Schuylkill River Smallmouth

S

surveyor06

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Jan 7, 2009
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Has any one had any luck with smallmouth near Lock 60. Id like to do the loop there but I was just wondering if its worth while. I just started getting into smallmouth fishing and im loking for spots close to where i live in Downingtown. A point in the right direction would be helpful.
 
surveyor06 wrote:
Has any one had any luck with smallmouth near Lock 60. Id like to do the loop there but I was just wondering if its worth while. I just started getting into smallmouth fishing and im loking for spots close to where i live in Downingtown. A point in the right direction would be helpful.
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The Schuylkill River has really gone downhill as a SMB fishery in the lower sections (below Reading). I rarely fish it any more. Here is a thread that gives some good info.

Skuke SMB

I would suggest you fish it upstream above the Reading area, Good luck.
 
Thanks. Thats unforunate. Ive had some luck on the West Branch of the Brandywine, just trying to see what else is in my neighborhood. Trout fishing besides valley just inst the best down my way, so Im trying to expand my horizons. Not to mention SMB fight well and are a ton to fish for.
 
Kerr Park on the East Branch of the Brandywine should be prime for SMB right now. Really anywhere you can get access on the Brandywine below the town limits should be really good. You could also drive down to the Cheslan preserve and fish the Brandwine below Mortonville for some good warm water action.
 
I was on the West Branch of the Brandywine last night below Buck Run. I got the skunk. I fished some really nice water. Nothing. Last weekend i caught a 16" there but that was all. I dont know if I'm a bad smallmouth fisherman or there just are not much fish there. Anyone else striking out lately?
 
surveyor06 wrote:
I was on the West Branch of the Brandywine last night below Buck Run. I got the skunk. I fished some really nice water. Nothing. Last weekend i caught a 16" there but that was all. I dont know if I'm a bad smallmouth fisherman or there just are not much fish there. Anyone else striking out lately?
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It's really not you. I've been lamenting about Smallie fishing on here for more than a few years now. Every summer I look forward to FFing for smallies and every summer I seem to be disappointed.

Too high, too low, too hot, too cold, too dirty, bad spawn, chemicals, silt, cold front, warm front, whatever. I find it difficult to go out there and catch many or sometimes any SMBs on a consistent basis with a fly rod.

Not that long ago 5 years+ I would defy anyone to go out on many of the rivers and not have a smallie smack whatever fly they chose to throw at them.

Keep on casting.
 
Afish,

Man I cant seem to win. I used to live in the lehigh valley where the trout fishing was pretty decent. Since moving to downingtown the trout fishing has been lack luster, besdises Valley Creek, but you can only pound the same water before it gets a little old. I thought SMB was my ticket to getting into consistent fishing...but its not looking that way. I'll still be out there, but its a little discouraging.
 
surveyor06 wrote:
Afish,

Man I cant seem to win. I used to live in the lehigh valley where the trout fishing was pretty decent. Since moving to downingtown the trout fishing has been lack luster, besdises Valley Creek, but you can only pound the same water before it gets a little old. I thought SMB was my ticket to getting into consistent fishing...but its not looking that way. I'll still be out there, but its a little discouraging.
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Downingtown....ticket to paradise it aint. :lol:
 
Surveyor,

Have you tried wetting a line at Marsh Creek lake? lots of shorline to wade for largemouths and panfish.
 
Eric,

Yup I was fishing for crappie from my kayak. Lots of fun. I wasnt able to get on the lake for prespawn, but i did get into some smaller ones. I know there are lots of oppurtunities to fish just need to explore them more. I live about 10 mins from Marsh Creek Lake, so that is always an option. Do you fish it much?
 
Eric wrote:
Surveyor,

Have you tried wetting a line at Marsh Creek lake? lots of shorline to wade for largemouths and panfish.
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And an occasional Musky.
Getting back to the OP, the Schuylkill is pretty good still from Reading north to the Auburn Dam and the Little Schuylkill to the base of Hawk Mt.
Above Auburn you get trout.
 
I don't get to fish it too much unfortunately. Work and family keep me from fishing as much as I would like but what can you do? With that being said, we took my son, who's 2 up to Marsh Creek twice in the last two weeks for a picnic and some fishing. I only took the spinning rod and did some worm dunking under a bobber to start to get him interested. A two year olds attention span is quite short, plus he seemed to want to play with the worms more than concentrate on watching the bobber.

He did reel in his first ever fish, a small sunfish. And he followed up with a small largemouth bass. The second time we went it was much the same, but we only caught sunnies.

I would have loved to have the fly rod along. Right around dusk it got real calm and I would suspect you could have done a lot of damage with some small poppers fishing on top.

I did fish the West Branch of the Brandwine pretty well into June this year, before it started to get consistently hot. I thought there were quite a few trout left this year as compared to years past.
 
Eric,

Im wondering if the water is still just a little too cool for the bass yet. I fished some really nice water but just couldnt move any. I may try further down stream this weekend.
 
surveyor, my dad has been telling me the brandywine has been fishing better for bass than it has in years. He usually fishes the lower east branch. But since you are in glenmoore, I'd check out the DHALO section of the East branch, I've seen lots of bass in there. The key is just finding deep, rocky areas. Many sections of the east branch lack the rocky habitat. One thing I also learned about getting smallies on the fly is to use big flies, size 6 clousers/buggers/poppers will all produce. I used to use the same buggers I used for trout (usually #10) and had a hard time catching bass on those.
 
sarce,

I should really update my profile, I live in Downingtown. I'm actually 5 mins from the DHALO. I will have to give that a shot. I was under the impression the west branch fished better for SMB than the east. Maybe I will head out tonight and give it a shot. Thanks for the tip on the flies. I have tied some pretty decent sized clousers. My buggers need to be bigger though, they are trout size.
 
Surveyor, I really don't have any experience fishing for smallies on the East, but I fish the West Branch and tribs all the time. The West doesn't have many really big smallies, and in my experience its tribs at their lower reaches can have some monsters. Check out the West and tribs near Embreeville.
 
The west is better for numbers for sure. However I have caught larger fish in the east branch. Stroud preserve downstream to mouth is best for larger bass. I think someone already mentioned Kerr park, I caught a fat 14" SM there on a big popper last summer. That's about as far up as I would go if you want any shot at bass over 12". DHALO is lots of small bass, maybe a few over 10".
 
One other good thing about the East is I don't think it gets nearly as many kayakers and float-tubers. If you fish the west, its much better during the week. I was there July 4th weekend kayaking, easily the busiest weekend of the year. Best word to describe it was a circus.
 
The West Branch Brandywine was more impressive during electrofishing surveys in the wadable portions as deep as the tops of the chest waders.
 
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