Mill Creek Report

[trevor]

Fished the last two days at Mill Creek in Lancaster. I've been waiting to try for smallmouth, but I wanted to give them time to spawn. So yesterday was the first day I targeted smallmouth this year, and I caught around 10 fish. I only fished for maybe 20 minutes for smallmouth, the rest of the time was spent trying for carp, which I managed to catch one. He was pretty decent and a lot of fun on the fly rod. Today I headed back to the same spot with an ultralight and hopes of catching and targeting mostly smallmouth, and maybe some sunfish. I couldn't catch a thing, so I tried for carp which was really hard with a 5'6" rod. There were carp EVERYWHERE, and if I had more suitable equipment I believe I might have slaughtered them. But they were so spooky that I rarely could get close enough to cast with such a short rod and light lure. And on top of that, I missed about 15, I think I set the hook to soon. It's hard to tell. But I did manage this one, so it wasn't a total failure.

 

[trevor]

Another view:

 

[jjsjigs]

Whereabouts where you fishing on Mill?

 

[trevor]

This time is was behind East Lampeter Park

 

[jjsjigs]

Very nice. Have you fished in the area of Good N' Plenty? The motel across the creek from the resturant lets you fish their well manicured lawn. It's kinda nice! Makes ya feel like your at a "tweedy" private fishing area.

 

[trevor]

Yeah I fish there alot. I love to wade fish from Witmer Road Bridge upstream to some antique market place, there's usually a few carp hangin around the Good and Plenty bridge.

 

[jjsjigs]

Yeah, I usually get one or two in the downstream 90 bend hole across from the electric fence. Then in that other hole where patrons of the motel have put chairs out next to the creek bank.

Have you fished upstream from the G and P bridge? It looks really silty up there... Sometimes I go up to the Amtrak bridge and fish below the dam. Some of those pools are freakin' deep!!

Have you gone over to Peaquea? Next to the ice cream stand? Not bad area to fish and if you get the muchies.... yummy soft serve only 50 feet away! LOL.

 

[trevor]

Yeah I fish both upstream and downstream from the bridge. Incredible carp fishing upstream from the bridge as well. There's a few tributary streams up there, and you can always find carp at the mouth and in the mouths of these streams. There's also smallmouth and sunnies, even some white suckers in there.

"Sometimes I go up to the Amtrak bridge and fish below the dam. Some of those pools are freakin' deep!!" - Where is this?

And yeah the Pequea is a 10 minute walk from my house. Awesome carp fishing there too, just not the multi species action. I think that it is just too polluted. Maybe I'll live to see it restored to the smallmouth creek it has the potential to be. Just look at those rock ledges!

Ever fish the Londonvale for carp? Now that is cool.

I have a report of the Pequea carp on this forum a few weeks old

 

[jjsjigs]

If your headed towards Bird-In-Hand from Smoketown... before you go over the Mill Creek bridge turn left (at the old Mill) onto Mill Creek Road. You will see the Amtrak bridge. (You can't miss it). Park at the bridge where you see the little pulloff. You can get down the rip-rap rock at the jackdam face and fish downstream... braided channels, pocket water, and some deep pools. Lots of "mixed bag" fishing.

 

[trevor]

Oh OK, I know where you mean now. No, I've never fished there but I've been wanting to.

 

[jjsjigs]

Where's Londonvale?

 

[trevor]

It crosses under route 30 and goes right beside paradise park where it dumps into the Pequea.

 

[The_Sasquatch]

Thanks for posting this thread. A friend of mine lives out on Londonvale Road, so I'll definitely be checking out the carp action.

 

[Mike]

You'll find a pretty good largemouth population in the pool heading upstream from the dam by the Amtrak bridge. Unless the PFBC fingerling smallmouth bass stockings have taken hold, the Witmer Rd area on Mill Ck is close to the upstream limit of the smallmouth population. Stockings may have changed that though, as the stockings occurred from New Holland downstream to about Rt 772 a few times in the past decade..

Ditto for Pequea, where the upstream limit of the smallmouth population was formerly Rt 741??? west of Strasburg. Fingerling smallmouth stockings in that creek by the PFBC above that point may have expanded the SMB range though. Anglers have caught some at the 896 bridge near Strasburg, for instance.

 

[trevor]

The only smallie I ever caught in the Pequea was right where the Londonvale dumps into it. An 18 inch beauty.