Conestoga River

[unionjack16]

Dont overlook this waterway if you have access to a kayak and a free evening to burn. There are tons of fish throughout. Anyone else ever give it a shot?? I live right on the water and am down yakkin 3-4 times a week. It is a lot of 8-10 inch fish but if you throw larger crankbaits youll get some big bass pushin 18-20. I was out for the morning in a kayak, fought a big bass for a while, thought it was a catfish so I was horsing it trying to get it to spit the crank, then I saw it rise and roll on the surface. My biggest bass of the year there thus far big and fat atleast 18. Basically, what Ive learned there is to throw bigger baits. You wont catch as much as if you were throwing a small mepps spinner, but you can target some big fish for as small as that river is. Occasionally I get a few walleyes in there also. Pretty cool to come across them.

[duratechfa]

What areas? Close to the river or upstream near lancaster/Leola?

[unionjack16]

I've fished both of those sections,mostly around Lancaster but been around the safe harbor area as well. Safe Harbor is nice BC there's a lot of shoreline access and the Susq is right there also. There is a section in Lancaster called waterworks where PA water specs is, its dammed and they supposedly stock tiger musky in there. Every time I drive by I see people fishing there, never seen one caught though.

[raxarsr]

i grew up fishing the conestoga.....mostly the upper end......best smallmouth of my life came from under a dam close to terre hill......23" and 6 3/4 lbs

the fishing at the waterworks at lancaster can be fantastic..........the secret is to wade out and fish the far side of the dam...........can be tricky.........and you might get told to get out of there.......but its legal..........just depends on where the sandbar is..it does change

theres some great smallmouth fishing.......but you gotta hunt for them....most of the conestoga is slow flat carp water............though on light tackle they are a lot of fun

[duratechfa]

I work out of New Holland but I'm on the road all day. I drive by the river all the time, it looks like good smallmouth fishing. Maybe I'll get to try it one of these days.

[hawghunters]

I've spent a pretty decent amount of time wading the conestoga all year long. I got a canoe this spring and floated a few sections as well. It's got hot and dead areas. I've caught 2 20 inchers, but also lots of solid 15s. I find that the area your fishing is what matters the most. A lot of the fish don't see much pressure and that's probably for the better. It is however very difficult to fish the conestoga due to there being so many dams, private property, and sinking mud spots you can't get around.

[Deleted]

As a young teenager my Dad used to take me down to the waterworks fishing quite often. I haven't been there in years but I know we used to haul in some huge smallmouth out of there. I have also lost A LOT of lures in there as well. But we used to fish with mostly sinkers and night crawlers and we were always happy with whatever we caught. I saw some HUGE walleye caught out of there as well over the years and as someone mentioned; there used to be some very large muskies below that dam as well. It's real rocky in there though and a very fast current so if you intend to wade it definitely be careful. I still drive past there occasionally but it seems like there are "no parking" signs all over the place; can you still park in the little area right by the dam? Before they re-did the road winding around the creek; you had a lot of access; but that old road is long gone and I would imagine you would need to hike quite a bit to get further down from the dam. Not sure howm many people actually fish there any longer either but years ago it used to get quite packed there.