Susquehanna River / Codorus Creek Mouth 5/15/2022

[Schaefer406]

I just started trying to fly fish for smallies. Saw some good habitat and staging areas for spawning around the codorus creek mouth so I went out. Water clarity in the codorus was bad, aka chocolate milk. The Susquehanna was off color, but the edges were clear. Flows were right around 47,000 CFS using the Harrisburg gauge. I had no luck per usual, but did see two fish at the mouth of the codorus make some big splashes, which I guess is a sign that top water action is on the way. Hopefully I can learn how to fish for them better and finally catch some when I go out!

Setup: 9.5’ 6wt with 6 wt sink tip line, and a heavy crayfish pattern I tried to drag through next to rocks and weed beds. Then I switched to a black woolly bugger streamer. I think I had one hit the bugger but was unsure. I live near the Conestoga and mill creek where smallies come up to spawn, so hopefully they become present here soon. Pray for me! Getting frustrated…

 

[henrydavid]

River conditions can change by the hour. Welcome to the world of trying to figure out the Susky. I fish the North Branch usually starting sometime in June. Top water action is my passion. We have 2 specific hatches that I target. The legendary White Fly hatch and the more dependable, longer lasting Sulphur hatch. The White Fly hatch, usually late July or early August can be unpredictable and short lived. During the summer the Sulphurs are out nearly every evening and the smallies feast on them.

When there's no sign of any hatches going on I drift, swing and strip wooly buggers in any type of crayfish or leach color, sizes 4-6. I tend to get more on the drift than anything else. I target water that is adjacent to current or in the current - moving water. I don't fish it during the colder months

 

[Fish Sticks]

I just started trying to fly fish for smallies. Saw some good habitat and staging areas for spawning around the codorus creek mouth so I went out. Water clarity in the codorus was bad, aka chocolate milk. The Susquehanna was off color, but the edges were clear. Flows were right around 47,000 CFS using the Harrisburg gauge. I had no luck per usual, but did see two fish at the mouth of the codorus make some big splashes, which I guess is a sign that top water action is on the way. Hopefully I can learn how to fish for them better and finally catch some when I go out!

Setup: 9.5’ 6wt with 6 wt sink tip line, and a heavy crayfish pattern I tried to drag through next to rocks and weed beds. Then I switched to a black woolly bugger streamer. I think I had one hit the bugger but was unsure. I live near the Conestoga and mill creek where smallies come up to spawn, so hopefully they become present here soon. Pray for me! Getting frustrated…

Get a good sized airlock float about the size of a small bouncy ball, size 6 buggers in black, size 6-8 clousers in white/chartreuse, some shot (diff sizes), attach fly to 2feet of 3x attach to 2x 9ft leader with split shot 3” from flie set to depth. Put air lock at needed height to bounce bottom. Since water in susky is high find eddies or rocky shorelines with good mix if different sized rocks (bouncy ball to bowling ball) where craw dads live. Cast the rig upstream and try a mix of dead drifting with twitches, making a downstream U in the line to move the fly faster downstream(tension loop drift), or put in absolute slack water And pop the airlock and pause(set hook if air lock takes too long/slow to float back up to surface when you pop and pause). If your not catching fish change weight a couple times first then change spots. That’ll do it.

 

[Schaefer406]

Get a good sized airlock float about the size of a small bouncy ball, size 6 buggers in black, size 6-8 clousers in white/chartreuse, some shot (diff sizes), attach fly to 2feet of 3x attach to 2x 9ft leader with split shot 3” from flie set to depth. Put air lock at needed height to bounce bottom. Since water in susky is high find eddies or rocky shorelines with good mix if different sized rocks (bouncy ball to bowling ball) where craw dads live. Cast the rig upstream and try a mix of dead drifting with twitches, making a downstream U in the line to move the fly faster downstream(tension loop drift), or put in absolute slack water And pop the airlock and pause(set hook if air lock takes too long/slow to float back up to surface when you pop and pause). If your not catching fish change weight a couple times first then change spots. That’ll do it.

Is there any sort of video highlighting this strategy? This seems similar to dead drifting and swinging streamers for trout correct? The only difference is the addition of some shot to get the fly down faster and using a larger indicator right?

 

[Fish Sticks]

Is there any sort of video highlighting this strategy? This seems similar to dead drifting and swinging streamers for trout correct? The only difference is the addition of some shot to get the fly down faster and using a larger indicator right?

Its 3 different strategies to try

1: fish like nymph in trout stream(dead drift)

2: fishing a tension loop drift is in george Daniels dynamic nymphing. I’m in hershey id even just meet you and show you on the conewago or something

3: the dead water/slow water pop the air lock and pause retreive think of as a streamer retreive with the bobber making some of it vertical. Remeber if that bobber takes even a second longer to resurface SET lol.

All three with same set up described, non really involve the fly swining across the stream at all. Which is why they work when fish tight lipped. Dont get me wrong wet fly swing works too sometimes but alot of times it doesnt