Wild Trout

M

msteindl

New member
Joined
Oct 17, 2022
Messages
10
Location
Chester County
Hello all,

New to the forum and have only been fly fishing for about 6 months now. A friend and I wanted to get out over the Easter weekend to a new location in Lancaster County that is known to hold some Wild trout (a trib. of the Susquehanna - where you have to hike in a mile or two). I'm sure many know the location I'm referring too. After an all day outing we came up empty handed. This was last Friday; Conditions were overcast around 55-60 degrees, not sure about water temps. Fished mostly size 16/18 nymphs/midges. I just wanted to see if anyone could offer any advice or if anyone has fished this location or similar locations recently... I didn't see many fish only a couple in a really deep hole about half way up the stream. Water levels seemed low. Thanks in advance!
 
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Or wait for better conditions.
 
Small streams in the lower Susquehanna “river hills” in York and Lancaster Co’s are notorious for exceptionally clear water and very low flows under conditions of infrequent rainfall, which has been the case for much of the past month and, technically, for all of 2023 so far. The Lehigh Valley, for example, is down about 4 inches for the year so far.
 
Hello all,

New to the forum and have only been fly fishing for about 6 months now. A friend and I wanted to get out over the Easter weekend to a new location in Lancaster County that is known to hold some Wild trout (a trib. of the Susquehanna - where you have to hike in a mile or two). I'm sure many know the location I'm referring too. After an all day outing we came up empty handed. This was last Friday; Conditions were overcast around 55-60 degrees, not sure about water temps. Fished mostly size 16/18 nymphs/midges. I just wanted to see if anyone could offer any advice or if anyone has fished this location or similar locations recently... I didn't see many fish only a couple in a really deep hole about half way up the stream. Water levels seemed low. Thanks in advance!
You may need to start identifying as invisible
 
Stealth, stealth, stealth. Not seeing fish means nothing. Trout are, well, stealthy.
 
Small stream and low water = clean up your stealth.
Thanks all, I figured this might be the case as they likely aren't as naive as typical stocked trout that I'm used to. I tried to approach each hole gracefully but couldn't really get a good long cast going in such tight parameters; it was beautiful day out nonetheless and I think a good learning experience.
 
Or wait for better conditions.
What are the better times to fish these types of smaller streams? guessing after we get some more rain on a consistent bases? I'm sure a single rainstorm wouldn't help...
 
What are the better times to fish these types of smaller streams? guessing after we get some more rain on a consistent bases? I'm sure a single rainstorm wouldn't help...
Yeah. Generally more water is better than less. To a certain point. But generally, I like them pretty high. A little off color helps too. And warmer weather. Water temps 55-65, which on small streams is typically a mid-May to mid-Sept deal. Some years with a warm early Fall you can extend this window through early October. But it in the Spring it’s rare for me have a real good day on small streams until mid-May or so. It happens, but it’s a bit of a rare bird.

Winter, and early Spring, larger streams with more stable temperature ranges seem to fish better for me, and I do more of that stuff then.
 
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Spill some potato chip crumbs and start an Utz Hatch. (Just kidding.) Approaching from downstream (sometimes on your knees), don't bother with waders since you want to stay out of the water, false cast over "empty water" when possible and minimize false casting overall. Catching skittish fish in thin water is less about good casting and all about a short and effective drift.
 
If this is a wild brown trout stream, wait for substantial rain. Let the creek peak and once it starts coming down but is still off color; roll cast a streamer in likely holding areas. This produces brown trout majority of the time and you don't need to be very stealthy if the water is stained.

If this is wild/native brook trout stream, do the same but use smaller streamer.
 
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