Conodoguinet creek

[scs]

Anyone else been fishing the Conodoguinet lately? Does the fishing suck, or is it just me? Been living/fishing this same stretch for 32 years, not near as good this year as it’s been in the past.

Steve

 

[TimMurphy]

Anyone else been fishing the Conodoguinet lately? Does the fishing suck, or is it just me? Been living/fishing this same stretch for 32 years, not near as good this year as it’s been in the past.

Steve

Dear Steve,

If you want any help in proving whether the Conodoguinet sucks or not I'd be glad to tag along on a fact-finding mission. I only know a couple of places to access it and could use some advice as to other places.

My wife and I went to Sweet Arrow Lake today. It was so hot the worms she fishes with turned to jelly! Just kidding but it was too hot to be sitting or standing on the bank fishing pleasantly.

At least on the Connie you can fall in when it's that hot!

My best day on the Conodoguinet was about 10 years ago. I went to North Middleton Park to just see what I could see in mid-April. I figured I might catch a smallmouth or two. I waded out with a 7 weight and streamers and fish quickly began rising. I got a 4 weight and tied on a Sulphur dun and proceeded to catch a couple dozen midget escapees from the Letort Falls. The biggest one was probably 9 or 10 inches, but they were definitely fish born in the Letort. Silvery, mostly black spots and tall and thick in the middle, almost like skinny sunfish.

I've caught a couple of respectable smallmouths in other spots, but not nearly enough to make we want to go back more than once a year. I'll bet if it carried 250 cfs of water that wasn't turd brown during the summer the fishing would be much better. It just seems to suffer greatly from going from a trickle to flood a lot. No doubt because of all the progress being made in the Cumberland Valley.

Regards,

Tim Murphy

 

[scs]

Dear Steve,

If you want any help in proving whether the Conodoguinet sucks or not I'd be glad to tag along on a fact-finding mission. I only know a couple of places to access it and could use some advice as to other places.

My wife and I went to Sweet Arrow Lake today. It was so hot the worms she fishes with turned to jelly! Just kidding but it was too hot to be sitting or standing on the bank fishing pleasantly.

At least on the Connie you can fall in when it's that hot!

My best day on the Conodoguinet was about 10 years ago. I went to North Middleton Park to just see what I could see in mid-April. I figured I might catch a smallmouth or two. I waded out with a 7 weight and streamers and fish quickly began rising. I got a 4 weight and tied on a Sulphur dun and proceeded to catch a couple dozen midget escapees from the Letort Falls. The biggest one was probably 9 or 10 inches, but they were definitely fish born in the Letort. Silvery, mostly black spots and tall and thick in the middle, almost like skinny sunfish.

I've caught a couple of respectable smallmouths in other spots, but not nearly enough to make we want to go back more than once a year. I'll bet if it carried 250 cfs of water that wasn't turd brown during the summer the fishing would be much better. It just seems to suffer greatly from going from a trickle to flood a lot. No doubt because of all the progress being made in the Cumberland Valley.

Regards,

Tim Murphy

I fish west of Carlisle a few nights a week. Fish have been few and far between. Fished up from Scott’s Farm last week, same thing. Floated from Willow Mill to Sample Bridge Rd a little over a month ago with decent luck on the spinning rod. Trying to work my way toward the river, so hit me up if you want to give a section a go.

 

[krayfish2]

Once it's low, the fish get piled up in a couple of pools. There's a lot of dead water that might hold turtles or a few small suckers. Find deeper water and you should find fish. Earlier in the season, my nephews were sending pics of 3.5 - 4.5 pound smallies

 

[Beweav]

I’ve caught quite a lot of fish this year in the Cono down closer to Harrisburg. In the spring, a fast strip on a big streamer worked best. Now that the water is warm I have been having the most success with a white or black woolly bugger dead drifted under an indicator. I caught two of these lugs this spring on a 5wt. They were over 2lb but under 3. Other then that, most of the fish I’ve caught in there are pretty small, but to me small mouth are always fun no matter the size.

 

[Silent Ocelot]

but to me small mouth are always fun no matter the size. View attachment 1641231490

Same, and that's a fine catch ya got there! My best for the year is around 15 inches, which got me on a smallmouth kick that quickly resolved into fallfish, rockbass, and redbreasts. Smallmouth always remind me why I brought an 8wt.

 

[Dave_W]

Once it's low, the fish get piled up in a couple of pools. There's a lot of dead water that might hold turtles or a few small suckers. Find deeper water and you should find fish. Earlier in the season, my nephews were sending pics of 3.5 - 4.5 pound smallies

This is good advice. ^

 

[Dave_W]

Long term Connie guy here. This year I have only been up once so far this summer, but it treated me well - lots of smaller bass on poppers (as is typical for mid-day summer popper game, the fish were along the shoreline under tree shade).

Generally speaking, the Connie isn't a numbers game for bass, but it holds big fish. My personal best fly-caught SMB is a Connie fish. It also holds more bass during colder months than similar sized waterways.

It can be a mysterious creek and you will need to put in your time to find the best spots.

 

[Silent Ocelot]

Dave, if I may so inquire, what was the size of that smallmouth you took? Just curious.

 

[Dave_W]

21"

I have fly fished central PA rivers hard for many years and it took me a long time to get an honest 20" SMB on a fly (have taken a handful since then - Connie and the lower J have been good to me in this regard).

I get 19" SMBs all the time, but genuine 20s are rarer. You'll get guys on the internet and here on this site who claim to get lots of 20+ smallies all the time on the local creeks and rivers, but I'm skeptical of these claims. If you look at PFBC electrofishing data on PA rivers you will see this phenomenon where river bass in PA tend to top out at 19.

I chronicled my search for big SMBs in a PAFF thread over a decade ago. I think it was 2011 when I finally got my 20 incher (still had my dachshund Benny at the time - old time PAFF readers may remember Benny).

 

[jifigz]

Hey Dave, do you keep fishing for smallies into Nov and Dec? If not I suggest you give it a try. You're right, fish seem to top out at 19" often. I have taken a couple smallies in my life that were a good honest couple of inches bigger than 20, though. Man, big smallmouth are a thing of beauty.

 

[Dave_W]

Hey Dave, do you keep fishing for smallies into Nov and Dec? If not I suggest you give it a try. You're right, fish seem to top out at 19" often. I have taken a couple smallies in my life that were a good honest couple of inches bigger than 20, though. Man, big smallmouth are a thing of beauty.

Yes, I fly fish for bass in cold weather, but mostly focus on March-April and usually hang things up sometime in November, or early December.

My best SMB in 2018 was a Connie fish caught in January, however it's unusual for me to FF for bass in the dead of winter.

All of my SMBs that reached or exceeded 20" were caught in colder months, mostly pre-spawn.

 

[McSneek]

I think this is my best smallie. Early October on the Conodoguinet a few years ago on a white popper.

 

[krayfish2]

For a few years (2015- 2017), the Susky was on fire. It wasn't uncommon to get 15 fish in the 18.5 - 19 range and you'd bang a half dozen 20's in the same float. After that 6 months of high water in 2018, it hasn't been the same. Surveys show plenty of big fish but it's dink city. This year has finally started to yield more decent fish in the 14-17 range. Tons of little guys so the future is looking promising.

Guides, seasoned anglers an weekend warriors have all shared stories of dismal days after the high water and nobody can explain where the fish are. Surveys show them but nobody is catching them.

Side note, that feeder above Millersburg on the east side grenades the east bank all the way to 81. Something needs to be done about the mine drainage or poor farming practices. It's red for 20+ miles and that's some interesting water. Fish rarely take a fly because they can't see it.

 

[troutbert]

Side note, that feeder above Millersburg on the east side grenades the east bank all the way to 81. Something needs to be done about the mine drainage or poor farming practices. It's red for 20+ miles and that's some interesting water. Fish rarely take a fly because they can't see it.

Which stream is that?

 

[Swattie87]

Which stream is that?

Mahantango I think.

Sometimes called East Mahantango to avoid confusion with the one on the other bank almost directly across the river.

Both have dreadful looking water.

 

[TimMurphy]

Mahantango I think.

Sometimes called East Mahantango to avoid confusion with the one on the other bank almost directly across the river.

Both have dreadful looking water.

Dear Swattie,

But only the one on the Skuke side drains those coal fields in the Williams Valley. The opposite side one just drains farms. Mud is unpleasant, but it beats acid 10X's.

Regards,

Tim Murphy

 

[Swattie87]

Dear Swattie,

But only the one on the Skuke side drains those coal fields in the Williams Valley. The opposite side one just drains farms. Mud is unpleasant, but it beats acid 10X's.

Regards,

Tim Murphy

The one on the west side doesn’t look like AMD, and it’s not mud either. It’s got a really artificial aqua color to it. Have no clue what causes it but it draws my attention every time I drive over it on 11/15. (We all look at every stream we drive over as we pass by right?)

 

[jifigz]

The one on the west side doesn’t look like AMD, and it’s not mud either. It’s got a really artificial aqua color to it. Have no clue what causes it but it draws my attention every time I drive over it on 11/15. (We all look at every stream we drive over as we pass by right?)

So much so that I am a danger to myself and others every time I cross a bridge....even if it is a bridge I have crossed a million times and I creek I know well.....I just can't help it....

 

[TimMurphy]

The one on the west side doesn’t look like AMD, and it’s not mud either. It’s got a really artificial aqua color to it. Have no clue what causes it but it draws my attention every time I drive over it on 11/15. (We all look at every stream we drive over as we pass by right?)

Dear Swattie,

It sucks when I'm driving my Outback though. I love the car, but it sits too low to get a good view of the water at most bridges.

Regards,

Tim Murphy