Mechanicsburg

[PinelandsGillie]

Working tommorow inspecting a Job out in mechanicsburg. Last time I was out that way in may I visited letort spring run closeby. Was the most difficult fishing I ever did but scenery was unreal after a rainfall. I saw fishing creek is dead north of mechanicsburg in the gamelands, is this the famed creek Joe humphreys caught a huge brown trout at? I know quite a bit of creeks in PA share the same name. I will probably do more exploring then fishing tommorow. I heard the lower letort is good for smallmouth.

 

[thrashers.wheat]

Fishing Creek in Clinton Co., anyhow I believe. I was told that a flood allowed hatchery fish to escape and took advantage of knowing about this.

I'll be camped near Mechanicsburg this weekend & the Letort is on the list. Good luck if you get out fishing.

 

[Professor Fly]

Working tommorow inspecting a Job out in mechanicsburg. Last time I was out that way in may I visited letort spring run closeby. Was the most difficult fishing I ever did but scenery was unreal after a rainfall. I saw fishing creek is dead north of mechanicsburg in the gamelands, is this the famed creek Joe humphreys caught a huge brown trout at? I know quite a bit of creeks in PA share the same name. I will probably do more exploring then fishing tommorow. I heard the lower letort is good for smallmouth.

There are so many good trout streams (Yellow Breeches, Clarks, Letort) it could be tough to pick just one... No, the Fishing Creek on the map, is not the famed one - it is a small troutless stream that in summer goes down to a trickle at places.

I grew up in Harrisburg PA and always fly fished Clark(s) Creek - Rt 325 parallels it. I fished it for the solitude and scenery. You would have to travel up the creek some way to get away from civilization (but below Dehart Dam). If you fish Clarks Creek, try to go just past the YMCA camp (or was it the Girl Scouts camp?), but below Dehart Dam to get away from people and get some solitude. The creek is shaded by Hemlocks and keeps cool all summer long. The AT runs by it and eventually crosses it. There is FFO area on the creek, but I always fished further upstream away from people. I also fished above the dam, but the creek is smaller and bushy. Above the dam was always fun and I was surprised at the nature (fox, snakes, deer) that I saw....

I used to fish a size 10/12 cricket pattern (on 10 ft leader and 6x tippet) all summer and caught some big trout, although that was before I began nymph fishing. I also had luck with beetle and ant patterns. The stream also has a healthy stonefly population so if you nymph, you could try stones or prince nymphs. Keep in mind that the creek is gin clear so always fish upstream (you probably already know this...). If you do go, this is copperhead country so be careful where you step.

Here is a pretty good clip about it:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=FDnNRRhAUxs

Here is a report about it (includes insect information):
http://www.dauphincd.org/water/Clarks%20Creek%20CCP.pdf

 

[Professor Fly]

By the way, the Susquehanna River is loaded with smallmouth bass... We used drive above the 322/22 bridge on River Road and turn off on a dirt road (Rupp Road?) that was next to a railroad track and park there. We used to wade out in the river... This no easy feat since there are deep drop offs and boulders throughout the river. I always went with a buddy and we waited until we saw the river had dropped to 3 feet or below. I always had a PFD with a quick Co2, release just in case. We were taking our chances, but we knew where to cross in the river (there was an underwater ridge that you could walk across to get past the deep main stem of the river). If I had to do again, today I would take my canoe or kayak and cross it to the islands and then wade and flyfish around the islands.

We used chartreuse poppers on an 8 wt flyrod and would clean up on the smallmouth. There is nothing like a smallmouth bass exploding on a popper and then fighting to get off the hook. At night crossing the bridges there so many white flies that you would have to close your mouth so you wouldn't end up inhaling them. The bass would also come after the white flies, but it was usually dark by then so we got our asses off the river for fear of not being able to wade back to the shore.

Sorry I can't give you better details, but its been more than 20 years since I fished it.

 

[PinelandsGillie]

Glad I didn't waste my time checking out that fishing creek. Ended up just getting home from
the 3 hour drive and didn't even get out to explore. I never heard of Clark's creek and sounds like a nice place. I drove over yellow breeches and was tempted to stop. I have seen photos of lefty keep with giant smallies from the susq. I smashed some
on a oversized muddler I was fishing like a popper at my uncles farm pond this spring. His pond is absolutely loaded and me and my two boys caught about 30 good sized fish. Anybody on here ever fish that spring creek in chambersburg pa or beaver creek in maryland? The fish that come out of those waters look huge

 

[PinelandsGillie]

Fishing Creek in Clinton Co., anyhow I believe. I was told that a flood allowed hatchery fish to escape and took advantage of knowing about this.

I'll be camped near Mechanicsburg this weekend & the Letort is on the list. Good luck if you get out fishing.

The letort is a really special place. And loaded with fish , the hard part is not sinking into the mud or getting you fly caught in te high meadow grass. I wish I lived closer to there I would spend many hours there