

[jdaddy]

Joined: 2008/2/13 21:52 From West Lawn, PA Posts: 94 Beautiful fish. And great news. That stream seems a bit silty, but they found a way. That is wonderful. That is a stream that could use a clean up especially after rains. Posted on: Today 7:53

What do you mean by cleaned up? There is a good bit of money sitting out there for Quittie improvements.