Tridelphia Reservoir is back!

[jbrown]

All right!


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[Serpentracer1]

what ramp do I use for the better bass fishing, I'll be trailering

[Red_Beard]

Depends on which part of the lake you want to fish. Pigtail and Greenbridge are best for fishing the lower lake, while Triadelphia and Big Branch Rec Area launches are better for up lake.

Speaking of Triadelphia, I got out three times last week, and caught 7 different species of fish. My main target were the carp feeding on the cicadas. I got 16 in total on my fly rod. Had more luck with dark colored wooly buggers and nymph patterns than cicada dry flies. Got the catfish on the fly rod as well, but the other species mostly came on panfish jigs or wacky worms. All told I got 16 carp, 1 channel cat, 1 smallmouth, 6 crappie, 1 walleye, and a bunch of largemouth bass and bluegill.

cicada carp 2.jpg
cicada catfish.jpg
cicada smallmouth.jpg

[Mark]

That's a very productive outing Red_Beard.

Congratulations.

[therevolution]

I was out today before the thunderstorms rolled in. The carp are absolutely everywhere. I put in at big branch and worked down to the opening of the pigtail cove. Schools of a dozen or more small carp were everywhere along the shore, and wolf packs of larger carp were roaming and slurping up cicadas. Even way out in the open in the middle of the rez I could see Carp feeding on fallen cicadas.

Ended up catching a few of the smaller carp on a crank bait, topwater plug, and a handful of small bass. I stumbled upon 3 really large bass that I could not get to commit to any lures.

[Mark]

therevolution,

Thanks for the report.

I have never fished Tridelphia.

Sounds like the place to go for freshwater fishing at the moment.

I hope to get there before the action you and Red_Beard have reported stops.

[Mark]

So...I made my first visit ever to Triadelphia last Thursday, 17 June.

What a beautiful body of water. I launched from Big Branch with a friend and we immediately got into carp/cicada fly action.

I hooked 12 and got 11 in my kayak.

Most were this this size:

P1050545 (3).jpg

But I had several over 20 inches:

P1050538 (2).jpg

The 20+ inchers are brutes on a flyrod. I used a 6 wt. I should have brought a heavier rod.

Today my friend and I returned and the carp bite was non-existent. We launched at Pigtail. I saw no roaming schools of carp like I did last week. I did hook one carp today on a cicada fly but I lost it. That was the only one I saw. I doubt the change in our fortune was due to the launch site. I believe the Brood X Buffet has ended.

I caught bass and bluegills on a cicada fly in addition to carp last week and I did again today. Nothing extraordinary in size but fun.

I even got a smallmouth today:

P1050551 (2).jpg

Better than that, I got a permit to visit Triadelphia for the rest of the year today. I don't have to check in at the office on my next trip.

Thanks to Cliff for starting this thread, and all who posted here.

[WetBrownie]

Went with a buddy of mines a few weeks ago. Crappie fishing is really good there. Decent size and you don't have to paddle far from the launch to hook in to them.

[rugbyfish]

I also fished Triadelphia last Thursday, launching at Pig Tail. I got a handful of small carp and one small bass and bluegill. All caught on topwater. It seems like things had already started to slow down as there weren’t too many cicadas left flying around.

8A181E2C-12D8-482B-B161-88DBD98F1460.jpg 550E173D-85E1-424D-BE81-190185B005AE.jpg

Triadelphia is a beautiful place to kayak. It’s hardly ever crowded and the water is dairy protected from wind. That’s actually where I first started kayak fishing. I grew up about 15 minutes from there. It was always tough fishing, but I had good days occasionally. It sounds like fishing has vastly improved with the new vegetation that grew up when the water level was lowered the past couple years.

[Mark]

Joe,

You're correct about the vegetation. Young trees have sprouted in the middle of the launch creeks which I suppose were dry during the work on the dam. Now the tree tops are above the water.

The shorelines have deep water with bushes completely submerged which provide excellent structure for the fish. In fact, each of the larger carp headed toward those shorelines after I hooked them.

This me going to into battle to get a carp that had pulled my kayak into the shoreline:

IMG_1245.jpg

Not only did I have to contend with the overhanging branches making sure my rod tip survived, the tangle of shrubbery under the water was the perfect place for a hooked carp to hide. I pulled that fish out by hand by the leader.

The one carp I lost broke a 20 pound tippet. When I examined the tippet it was the line itself that had failed, not my perfection loop on the fly. The line was severely abraded from several trips into the bushes. I should have checked it sooner.

[Red_Beard]

You're welcome, Mark! I was out there Friday evening, and the cicadas are definitely wrapping up. I'm almost going to miss them! Certainly going to miss the fantastic bite they created. Mark, my first carp trip I took my 6-wt too, and it was a big mistake. I took my 8-wt for the subsequent trips, and it handled them so much better. Now my fishing there is shifting more towards bass and crappie until the fall cool down reignites the pike bite. I really wish they didn't close it down for the winter. I'd put my drysuit to good use out there!

[Mark]

Cliff,

I didn't know Triadelphia has pike too.

I caught a few of them on a 2019 trip to the Adirondacks. It was my only experience with them. I used the same flies and tactics that I use with pickerel.

Please keep us posted here of your pike efforts.

When does Triadelphia shut down for the year?

I was torn on my last visit there. I kept tossing the cicada fly in the hopes that a carp would hit it. One did but I didn't stick it well enough. Next time I'll concentrate on the bass and bluegills and up my counts. They're probably glad the carp are back to their normal bottom feeding ways.

[DanMarino]

Here are the species I have caught at Triadelphia over the years.
1. Rock bass.
2. Smallmouth bass.
3. Largemouth bass.
4. Striped bass.
5. Northern pike.
6. Walleye.
7. Yellow perch.
8. White perch.
9. Black crappie.
10. White crappie.
11. Bullhead catfish.
12. Channel catfish.
13. Bluegill/sunfish.
14. Fallfish.
15. Green sunfish.

[Mark]

Here are the species I have caught at Triadelphia over the years.
1. Rock bass.
2. Smallmouth bass.
3. Largemouth bass.
4. Striped bass.
5. Northern pike.
6. Walleye.
7. Yellow perch.
8. White perch.
9. Black crappie.
10. White crappie.
11. Bullhead catfish.
12. Channel catfish.
13. Bluegill/sunfish.
14. Fallfish.
15. Green sunfish.

Tom,

Add a carp to that list in 2038. I have a few cicada flies left over that you can have. I doubt I'll be casting them in 17 years. I may not even know my name then.

[DanMarino]

Haha. Thanks Mark. Sure, I'll take your cicada flies when we get a chance to fish together. I'll be 69 if I live to see the cicadas return. I've never caught a carp before, but see them splashing around in the shallows a lot every spring. I'm glad you were able to have a successful trip 2 weeks ago. It is a nice place to fish and there has been many times (pre-COVID) it seemed like I was the only person on the reservoir.

I think there are muskie in Triadelphia too. My son hooked into an extremely large one last year, but couldn't land it.