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Smallmouth in Pennypack Creek

15K views 41 replies 15 participants last post by  melvinthefisherman 
#1 ·
Over the summer i caught my first smallmouth a 6inch on a live minnow. I was wondering if anyone else caught any smallies in there
 
#2 ·
ssshhhhh! ;)
 
#14 ·
I lived on Sandyford ave. I used to fish the pennypack past the police station behind Lincoln H.S. .Above and below the bend. Carp catfish eels and sunfish. I did catch a rockbass once. Trout above the Blvd. Dam.
My old stomping grounds,trapping rats and catching carp right above sandyford creek.....bouncning in the tree hanging over the creek....Did you own a beagel?
 
#9 ·
My dad grew up two blocks from the Penneypack in the Holmesburg section. Actually way way back my great grandparents owned a massive chunk of the land in that area. I grew up in Tacony and my dad would always take me and my brother to the Pack for fishing and hiking trips. One time he showed us the secret spot where he and his brother could always find salamanders. This spot was up on top of a hill about a hundred yards from the creek. Not exactly where you would expect to find salamanders.

When he showed us the spot and swore us to secrecy he pointed to a tree. It had his and my uncles initials carved into it. Right next to it was a very small gully full of dead leaves. If you cleared them out there was a vien of rocks with a little water around them. Dad said it was an underground spring that wasn't big enough to flow down the entire hill. If we moved some rocks there were more salamanders than we could find in an entire year of searching other spots. This secret spot was the motherload.

I fished the creek for many many years. Suckers around this time. Opening day for trout and plenty of sunfish, eels and small catfish during the heat of summer. Find a deep slow moving hole and the carp were ready to snap your line. The last time I was in the Park I was walking around amazed at how much the creek had changed. The Frankford ave falls were gone. A little spot our family called the Hideaway where we had our family and neighborhood cookouts was now full of trees and weeds.

It had been about twenty years but walking the park still felt special. Still remember standing there looking up at this one hill. Sure looked familiar. Started working my way through the trees and brush when I saw it. A healthy tree with M.U. and C.U. carved deep into the bark. Did a little leaf clearing and sure enough the salamander count was still high. Something about finding the secret spot from your childhood that makes you thankfull your dad was so cool.

Not much about fishing but the Pennypack is much more than that.:thumbsup:
 
#11 · (Edited)
for those who are disapointed in how the creek has changed it is true that in places where it was 3 feet it is now 3inches. However where it was 3inches its now three feet. and I have seen smallies and largemouth of large sizes.
also if you walk the old railroad tracks thru lorimer all the way up you will hit an old railroad bridge. ******* * ****** ***** ***** **** *** ******* ***. **** *** **** **** **** ****** ***** (spot burn)

And if they would knock down all the dams hickory shad could comme up the crik
 
#12 ·
LOL, I ride my bike back there on the rail trail sometimes. i saw a few nice sized Smallies there and a few Carp.
They are supposed to take all of the dams out. I think the creek should be dredged if they do. All of the silt piling up in the slow water above the dams will wash down and fill in the creek. It happened below Rhawn, and that area was the best spot to fish the creek.
 
#17 ·
The dam removal project is something that has been going on for about 5 years. Plans were to remove every dam except the one at Verree Road. That was to get small fish ladder. Goal was to restore the fish life in the creek to what was there about 250 years ago, before the grist mills and such sprang up. Trying to get stripers, white perch, shad, etc. to migrate up there too. The Verree dam was being saved as a historical reference to the industry that used to inhabit the creek. From my perspective, more fishing holes were lost than were obtained, but let's see over time. I do think the the park is cleaner and more friendly than in past decades, though fromn "Little City" to State Road, more needs to be done. Have seen more wildlife variety in the past 10 years than I had seen as a kid who fished it 3 or 4 times a week. I'm in there 3 to 4 times a week walking my dog most of the year. As has been said, Pennypack is special to a lot of us.
 
#18 ·
When I was a kid there was nothing better than after dinner and my dad saying. Lets hit the Crick. I'd fish for minnows and dad would use them for bait. An old neighbor down the street loved eel. My dad had this one spot that was perfect for big eels. He would bait up with minnows and cast across the creek and I mean across the creek. Land it on the slope and slowly slide it down the bank till it dropped into the water. This place had a real sharp drop with a ledge under the bank. The big eels hid under the ledge. Two or three in a big burlap bag and our neighbor was a happy guy.

When we were old enough to go on our own me and my friends would hit the section just below the Frankford Ave falls. Early March and the deeper holes below the falls held a day of fun with big suckers.

Later when we had our own wheels we would make a night of it down in the tidal area by State Road. Had to be the last two hours of the incoming and first two of the outgoing. Some huge carp would come out of the river. Caught some large fish but lost the monsters to all the snags and dead trees that lined the bank.

All those opening day trout trips back when it was at 5am and the creek was lined with fires and anticipation. Cold spring morning and the smell of a camp fire plus the knowledge that the creek was loaded with hatchery trout. Fantastic.
 
#19 ·
I hope the dam project goes through. A few years ago shad were stocked into pennypack because the dams were to be knocked down. This needs to happen in my opinion I would love to have the sshad and white perch and small stripers up tht crik. Also it would help support the smallmouth population
 
#22 ·
I grew up in the NE but after elementary school my family moved to Willow Grove.... so i have fished the creek up past Davisville rd. when I was fishing it a lot during high school I would be on the creek from dark to dark during the summer and I was catching a lot of sunnies, chubs, big carp, suckers,a few cats and a few small bass.... I moved back to the area in Dec of 09 and fished a few of my old spots w/ my kids.... the bass have certainly come into the own, still a lot of nice healthy sunnies and chubs, and bigger carp... I know the one pic is a little dark, but both bass are around the same size.... I was a little shocked by them.... I remember catching a bunch of bass under 6 inches in the creek, nothing that big unless it was a carp, sucker, or occasional cat.... even though the trout aren't stocked that far up it will remain on of my favorite places to fish
 
#24 ·
I was as surprised as you are.... we only had nightcrawlers on us..... but with bass like that in there now i will be taking my creek smallie stuff w/ me... a lot of small craws, grubs and senkos.... a lot of spots up the creek are looking a lot better than they did 10 years ago... as you can see, its helping the fish
 
#26 ·
i have fished the railroad bridge near welsh and terwood.... used to catch a few trout mixed in there.... haven't been there in a few years though..... most of the time this past year i was lorimer park or below.... but with the kids being older, i think there will be a few days this summer we wade different parts of the creek from davisville to welsh rd
 
#31 ·
It was more than 20 years ago now, but I will never forget the time my Dad took me down to Rhawn street after dinner one night about a month into Trout season. He sat in the truck reading the Daily News, and I walked down to about fifty yards or so below the bridge. My favorite lure at 16 was, and remains to this day a 2 1/2 inch rapala in rainbow trout color. On my second cast I hooked into what I thought was the biggest trout that had ever been stocked in that creek. Both the drag and I screamed. The fight probably wasn't as long as I remember it to be but I will tell you it was one of the highlights of my fishing career. To my shock the fish that I pulled out of the water was not a hatchery trout but a 16 inch beautiful Smallmouth bass. At that point I never knew that Pennypack held Smallies. I held the fish up for Dad to see and released the fish back into the creek. I tried that spot many times after that and caught a few much smaller bass here and there. I have since caught and seen bass in different sections of the creek. To a 16 year old Philly kid, that bass was impressive. :thumbsup:
 
#33 ·
Just to wake up an old thread, living so close to the park I'll walk in and wet a line a few times a week, mostly after work for about an hour or so. Anyways I was there yesterday and caught a 13'' smallie that was really fat, he was sitting in about 1 foot of water. Not a huge fish but nice for the crick. :thumbsup: My very next cast landed a rock bass that was almost as long as the small mouth and equally fat. The park holds some interesting stuff in it for sure.
 
#34 ·
I loved the Pennypack growing up 60 years [1954] ago. We would take pup tents and camp below Pine Road and not see anyone else for 3 days. They sure screwed everything up with that parking lot! I even caught some nice largemouth bass up there. Long walk from the end of the trolley line, I rode up from 5TH & Girard. By the nuns, you pushed the leaves out of the gutter and you got enough nightcrawlers to last. Great memories which are no longer possible to form. My buddy George moved to Maine and we still talk about it.
 
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