sixfootfenwick
Well-known member
I'm kind of surprised willow mill got mentioned. The few times I've fished there it was a series of riffles with less depth.
Musky in the Conodoguinet
- Thread starter BrownTroutBen
- Start date
Only musky I ever hooked (not landed) was below the boat launch at Willow Mill. We did a float trip a couple of summers ago and the hot spot seemed to be at the water plant before Sample Bridge Rd. Ran into quite a few guys targeting them down there.
Steve
I know nothing of the Connie, but I've seen many muskies in very shallow water. Depth doesn't seem to be that important for river muskies, at least not all of the time.
Fly-Swatter
Well-known member
- Joined
- Mar 23, 2014
- Messages
- 1,281
I agree. However, access to deeper water adjacent to shallow water is important.
Garshark572
New member
- Joined
- Jun 3, 2020
- Messages
- 20
I have never seen a musky there but I have seen a ton of suckers and small carp while bass fishing. The only place I have ran into musky is the Susquehanna. Landed 1 while fly fishing for bass and have seen a few giants around trib inlets in the spring
wgmiller
Well-known member
They're scattered throughout the Connie, along with a few pike here and there. The best way to find them is to float and cover as much water as you can. There are a few notable places such as the "muskie cave" below Willow Mill Rd and others, but in the end ya just gotta cover as much water as you can and keep those feathers and fur in the water!
sixfootfenwick
Well-known member
Perhaps I'm speaking incorrectly and have no idea what I am saying because I don't target muskies but I'm more or less thinking here.
I do know that at the mouth of the Connie into the Susquehanna and around are some islands and grassflats. I also know that the Connie is pretty diverse in aquatic life but I'd imagine given seasonal influxes or migrations of baitfish into the Connie or out of the Connie might trigger either movement into or movement down to that lower area of the Connie to feed.
Muskies id imagine, like most fish will follow food. Perhaps track the food, then find the fish?
I'll simplify that thinking and then expand it.
Using the same thinking but to the watershed alone, what kind of fish are in the Connie muskie would eat? What are their seasonal patterns? Where they are won't the predator be also?
Now expand that thinking to the Connie and Susquehanna seasonal movements.
I do know that at the mouth of the Connie into the Susquehanna and around are some islands and grassflats. I also know that the Connie is pretty diverse in aquatic life but I'd imagine given seasonal influxes or migrations of baitfish into the Connie or out of the Connie might trigger either movement into or movement down to that lower area of the Connie to feed.
Muskies id imagine, like most fish will follow food. Perhaps track the food, then find the fish?
I'll simplify that thinking and then expand it.
Using the same thinking but to the watershed alone, what kind of fish are in the Connie muskie would eat? What are their seasonal patterns? Where they are won't the predator be also?
Now expand that thinking to the Connie and Susquehanna seasonal movements.
Last edited:
Pike.....or Chain Picks? If they are pike, I'd be very surprised. I am not doubting you; I am only looking for clarification if you really meant pike.
There aren't too many populations of pike in southern PA. I know they are found in the northern Susky, but generally now far down the flow. I have never heard of or seen pike in the Juniata, but we do have chain picks in certain tribs.
Pike are one of my favorite freshwater fish. They are SUPER COOL (and delicious!)
Bamboozle
Well-known member
BrownTroutBen:
Are you familiar with this:
Are you familiar with this:
Why is the Cave Hill spot a take-out only? If you can take a boat out there, why can't you put one in?
Bamboozle
Well-known member
From the brochure (the bold text by me explains the reason):
A2 - Cave Hill Nature Center (Take-Out Only): Cave Hill is a 20-acre nature area owned by Carlisle Borough. The park is located off K Street at 6 Cave Hill Drive, Carlisle. It offers walk-in creek access, hiking and fishing. All boaters must take-out at this site. Cave Hill is not a put-in point because it is just upstream from the Carlisle Raw Water Intake Dam. Do not attempt to navigate over the dam! For more information, contact Carlisle Borough at (717) 249-4422, or visit the borough online at www.carlislepa.org.
wgmiller
Well-known member
Pike. Dark background, light spots. It wasn't a massive pike, but more along the lines of a medium(ish) Condo musky. I didn't personally catch it, but was with a guy who did and it blew us both away. It was caught just upstream of the Sample Road bridge, near the outflow of the treatment plant. I know pike have been caught in the Susky right in front of Harrisburg, but they are indeed super rare. I wouldn't even be able to begin to speculate where that fish would have come from. I reached out the guy to see if he had a picture of the fish by chance. I'm sure most of the pike on the Relentless page are from lakes, but have no doubt a few of them may be from local waters, as their guides have learned to comb the Condo for esox.
I guess I should have kept reading!
I have heard of Pike being caught at Harrisburg, too. It just isn't a regular occurrence.
wgmiller
Well-known member
jifigz -
My buddy was able to dig up pics of the pike he's caught in the region.
This was the pike from the Connie near Sample Road and the treatment plant outflow. I witnessed this fish being caught.
He caught this one under 81 on the Susky from a kayak.
Pretty wild, huh?
My buddy was able to dig up pics of the pike he's caught in the region.
This was the pike from the Connie near Sample Road and the treatment plant outflow. I witnessed this fish being caught.
He caught this one under 81 on the Susky from a kayak.
Pretty wild, huh?
- Joined
- May 3, 2011
- Messages
- 6,403
I’m not that good with stocked v. wild on Northerns. 😜
But yes, that’s a Northern.
And yes, I too was expecting a picture of a big, possibly darkly colored Chain. That is really cool.
Good stuff.
I'll second Bamboozle's comment about Charlie Fox and his love for muskies. Charlie often told me that he was out chasing muskies on Connie or Opossum Lake. He was a staunch advocate of the new (in the 60s) effort to get a muskie population established across the state. I suppose, today, such efforts to expand non-native species would be frowned upon. Whatever the case, I'm glad we have muskies statewide now.
I have never seen a pike during my many years fishing Connie or the lower Susky. They are there, however, and turn up from time to time in electrofishing surveys or surprise catches.
I have targeted muskies on the Connie in many of the places mentioned and some other spots I won't mention. Many of these spots are no secret and get pounded by anglers. Due to the the skinny water that characterizes most of Connie, these muskies are often easy to see and they really get hammered by anglers - I'm guessing they see lures and flies dragged across their snouts far more than muskies in the big rivers and lakes. For that reason, they can be tough to catch. As mentioned, they're mostly smaller fish, in my experience mostly in the 30" range.
In my experience, muskies on Connie tend to be found in small groups of 2-5 fish here and there with long lengths of stream having none at all, likely due to the shallow water. I remain somewhat surprised that such a small stream has so many muskies, but they are not evenly distributed (this is true for bass on Connie too, although less so). You will have to hunt for muskies.
Finally, another thing that has long had me scratching my head is the fact that the muskies I encounter on Connie are mostly purebreds. The state only stocks tigers in Connie and this has been true for as long as I can remember. I wonder why this is. I doubt that the purebreds swam up from the Susky to the Carlisle area. My current hypothesis is that the purebreds got established as a result of the times Opossum Lake was drained for repairs (this has happened two, maybe three times in my memory, going back to the early 80s) when the purebred muskies in that lake were salvaged and released into nearby Connie. I believe these fish are reproducing naturally.
I'll second Bamboozle's comment about Charlie Fox and his love for muskies. Charlie often told me that he was out chasing muskies on Connie or Opossum Lake. He was a staunch advocate of the new (in the 60s) effort to get a muskie population established across the state. I suppose, today, such efforts to expand non-native species would be frowned upon. Whatever the case, I'm glad we have muskies statewide now.
I have never seen a pike during my many years fishing Connie or the lower Susky. They are there, however, and turn up from time to time in electrofishing surveys or surprise catches.
I have targeted muskies on the Connie in many of the places mentioned and some other spots I won't mention. Many of these spots are no secret and get pounded by anglers. Due to the the skinny water that characterizes most of Connie, these muskies are often easy to see and they really get hammered by anglers - I'm guessing they see lures and flies dragged across their snouts far more than muskies in the big rivers and lakes. For that reason, they can be tough to catch. As mentioned, they're mostly smaller fish, in my experience mostly in the 30" range.
In my experience, muskies on Connie tend to be found in small groups of 2-5 fish here and there with long lengths of stream having none at all, likely due to the shallow water. I remain somewhat surprised that such a small stream has so many muskies, but they are not evenly distributed (this is true for bass on Connie too, although less so). You will have to hunt for muskies.
Finally, another thing that has long had me scratching my head is the fact that the muskies I encounter on Connie are mostly purebreds. The state only stocks tigers in Connie and this has been true for as long as I can remember. I wonder why this is. I doubt that the purebreds swam up from the Susky to the Carlisle area. My current hypothesis is that the purebreds got established as a result of the times Opossum Lake was drained for repairs (this has happened two, maybe three times in my memory, going back to the early 80s) when the purebred muskies in that lake were salvaged and released into nearby Connie. I believe these fish are reproducing naturally.
Last edited:
That's definitely a pike.
