Swatara Creek, Lebanon County, 08/06/11

Swattie87

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Got out for some WW fishing today...well relatively warm water anyway. I fished the Swatara in northern Lebanon County. That far upstream there is still a good bit of spring seeps and numerous cold water feeders, but I was still surprised at how cool the water felt this morning...72 on the thermometer when I checked. I fished from 10:00 to about 2:00 and covered about a mile or so. Air temp was mid 70's, overcast skies that eventually gave way to a soaking rain at about 1:00 (and 3/4 mile from the truck). Water was low and clear until the rain.

I fished small BH Buggers in various colors but had the best luck with chartruse. The fishing was streaky...the only spots that produced were rock bottomed runs with good current and about 24" of water depth. Nothing in the slow, deep holes that usually produce too. The fish were clearly keying on the current...the Redbreasts were even out in the current and not holding by the shore. Not an outstanding day numbers wise but I caught a nice mix of species and there was enough action to make it worth getting soaked. Also caught only my second Crappie in my 7 years fishing the creek. A few pics...Check out the orange fins on the first Smallie...pretty cool.

 

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your first two smallmouth are the only size I seem to be able to catch this year....they still put up a fun fight though and your pics are great!
 
Fished the Swattie this morning as well except in Dauphin Co. What a great day to be out. Not too hot, water was nice and cool, and the fishing was pretty good. Caught about 5 or 6 bass like the ones in the pics above, along with some fallfish and rock bass. My brother caught the biggest fallfish i have ever seen on a size 6 rootbeer colored estaz bugger i tied for him. Had to been at least 17"!!!! It was a friggin' MONSTER! I lost a brute of a smallie as well on a white/chartruse clouser. Biggest smallmouth i have seen this year by far. Didn't get a temp where i was at, but all in all the same conditions. Fish were in the current with a rocky bottom. I did get one rock bass in slow water on a white/blue popper.
 
I believe you on the Fallfish...they get really big in that stream. I've caught them in the 16-18" range before too. They're a fun fight on a light rod.
 
Those are some clean, healthy looking smallies. Fish that size bode well for upcoming years. I have had the same experience on my local waters.
 
Nice. Speaking of fallfish, I caught two today on a size two bugger working the current. They were both about 14 inches and bigger than all the smallies I got into.

Different stream BTW.
 
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