Phila area waters - mainly Valley and the Wiss

[JasonC]

Is Valley a true cold limestone-fed stream? My focus would be at the Valley Creek Preserve in Malvern down to the Park. I’ve also read there are stretches of the Wiss that are cold-spring fed as well but have not found any substantial evidence of this. It’s no matter to me as I enjoy bass and bluegill/sunfish fishing in the height of the summers. Bass fishing can get tough around here, especially when you’re a few blocks from the stadiums without a boat. Does anyone have a definitive answer to either of my questions though? Any help is appreciated!

 

[Dave_W]

There's a great deal written about Valley and Wissahickon (especially Valley) on this board and you'll get different opinions on them. A large number of our readership live in that area and focus on Valley and as a result can be tight lipped.

Although I'm not a regular at those streams, in my opinion, Valley is best classed as a "mixed limestoner" - that is to say, it has mainly a spring fed flow but also a good bit of run-off and therefore can fluctuate a lot after storms or during droughts. It can get warm, particularly in the lower reaches in the park. Always take a thermometer if you are catch and realease trout fishign this time of year. I have long recommended to new fly fishers that they avoid Valley as it is a tough stream to catch trout, especially under summer conditions.

Wissahickon is a warm water fishery in summer. There may be some springs and some stocked trout holdover, but again, locals are tight lipped about this sort of thing.

If it were me - and especially if I were just getting started in FFIng - I'd skip Valley and wade fish the Wiss for bass and panfish.

 

[hooker-of-men]

JasonC wrote:
Bass fishing can get tough around here, especially when you’re a few blocks from the stadiums without a boat.

Might try for bass and snakehead at FDR Park. There's some good sized fish in there.

Everywhere I've fished the Wissahickon, it's super warm in the summer. There are feeders and seeps that push in cold water here and there, but I can't imagine many trout hold over. It's probably not a trout destination in the summer, but, like you said, there are other species.

I've always loved this quote from the Friends of the Wissahickon site:

'In late summer of a dry year, as much as 95% of the water in the creek is treated sewage from the seven treatment plants upstream in Montgomery County."

Also, if you're down by the stadiums, have you checked out John Heinz Wildlife Refuge? There's some interesting water down there and you never know what you'll catch.

 

[JasonC]

I’ve targeted snakeheads and bass both at FDR without any luck but that’s not to say I’m ready to quit. It’s tough going there for sure. I’ve only heard about Valley and know of the lure(pun intended?) of spooky trout. It seems the stream isn’t very deep at all and water clarity is usually very good with a lot of pressure which makes it quite hard for the rookie fisherman, fly or not. Do you guys have any recommendations on what flies to tie on for FDR? As I’ve never fly fished, ive always targeted bass and snakeheads with topwaters when there is surface vegetation and varying types of jigs and worms for subsurface action. I’ve actually only went to Heinz once before and it was a day or two after a huge storm so access was very limited. Is access usually limited that much to the large lake there? I know Darby Creek runs through there and there were a ton of carp surface feeding when I went. I’m sure there are some bass in there somewhere, especially the large lake which looks like bass heaven.

 

[hooker-of-men]

If you're comfortable fishing top water, why stop?

I've caught a number of bass on cheap poppers like that.

Otherwise, my guess would be big streamers. I do most of my bass fishing from a boat with spinning gear, so someone else can probably answer the question of bass flies more effectively.

John Heinz is interesting because Darby Creek is tidal due to the close confluence with the Delaware, so high/low tide also impacts access. Between the creek and the handful of little lakes/ponds there are definitely bass, carp, and catfish, but I wouldn't be surprised to occasionally get other specifies coming up out of the River, too. It's definitely a case where you have to just poke around and put in some time to see what you get.

 

[JerryC]

I consider the Wissahickon my "home" stream. I fish the stretch from Northwestern Ave down to Valley Green. As far as trout, I don't think many rainbows survive the summer but there's usually a few browns around through the summer. You can find them around the feeder streams and where the springs bubble up. If you're just starting out I'd go there before I'd go to Valley. This time of year I normally fish top water. Small to medium poppers and sliders will catch you sunfish, rock bass, smallmouth and largemouth. There are hand-size sunfish, most of the bass run 6 to 12 inches. I've seen bigger ones, even caught a smallie just under 17 inches a few years ago. They're few and far between though. It's relatively easy to wade in a lot of spots. I wouldn't wet wade it, but people do.