Question about Flatrock Dam area - Mike ?

[AndyP]

Anybody fish below Flatrock Dam regularly ? I stopped by the other day and fished row a bit in the afternoon. Only 1 smallie to hand but the water looked pretty good . Mike - how has that area been doing and is the fish ladder been successful ?

 

[Mike]

I could not say how the fishway has been doing. I believe only the shad are counted and I can say that a few have passed almost annually and a few have been present in the long pool down from the fishway when we have electrofished in early June (not the best time to be looking, so low numbers electrofished may not tell the whole story). We have seen anything spectacular in that area while electrofishing, but we have captured striped bass hybrids, probably originating from Blue Marsh and, if I recall correctly, we have seen muskellunge. That stretch has been heavily stocked with Tiger Muskies for years. The mouths of French Ck, Pickering Ck, and Perkiomen Ck have at times been popular for T Mky angling. That stretch is now popular for flathead catfish. I assume that the fishway receives fair to good usage by resident warmwater species, as I have not seen one that doesn't.

 

[AndyP]

Mike - just checking that we are talking about the same dam. Flatrock is the one in Lower Merion Township. Galdwyne VFW is upstream of the dam. Below the dam the water looked really good but I'm not sure if there is a good population of smallmouth down there.

 

[wildtrout2]

AndyP wrote:
Mike - just checking that we are talking about the same dam. Flatrock is the one in Lower Merion Township. Galdwyne VFW is upstream of the dam. Below the dam the water looked really good but I'm not sure if there is a good population of smallmouth down there.

Andy, I live in Lower Merion and have fished below the dam many times over the years. Mainly for the nice channel cats (great eating), in the 24"/3-4lb class that are right below the spillway. The more flowing water downstream has some smallies, but I don't think the numbers are there to warrant fishing for them. jmo

I have seen times where that fish ladder was so clogged with debris that a fish, any fish, couldn't get up through it if they wanted to. I haven't been down there in quite a while, so I don't know the condition of the ladder. For what that thing cost to build, wouldn't you think they would at least maintain it?

 

[Mike]

Sorry, I was describing the area of Black Rock Dam. Flatrock has quite a diversity of species in its downstream area, in part owing to the migration through Fairmount Dam's fish way since 1979. In the past the smallmouth population has been ok, but not great. The walleye population is fair. Stripers are occasionally caught there too. Flatrock fishway passage is not monitored, but fishway drawdowns for cleaning have revealed high usage at times. Photos I have seen have included channel cats, flatheads, gizzard shad, American shad, and, as I recall, perhaps some sunfish species. The fishway is owned and maintained by PaDEP.

 

[AndyP]

Wildtrout2 - I live in Bryn Mawr, we should meet up sometime. The spillway was in great shape, no debris and plenty of water. The faster water and pocket water look real fishy but I had little success. I'll try it again I since we are stuck with this warm weather.

 

[afishinado]

Hey Andy,

The SMB fishing in the Schuykill has been very poor to nonexistent in the lower river for quite a few years now.

Nearly all the rivers and streams have seemed to bounce back from low populations of SMB, mostly attributed to poor spawning success due to high flows during or just after the spawn. But, even after some decent spawning conditions the past few years, the Skuke continues to lag behind. Not sure if it will return.

In the lower river, much of the bottom is covered with silt, making for poor habitat for smallies to hold and spawn. If you can find decent conditions and habitat on the river, give it a try.

For local SMB fishing, you may find more success fishing the tribs entering the Skuke.

Good luck.

 

[AndyP]

afish - I hear about the lower skuke and silt. For about a 1/2 mile below the dam the water looks great. I was just hoping there was some smallie there since its 10 minutes from my house. I miss living near the Brandywine so I could sneak in some fishing after work.