Smallmouth Still Pre-Spawn, Cumberland County (PA) 4/21/2014

[Night_Stalker]

I have been catching Smallmouth on the Conodoguinet Creek in water that would not be suitable for spawning beds. Strong current and rocky bottoms are currently producing bass. From past experience they will bed on moderate flows with minimum of silt. The bass I caught this evening both had evidence of heavy crawfish consumption. I had early encounters in very heavy flows with sinking line and big streamers. The two pictured fell to a yellow dungeon on fast flows over rock and bounders. (18" and 16.5")

Soon the small will spawn...

 

[Fishidiot]

Some real beauties! Anyone can catch a bunch of stocked trout this week...but I'd certainly be a heckuva lot happier with these guys. And they're wild too - just look at the fins.

Regarding the crayfish - were you seeing claws in the gullet or just a crunchy gut? Whatever the case, they're some healthy fish. I think with the cold temps and high water this spring, we may see another week or so of delay before the spawn.

 

[beeber2]

Nice fish! Good job!!!

 

[hbgbswanson]

Fantastic, thanks for sharing. I invest way to much time there when the water is shin deep....
:-D

 

[JG63]

Beauties NS! down deep yellow is a good color in greenish flow. We used to like black and blue leadeye buggers from EP Park down to the mouth. Pre spawn fishies in 40-50 degree water loves em swung low and slow. Non rusty crayfish have a distinct blue tinge (I think due to water temp) during this time of year. Your catch makes me wanna break out the old Sage 790 RP and try a few. I probably should as the Sporting Hill access is about 500 meters from my front door. Keep at 'em!

 

[Night_Stalker]

JG63,

PM Sent

 

[Brownie101]

Nice fish. I have the same reel, and love it.

 

[Gone_Phishin]

I've lived minutes from the conodoguinet almost my entire life and have never fished it. Your thread motivated me to give it a go. I went out for a couple hours after work and snagged a nice smallie on a chartreuse and white deceiver. Looking forward to doing some more fishing on this stream. It's bigger than most streams I'm used to and a little overwhelming. Lot of flat water, not sure where to start.

 

[Night_Stalker]

Gone_Phishin,

Many parts of the Conodoguinet are relatively barren. Fish can and do move through even the lackluster water during different seasons. Look for fishy water...rapids, depth and structure. The farther west you go...it becomes a little more wild. You are correct about the size...there are spots that are dangerous. Check it out via computer maps. Kayaking from spot to spot is common...then wade. This would allow you to become familiar quickly with the many miles of stream.

I plan to do just this strategy during the summer...looking for Muskie!

You will do well just sticking to these guidelines. Muskie, Large/Smallmouth Bass, Walleye, Catfish, Fallfish, Carp....and yes even 31" trout.

 

[LongWader]

Fished the Guinet last weekend and caught a mix of smallmouth and brown trout. Largest smallmouth was 20" and largest trout was 26". This is the first time I have encountered good numbers of trout and most looked like typical Letort browns with the big black spots even though many were caught miles from the mouth of the Letort. I was not fly fishing this time and was using typical mid-sized bass lures on spinning tackle. The trout were numerous and averaged about 21" on the larger bass plugs. All the bass appeared to be in early pre-spawn condition. There were four different hatches going on the last day we fished, and I was surprised that nothing seemed to be rising to feed on them. No even the big Guinet fall fish.

 

[Night_Stalker]

PM sent to LongWader