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Home › Waters › Pennsylvania › Codorus Creek
Spring creek · York County, a limestone-influenced creek running east through Spring Grove and York toward the Susquehanna in south central Pennsylvania · Pennsylvania

Codorus Creek Fishing Guides

A York County limestoner gauged at Spring Grove, carrying discharge, stage and turbidity, the third of which decides most trips.

A small waterfall stepping through mossy boulders in an eastern hardwood forest
Gauge location. Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors.

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About the Codorus Creek

Codorus Creek runs east across York County through Spring Grove and the city of York before joining the Susquehanna River above the Maryland line. The valley floor here is carbonate rock, and the creek picks up a substantial share of its water from limestone springs rising through it. That gives it the characteristics anglers associate with Pennsylvania limestone water: alkaline, fertile, rich in insect and crustacean life, and far more stable in temperature and flow than the freestone streams in the ridges to the north and west.

The gauge at Spring Grove reports discharge and stage together with a turbidity series, and the turbidity reading is the one that most often decides whether a trip is worth making. This is a working valley with farmland, industry and a good deal of development in the catchment, and the creek colours readily after rain and takes time to clear. Spring influence moderates the extremes at both ends, so Codorus does not spike as violently as a mountain freestone and does not drop as low in a dry August, but it does carry sediment, and clear water is the condition to wait for.

The fishery changes character along its length. The upper and middle creek carries trout, with brown trout the principal fish and a stocked rainbow component in the more accessible reaches; the spring-influenced water holds them through summers that would be marginal elsewhere in the county. Downstream through and below York the creek warms and widens and becomes smallmouth water, with rock bass abundant, and channel catfish and carp in the slower pools. Access is a genuine strength compared with many limestone creeks: there are public parks, rail trail frontage and municipal water along the corridor, so a day here does not have to begin with a permission conversation.

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Read the full license

Version 1.0, dated 6 September 2026. Applies to every photograph submitted to GuidedFloats through the contact form, a species page, or the community board.

1. What you give us

By ticking the box on the form you grant Guided Floats, LLC (“GuidedFloats”, “we”) a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free license to store, copy, resize, crop and display your photograph on guidedfloats.com, in GuidedFloats’ own social media accounts and mobile apps, and in material that promotes the site itself, in connection with the fish, water or community feature you sent it in for. The license lasts until you withdraw it (section 4).

You keep the copyright. The license is not exclusive, so you can use the photo anywhere else and license it to anyone else. We will not sell your photo, license it on to anyone else on its own, or use it in paid advertising for a third party.

2. What you confirm

You confirm that you took the photograph yourself (or otherwise own the rights to it), that you have the right to grant this license, and that publishing the photo does not infringe anyone else’s copyright, privacy or other rights.

If any person is recognisable in the photo, you confirm that they have agreed to its being published here, and that a parent or guardian has agreed on behalf of anyone under 18. Please do not send photographs of other people’s catches, screenshots, or pictures copied from other websites or social media.

3. Credit

We print the credit name you give us beside the photo wherever it appears on the site, and record it as the photo’s creator in the page’s structured data. If you leave the credit blank we use the name you gave us on the form. Write “Anonymous” if you prefer no name at all. Your email address, phone number and the exact spot the photo was taken are never published.

4. Withdrawing the license

You can withdraw the license at any time by emailing hello@guidedfloats.com, or by using the contact form, and telling us which photo you mean. We will remove the photo from guidedfloats.com within 7 days of receiving your message and stop using it in anything new. Copies that are already outside our control — search-engine caches, social posts that have already gone out, printed material already produced — may take longer to disappear or may not be recallable, and we are not responsible for those.

5. What we may do

We choose which photos to publish and may decline any submission without giving a reason. We may crop, resize, sharpen or colour-correct a photo for display, and we may remove a photo at any time. We will not alter a photo in a way that misrepresents the fish, the water or you.

6. Your details

We keep your name, email address, the credit name, the water and date you gave us, and the network address the submission came from, with the submission record, as our evidence of this license. We hold that record for as long as the photo is published and for the retention period described in our privacy policy. Location data that your camera or phone embedded in the file is removed before the photo is published.

7. Versions

The version of this license you accepted is stored with your submission and printed with the photo. A later version does not apply to a photo you have already sent unless you agree to it.

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Posting to Codorus Creek.

JPG, PNG or WebP, up to 12 MB. We resize it and strip the location data out of the file.

The name shown under the photo. Leave blank to stay anonymous.

Reader photo license v1.0 — the short version:

  • You grant Guided Floats, LLC a non-exclusive, royalty-free license to publish, resize and crop your photo on guidedfloats.com and in GuidedFloats’ own social posts and apps. You keep the copyright and can use the photo anywhere else.
  • You confirm that you took the photo yourself, that publishing it does not infringe anyone else’s rights, and that anyone recognisable in it (or a parent or guardian, if they are under 18) is happy for it to appear here.
  • Credit is printed beside the photo wherever it appears on the site, using the credit name you give us. Leave it blank and we use your name; write “Anonymous” for no name. Your email address is never published.
  • Withdrawing is one email to hello@guidedfloats.com naming the photo. It comes off the site within 7 days.
Read the full license

Version 1.0, dated 6 September 2026. Applies to every photograph submitted to GuidedFloats through the contact form, a species page, or the community board.

1. What you give us

By ticking the box on the form you grant Guided Floats, LLC (“GuidedFloats”, “we”) a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free license to store, copy, resize, crop and display your photograph on guidedfloats.com, in GuidedFloats’ own social media accounts and mobile apps, and in material that promotes the site itself, in connection with the fish, water or community feature you sent it in for. The license lasts until you withdraw it (section 4).

You keep the copyright. The license is not exclusive, so you can use the photo anywhere else and license it to anyone else. We will not sell your photo, license it on to anyone else on its own, or use it in paid advertising for a third party.

2. What you confirm

You confirm that you took the photograph yourself (or otherwise own the rights to it), that you have the right to grant this license, and that publishing the photo does not infringe anyone else’s copyright, privacy or other rights.

If any person is recognisable in the photo, you confirm that they have agreed to its being published here, and that a parent or guardian has agreed on behalf of anyone under 18. Please do not send photographs of other people’s catches, screenshots, or pictures copied from other websites or social media.

3. Credit

We print the credit name you give us beside the photo wherever it appears on the site, and record it as the photo’s creator in the page’s structured data. If you leave the credit blank we use the name you gave us on the form. Write “Anonymous” if you prefer no name at all. Your email address, phone number and the exact spot the photo was taken are never published.

4. Withdrawing the license

You can withdraw the license at any time by emailing hello@guidedfloats.com, or by using the contact form, and telling us which photo you mean. We will remove the photo from guidedfloats.com within 7 days of receiving your message and stop using it in anything new. Copies that are already outside our control — search-engine caches, social posts that have already gone out, printed material already produced — may take longer to disappear or may not be recallable, and we are not responsible for those.

5. What we may do

We choose which photos to publish and may decline any submission without giving a reason. We may crop, resize, sharpen or colour-correct a photo for display, and we may remove a photo at any time. We will not alter a photo in a way that misrepresents the fish, the water or you.

6. Your details

We keep your name, email address, the credit name, the water and date you gave us, and the network address the submission came from, with the submission record, as our evidence of this license. We hold that record for as long as the photo is published and for the retention period described in our privacy policy. Location data that your camera or phone embedded in the file is removed before the photo is published.

7. Versions

The version of this license you accepted is stored with your submission and printed with the photo. A later version does not apply to a photo you have already sent unless you agree to it.

Flow alert

Tell me when the Codorus Creek cfs

Now: 9.1 cfs, read 6:00 pm CDT, Sun Oct 18, 2026 (USGS 01574500, Codorus Creek at Spring Grove, PA).

We never use this address for anything else and never share it. See the privacy policy.

Access

Spring Grove - the borough at the gauge, with fuel, food and the nearest access to the middle creek.
York - the city downstream, with full services, tackle shops, lodging and extensive creek frontage.
Heritage Rail Trail - the trail corridor along part of the valley, giving long stretches of walk-in access.
Lake Marburg - the reservoir at Codorus State Park upstream, a substantial bass, crappie and walleye fishery.
Codorus State Park - the park around the lake, with camping, launches and full facilities.
Susquehanna River - the main stem east, one of the country's best smallmouth rivers a short drive away.
Hanover - west of Spring Grove, with further lodging, groceries and services.

Seasons

Spring: high and coloured after rain but very good between events, with trout active as the water warms.
Summer: spring flow keeps the upper creek fishable for trout while the lower water fishes well for smallmouth.
Fall: settled flows and clearing water make this the most consistent stretch of the year throughout the creek.
Winter: cold and slow, though the spring-influenced reaches stay open and fish on the milder days.

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Questions

What is the current flow on the Codorus Creek?

As of Oct 18, 6:00 pm, the USGS gauge Codorus Creek at Spring Grove, PA reads 9 cfs. Conditions update every 15 minutes.

What species can you catch on the Codorus Creek?

Anglers target Bluegill, Brown Trout, Channel Catfish, Common Carp, Fallfish, Largemouth Bass, Rainbow Trout, Rock Bass, Smallmouth Bass, White Sucker on the Codorus Creek in Pennsylvania.

Where can you access the Codorus Creek?

Spring Grove - the borough at the gauge, with fuel, food and the nearest access to the middle creek. York - the city downstream, with full services, tackle shops, lodging and extensive creek frontage. Heritage Rail Trail - the trail corridor along part of the valley, giving long stretches of walk-in access. Lake Marburg - the reservoir at Codorus State Park upstream, a substantial bass, crappie and walleye fishery. Codorus State Park - the park around the lake, with camping, launches and full facilities. Susquehanna River - the main stem east, one of the country's best smallmouth rivers a shor...

When is the best time to fish the Codorus Creek?

Spring: high and coloured after rain but very good between events, with trout active as the water warms. Summer: spring flow keeps the upper creek fishable for trout while the lower water fishes well for smallmouth. Fall: settled flows and clearing water make this the most consistent stretch of the year throughout the creek. Winter: cold and slow, though the spring-influenced reaches stay open and fish on the milder days.

Where are the fishing regulations for the Codorus Creek?

Regulations change by season and section. Read the current rules on the Pennsylvania agency site: https://www.pa.gov/agencies/fishandboat/fishing/regulations