Cedar Creek in Allentown

[Sylvaneous]

I'll be through the Lehigh Valley in July and was wondering if the Trico hatch was holding up in the 12 or 15 years since I was there last. It was a favorite of mine over the 7 (7?) years I lived in Bethlehem in the late 90's , early 2000's. Cedar's Tricos usually kicked in later than the Little Lehigh's and that's when I should be around there. It didin't have much in the way of habitat and the fish were never more than a foot (usually closer to 9 inches), but I loved that little stream.
Thanks
Syl.

 

[Mike]

I walked along the stream a couple of weeks ago. The good habitat is still sparse, but the stream had good flow and in my limited fishing experience stays quite cold even on 90 deg+ days.

 

[CLSports]

Went there the last two summers after not fishing it for a while. Tricos were sparse but there were occasional risers. They may have been taking midges, but trico patterns worked for me. Little fish and only located in a few decent holding areas. Most of them were tough to cast to. I walked a good distance each time to observe the fish/bugs. Not great by any means, but give it a try.

 

[Nymph-wristed]

To Mike and CLSports points, the cover and other good habitat is sparse. I caught some fish the last time I was there in the winter. Find any undercut banks, and there are small concentrations of fish. I took a shot at a 20+ inch fish with a midge that had just edged out enough from a footbridge to be visible, and I unfortunately put him down, so the babes are coming from somewhere...

 

[Sylvaneous]

...sounds like Cedar. Not much changed. I did see how Parks quit mowing (scalping? shaving) right down to the water.
It would do well with some strategic rock placement.

 

[wgmiller]

To Mike and CLSports points, the cover and other good habitat is sparse. I caught some fish the last time I was there in the winter. Find any undercut banks, and there are small concentrations of fish. I took a shot at a 20+ inch fish with a midge that had just edged out enough from a footbridge to be visible, and I unfortunately put him down, so the babes are coming from somewhere...

Agreed that they are in there, but not easy by an means. I saw a nice one sitting in the main channel closer to Cedar Crest Blvd. Unfortunately he also saw me and it was "game over". I have no doubt that if you could time a rain event right with a streamer you could produce some nice fish from that stream. There may not be a ton of them, but they're definitely there! As far as tricos on Cedar goes, I haven't caught that hatch yet. TBH, I've had better luck on Saucon than the LL or Cedar when it comes to tricos.

 

[Mike]

I wasn’t suggesting that there aren’t trout in there and it may even still be Class A since the habitat has always looked pretty much the same to me over the decades. It’s just a stream that at least from Cedar Crest Blvd to the “lake” is a small BT stream characterized by marginal habitat and I’m betting that angler caught fish are typically in the 7-8.5” range. Larger fish will be under the occasional bridge crossing or other form of occasional larger fish habitat. Habitat is better a bit upstream as I recall from the past and it’s certainly better in its Class A trib. It’s a great stream to fish when you want to cool off on a summer day, have low expectations, and just have the itch to get out.

 

[troutbert]

...sounds like Cedar. Not much changed. I did see how Parks quit mowing (scalping? shaving) right down to the water.

So, there's a limestone spring creek flowing through public land and its badly managed and that mis-management negatively impacts the stream.

We've seen that all before, it's nothing new, but at some point people need to tell them that it's not acceptable. It's not OK.

 

[wgmiller]

It’s a great stream to fish when you want to cool off on a summer day, have low expectations, and just have the itch to get out.

100%! Pair a visit to a stream like this with other activities in the Lehigh Valley and you have a good day. The fact this stream stays so cold in the summer is a blessing, and as you mentioned, a great place to wet a line on a hot day.