schuylkill river

[flukerat]

does anybody have some info on a dam in the shuylkill just below the houses on river road above manayunk. I spotted it from rt.76 and it looked promising is there anyway to access it, places to park, anybody ever fished this area. I was thinking if it's deep enough it would probably hold walleyes in a month or so. ;)

[BayRat]

It's good for catfish and watching the fireworks at the art museum by boat. Its pretty deep, if I remember correctly about 40' at the deepest, way out in the middle. Its shallow by the danger signs near part of the falls. I don't know about walleye but I doubt it. I always put my boat in across the delaware at green bank, but have seen people fishing it from land. I guess you can park somewhere near the art museum (and thats the deep side).

I've had the greatest time on the skukill a mile downstream though. There is a minimum security prison with all the cells facing the river. I'd anchor up with a few girls in bikini's and fire up the barbeque. The smoke would go right in the windows and the guys would go nuts. Then catch a few catfish just to really get them jealous. :D :D

[BayRat]

Opps, sorry just re-read your post, I was talking about another dam below manayunk. By houses I thought you meant boat house row.

[ratttle trap]

Hey flukrat I do a lot of fishing in the river but a lot further north near reading and do very well there.We fish the mouth of a stream entering about the end of feb.Good luck

[NIGHTSTRIKES]

Flat Rock Dam,,,,
I grew up fishing this area....
We would have to climb across the locks of
the Manayunk Canal,Here is A Picture of
the Locks-
http://membrane.com/philanet/Philadelphia/canal.jpg
Once on the other side,you could either fish
right off the top of the dam,guys would bow hunt Huge
Carp sitting below...
The best fishing was to travel down along the banks below the dam...
Huge Boulder/Rocks would
hold a wide variety of fish,Trout Smallies etc..
We had a great spot there that would have Big
Catfish and 10-20lb Carp in a back eddy of water.
Our Secret CornMeal Mixture Dough Balls Would Hook
These Monsters Up, and They Would Run Clear
Across The River and Back On Us....
We Had Alot of Good Times Around The Dam..
We Even Caught LargeMouth Bass in the Canal
on Lures...
Not Sure If Your Still Allowed To Cross over the
Locks At This Time, I am Talking 20 years ago
the last time I fished it... But Thats How You
Get There....

[ 02-10-2005, 03:28 PM: Message edited by: NIGHTSTRIKES ]

[mako6950]

The fishing on the west side is pretty good. Get off 76 @ gladwyne and make a right at the bottom of the ramp. follow up to a parking area. walk back down towards the exit and follow the railroad tracks down the river below the falls.

there are some outcroppings of boulders that you can climb down to just before the train tunnel entrance. puts you out into the river. Deep water, some great smallie fishing there. my biggest was about 4 pounds. few perch here and there in the calm water, along with some nice catties and muskie every now & then. Never had any largemeouth that far up the river, but I guess they would be in there.

If you fish the falls directly, there are nice stripers in there, along with other fish. If you raft or boat, come late spring, there are trout around the moth of the wissahickon creek where it dumps in. plus large catties at any feeder creek or area of moving water.

If you want nice largemouth, by boat, the island off of the rowers grandstand onthe river (Pete's island) has some great structure that holds decent size & numbers of LM bass. carolina riggde rubber worms and jigs are the trick. A live minnow doesn't hurt either. My biggest LM bass was in the 4-5# range there and had one hooked up that went an easy 8#. Largest bass I ever saw alive.

The 'kill is a good river to fish with very little pressure.

[In Depth]

Hey what are you doing in this forum ?
Whats da matta, you wanna see what a normal forum is like...... tongue.gif tongue.gif tongue.gif

[Sea Devil]

if you go to the gladwynne exit as mako said to and you have a boat go to exit make the right follow to immediate left


as you go up river road you will see a boat launch (public)

from the launch head upstream til you get to the bridge over conshohocken from there downstream fish the right hand side plenty of smallies there and the small island at the bridge holds some nice ones right at the tail of the isle

Good luck

[bucktail3]

Alright, I see 3 different dams mentioned so far in this conversation. Coming upstream from the delaware river, the first dam is the fairmount dam, below the art museum. go up a little further, just past manayunk is another dam, not sure of the name, but thats the one I think flukerat is talking about. This is DOWNSTREAM from the gladwyne park, flat rock park. UPSTREAM from the park is the dam in conshohocken, I think this one is called flat rock dam. Its tough to talk fishing when were all talking about different places! The only dam I fish is the fairmount dam. If anybody knows the name of the other two, could you help us out?

[mako6950]

From south to north
Fairmount Dam (good stripers, catties, muskie)

Flat Rock Dam (I was talk about below this dam)

Conshie Falls (hard to get to by boat very shallow about a 1/2 mile before but a float tube would good up in the falls area)

Fishing at the route 23/fayette st bridge is excellent small mouth fishing as sea devil said, plus you can beach the boat & walk over to Mickie D's for a bite to eat)

[mako6950]

Originally posted by In Depth:
Hey what are you doing in this forum ?
Whats da matta, you wanna see what a normal forum is like...... tongue.gif tongue.gif tongue.gif As long as you are here, it will never be normal, just varying degrees of abnormality. :D :D :D

Besides, I fished the 'kill from when I was a kid through just last year, so it is something I know about. tongue.gif ;)

[Sea Devil]

yep tom the falls are hard to get to its a slow move to get there but its doable

i have been known to wrap my spinner over the railing on the bridge before too as a bet from a friend i did it

the small island below the bridge (behind the hotel) my buds best at 21 inches 3 years ago

[finesser]

Originally posted by ratttle trap:
Hey flukrat I do a lot of fishing in the river but a lot further north near reading and do very well there.We fish the mouth of a stream entering about the end of feb.Good luck Hey trap used to go to Wimpies all the time for bait for scotts run in the winter.The farther north you go the river gets more scenic. Have fished right past Cabellas off RT 61 behind Port Clinton and around Hamburg. Caught lots of fish and really enjoyed the area. Used to stop on the way back from the susquehanna usually up around Shamokin Dam. Used to fish at different spots all the way back to delaware county when I wasn't in a hurry and had a couple days. It was really relaxing.
Mike

[In Depth]

As long as you are here, it will never be normal, just varying degrees of abnormality.


LMAO.....So true but never boring.....LMAO


That stretch of the kill is great , i used to fish it every day after work , back then i was a loley maintanance guy at oak hill condos on top of the hill at gladwynn, i would spend my lunch at the ramp there. Loooooooong time ago.

[flukerat]

Bucktail, that is the dam I was talking about! :D I see alot of guys fish this area and I appreciate the advice. I'm new to the area I just moved to manayunk after college. I work in conshy and take the river road to from work everyday and figured why not give it a shot. I think I found a way to get to the dam I was talking about. Any more info would be aprreciated.

[mch]

I've been meaning to fish that area for a long time I've fished Fairmount & Valley Forge but never anywhere in between. I may hit that up in after I move for some early season smalies.

[Silver Surf]

Id say get and give it a shot, definately walleyes there and ready to be caught in days not weeks. There are some that fish these small and tight spots for years that put in their dues and appreciate if others dont broadcast the whole game plan on these spots. An earned honey hole is much sweet feeling in the long run anyway.

[mako6950]

AHHHHHHH, the 1st spots issue of the new year has arisen in the newest forum. It's official now Craig, you'll have to moderate. :D :D :D

[flukerat]

Woah, didn't mean to start any controversy, I asked if any one new how to access this spot ie was there parking nearby and if anybody has tried there. sorry smile.gif

[mch]

Those spots aren't really any kind of big secret. Walk into any baitshop in Philly, Montco, or Delco & ask about that area & they'll give you directions.

[mch]

I'm going crazy, I may take a few jigs down to the river & mess around on sunday. Weather permitting. I'm moving & should be packing but a few hours may not hurt.

[In Depth]

Originally posted by mako6950:
AHHHHHHH, the 1st spots issue of the new year has arisen in the newest forum. It's official now Craig, you'll have to moderate. :D :D :D Tom ,

Yea yea yea , it was to be expected. If this was the only issue i have to deal with, life would be good.

[ratttle trap]

Hey finesser that's cool i used to go there to.I live right down the hill from there now.Never did any fishing up that far.Most fishing is done where the tulpahaucken runs into the river.Great spot for the glass eyes.Good fishing.

[mako6950]

Originally posted by mch:
Those spots aren't really any kind of big secret. Walk into any baitshop in Philly, Montco, or Delco & ask about that area & they'll give you directions. Hell, just go to the river and walk the banks, no directions needed, people will be in those areas at almost any given time.

[TWIN D'S]

Nice thread. I didn't know smallies were in the Schuylkill. (I didn't look, did I spell surekill right?? :)

Hey Craig, cheapest I found lead was 50 cents a pound, in ingots.

[Phillyfisher]

hello, i just moved to philadelphia and i am interested in fishing the fairmount dam for stripers in the spring...i was wondering what bait would work best there...thanks

[bucktail3]

Phillyfisher, In the spring the best bait you could get would be live herring which can be caught on sabiki rigs or netted right at the dam. hook em through the eyes without any weight. Any soft plastic on a jighead will work too.

[In Depth]

Phil,

Got it.

[Phillyfisher]

Thanks Fellas

[mch]

Originally posted by TWIN D'S:
Nice thread. I didn't know smallies were in the Schuylkill. (I didn't look, did I spell surekill right?? :)

Hey Craig, cheapest I found lead was 50 cents a pound, in ingots. The Schuylkill is an awesome smallie fishery. I'll bet it's even better the further north you go. I'm a bank fisherman but it's also go tons of boat access.

[OVER THE RAIL]

You never know what you'll catch at the Fairmount Dam. Someday, a sturgeon, maybe. Check out the fish ladder on the expressway side. And Flat Rock- you never know what you'll SEE there. Sometimes it's pretty rowdy. It's a fishin' hole and a swimmin' hole. Fishin', drinkin' smokin' crabbin', partyin', carryin' on...People use the dam like a giant sliding board. Whheeeee! (Not reccomended.)

[Philly]

Last year, the PFBC had some pictures up from the electroshocking they did below Fairmount Dam. They had a dozen stripers in a tub ranging from 26 to 36 inches. Last couple years they've been catching American Shad below Flat Rock. American shad fry have been stocked in the river the last couple of years. Once they get fish ladders built, Flat Rock is scheduled to have one built in the next couple of years, they're hoping for a full scale shad run in the river.
Flukerat, if you don't feel like dealing with the "big" river. The Wissahickon is also a decent smallmouth stream.

[Phillyfisher]

Hey gonna be fishing the fairmount dam this weekend for walleye, just wondering what baits are best....thanks

[Philly@home]

Phillyfisher:
Never fished for them around here, always do it up in Ontario. Minnows on a Chartruese jig head. 1/4 to 1/2 oz, bounced along the bottom. Nightcrawlers on the same rig. Another possiblity might be to use a slip bobber with a minnow or nightcrawler under it. or a floating jig head fished behind a walking sinker. Same baits as above.
River was muddy and high today.

[Philly@home]

Phillyfisher:
Never fished for them around here, always do it up in Ontario. Minnows on a Chartruese jig head. 1/4 to 1/2 oz, bounced along the bottom. Nightcrawlers on the same rig. Another possiblity might be to use a slip bobber with a minnow or nightcrawler under it. or a floating jig head fished behind a walking sinker. Same baits as above.
River was muddy and high today.

[mako6950]

Tip for fishing the fairmount dam. Go at dead low tide so that you can see all the pools, rocks, shallows etc. There is wide ranging stuff in there.

With a digi cam, take a few pics & study them at home. Then when you return & fish the incoming, slack & ebb, you will have a better chance to land fish by casting to better fish holding structure.

[bucktail3]

Phillyfisher, good luck with the walleye this weekend, theres definitaley a possibillaty of getting a few. use a small jighead about 1/4 once or so with 3" orange or yellow curly tail. If that doesnt work, try black or brown. Youll probably want to fish deep and away from main current. Or you could try live bait.
good luck, let us know how you do, even if its a skunk!

[capbar]

Good to see so many guys on here that fish the Schuylkill. I grew up within walking distance of the river in Pottstown and spent many days fishing and hunting along it. Nowadays with a boat and rv in Delaware I don't spend as much time there on the weekends but I still manage to fish it , the Perk, the Manatawney and a lot of other local spots during the week. Lots of smallies all along the River and the pressure is light. My favorite way of fishing for the bass there is wading and live bait fishing with hellgramites or stone cats when I can get them. An area some of you might want to try is where the Perk enters the Schuylkill near Oaks. Lots of nice bass, big cats and an occasional musky. At one time a lot of nice muskies came from that area but I don't see them that often now. I'm not familiar with the river below Oaks but some day I'd like to try fishing it.

[Phillyfisher]

Hey, i just bought a bunch of white bucktails from cabelas, i was gonna use them for the ocean, but will they work in the river.

[edj]

Yes---i believe your talking about flatrock dam---and yes this is a good place to fish--total walleyes---most people pull off the 76 just when it comes into view and actually park on the ramp---

[rockdoc]

Edj or anyone else--- could someone give me some general pointers as to where the dam is in relation to 76, and where to park aside from the exit ramp? I've always wanted to check this area out for shad....Can shoot me an email--- mphoudart@comcast.net.......Thanks Mike

[SEA-FOX JOE]

Be careful parking on the off-ramp you might get ticketed,also if you are fishing from a boat and heading up toward's the Conshocken dam be real careful once you past the island on the way up there are some real low spot's where you could do some damage..Was in partners with a guy who lived on the river and we had a 16' Sea Nyph fished the area up and down a whole lot.