The water was very cold.
It always is chilly on bodies of water that are fed by bottom release dams, and Codorus Creek was no exception. When you’re fishing here on a hot day, the cold water makes the unbearable very bearable and comfortable. Like liquid air conditioning. However if you cross a deep section of the Codorus and forget that you rolled down your chest-high waders to your waist, that chilly water will quickly remind you of your mistake.
Jin and I arrived at our usual spot at the usual time and after a short hike around a corn field we began fishing. We spread out along the water--I was fishing dries and Jin began with nymphs. There was sporadic surface feeding, but the action was very slow. Jin, however, quickly hammered a few using a tandem rig comprised of a heavy Tom Baltz brown beadhead nymph as the point fly and a Baltz beadhead emerger tied on 12-inches of 5X as the dropper. He was fishing the deeper runs and was picking off a lot of native trout.
He called me up to his spot and built a similar rig on my leader and graciously yielded his spot, pointing out the areas where I should fish. I pulled out a couple of fish from this spot then we moved upstream.
Jin usually catches a few fish from an area then moves on. I come in behind him and if the fish are biting, I’ll stick around and clear the area before playing catch up with him. When you’re pounding trout, time moves slowly. I don’t know how many I caught, but it was soon time for lunch and I was only done with half of the creek.
We swallowed our Wawa sandwiches and headed for another spot but it wasn’t quite as good as our previous location. We caught a couple of fish on dries and nymphs but the increased atmospheric pressure from an oncoming thunderstorm probably put the fish down for the day so we declared victory and called it a day.
EQUIPMENT: Short 3 or 4 weight rods with floating lines. You don't need any rod over eight feet long for this creek. The water is very cold but shallow so wear heavy socks under your waders.
DIRECTIONS: I-95 towards Baltimore to 795 Towson to Exit 9B Hanover Pike (30) into Pennsylvania. The road becomes Baltimore Pike (94). Exit Grandview Road, turn right at the restaurant on Blooming Grove Road (216) and several hundred yards later a left on Hoff Road. Codorus State Park and Lake Marburg will be on your right as you travel down Hoff Road. STOP at the railroad crossing! Codorus Creek runs along a CSX rail line and parts of Park Road, Porters Road, Hayrick Road and Thomas Drive. Look for the small yellow signs that indicate fishing areas and parking. Please respect all property owners and don't trash the stream.
