Speedwell Forge Lake: refilled last yr, fairly good bass fishing already

[Mike]

Anglers are already pleased with their fishing for Largemouth Bass at Speedwell Forge Lake, near Lititz. As usual LMB in new or reclaimed impoundments are fairly easy to catch. What is unusual, based on angler reports and yesterday's electrofishing, LMB are already reaching 15 inches. In fact, for that length category, the LMB electrofishing catch slightly exceeded the minimum standard for Big Bass Lakes. With the very substantial amount of natural and man-made structure in the lake, the fishing and kayaking have become very popular in a hurry, given the amounts of nooks and crannies to explore. In a real switch from the past, water in two-thirds of the lake was clear enough to see down about 6-8 ft. The rest was muddy due to the activity of abundant 14 inch carp. Sunfish of various species are still small, as are Brown Bullheads. If the fish are available, the lake will receive more Channel Cats and White Crappie this year.

 

[nomad_archer]

Mike this is great news. I live less then 5 minutes from speedwell and I assumed it would take a bit longer for bass to grow and be 15 inches. I will have to go down the street and give it a try from shore. I may be looking into a small fishing boat in the future to take the kids out on speedwell. Thanks for the report. This is really fantastic news.

 

[villeman]

I agree with your findings. I've caught a few of the 15"ers on my 8wt. One of these days I'd like to tangle with those carp. Did the commission stock the largemouth? I've heard conflicting reports.

 

[afishinado]

Year Species Lifestage # Stocked
2016 Channel Catfish Fingerling 3,300
2016 Golden Shiner Fingerling 21,000
2016 Largemouth Bass Fingerling 1,900
2016 White Crappie Fingerling 5,300
Total = 31,500

http://fbweb.pa.gov/stocking/WWCWStockingDetailsHistorical_RFP.aspx

 

[nomad_archer]

villeman wrote:
I agree with your findings. I've caught a few of the 15"ers on my 8wt. One of these days I'd like to tangle with those carp. Did the commission stock the largemouth? I've heard conflicting reports.

Are you fishing from shore or from a boat? I am just wondering about the fish- ablity from shore.

 

[Kweaver]

My son and I have also been fishing the lake with our fly rods. We've been wading the edges in the coves to be able cast. Only sunfish and small bass for us at this point.

 

[villeman]

nomad_archer wrote:
Are you fishing from shore or from a boat? I am just wondering about the fish- ablity from shore.

I'm fishing from a kayak. You could probably wade in some areas.

 

[geebee]

this is good to know, i'm not far from there either - 50 minutes. i might have to give it a try in the float tube.

i was just looking at that stocking link - i never knew Blue Marsh had wipers ?

 

[salvelinusfontinalis]

It's good in upper hammer too, unfortunately....

 

[JeffP]

So who stocked the adult bass?

 

[troutbert]

JeffP wrote:
So who stocked the adult bass?

The OP does raise the question: Where did the big bass come from?

 

[jdh2550]

Fished Speedwell today. Caught this 15 inch Largemouth on a Clouser Swimming Nymph.

 

[geebee]

nice fish !

 

[nomad_archer]

salvelinusfontinalis wrote:
It's good in upper hammer too, unfortunately....

Funny enough I was hammering bass third week of trout season on the lower hammer.

 

[The_Sasquatch]

Lower Hammer is one thing. There have always been smallmouth bass in there. The upper Hammer? Not good. Explain to me the benefit of damming a cold water stream with natural trout to make a man-made structure filled with non-native species, a lake that is only going to fill with silt again and more than likely have all the issues that you just dealt with over the past decade or so? Is that really better (and cheaper) than taking the stream bed, restoring it, planting some streams, and letting what should be there naturally grow back?

Resource first...

 

[nomad_archer]

Sasquatch I am not going to argue why it was rebuilt. I do not like bass in the upper section but there is nothing keeping them in speedwell so it was going to happen. Speedwell is problematic for the lower hammer because it is a top release. At one point last year I took a temp in the lower hammer that was at 80*.

 

[Mike]

The suggestion that bass in the upper Hammer, if by upper Hammer individuals mean above the lake, came from fish swimming upstream from Speedwell would have a major problem. Where did the early introduction of apparently substantial numbers of yearling or older bass come from that we are now seeing as 14-15 inchers? My first reaction was a pond overflow somewhere in the drainage. What other support is there for that? There is also a large population of mosquito fish in the lake. They were not there when the lake was drawn down.

Finally, why are bass suddenly in upper Hammer? You can't say it is because Speedwell has a good bass population; Speedwell has always had a good bass population and that population at present is most likely not as large as it was prior to the drawdown. Could the bass reported here above Speedwell be from Speedwell? Yes. Is it unusual to find bass in a wild trout stream in any real quantity above a lake? Absolutely. Would I expect them to be present or survive there for an extended period without substantial additional input? No. Trout stream temps are not their preferred temps.

 

[The_Sasquatch]

Mike I do think it's a bit of a mystery. Maybe a local pond flooded over like you said. I don't know. There's a lot of them in there! But I still struggle to find the logic of building a man-made lake. It seems like a lot of money for something that will just fill up w/ silt again. Are there any plans to control silt coming in from Hammer?

Nomad-I don't know what would have happened to lower Hammer if they didn't rebuild the lake and just focused on restoring the stream. It's hard for me to think of lower Hammer as anything but a warm put-and-take fishery. But maybe the cold water from upstream would have extended. Not a lot of cover down there, though. Lots of open farm fields.

 

[salvelinusfontinalis]

Because they need a lake beside the SE PFBC regional office is why!
:lol:

In all seriousness I'm with Andy on this one. We had a great opportunity to restore hammer in that section, extend wild trout mileage in Lancaster, make a park with trails and benches and plant trees.
Instead we get a lake you can't swim in.

Mike define extended period? They have been there for months. I don't expect they will leave until fall.

 

[troutbert]

How about this theory:

As the lake was drained, the bass moved upstream into the creek to survive.

As the lake refilled, some of the bass dropped back down into the lake. Explaining the large adult bass in the lake.

But not all the bass have dropped back down yet; some are still found up in the creek. But that situation will probably not continue very long.