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I caught this cutt in Leeds Creek

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St George-Area Streams
I had fun fly fishing small streams near St George last weekend. Fishing was tough but I caught a few and enjoyed the beautiful weather.

Streams were running high and had a little color, but were fishable.

People often ask me where they can fly fish in the St George area. I tell them to go to Lees Ferry, on the Colorado. If they persist, I mention the three small steams I know of in the area. Santa Clara River in the Baker Dam area has browns, including a few nice fish. Leeds Creek and South Ash Creek have wild cutthroat trout.

These streams flow through rugged canyons and are overgrown with brush, making fishing difficult. Fish tend to be small and you've got to work for them. DWR has been working hard to restore native cutthroat populations and so catch and release is encourage if you fish here.

In a small stream with wild trout, you have to use sleuth. As you approach, fish scurry for cover. To catch them I would sit back from the hole for a few minutes to let their caution wane. Then I'd cautiously drop a bead-head nymph into the water on the edge of the current and work it downstream. Every fish I caught was down toward the bottom of the hole.

Rattlesnakes are commonly seen along these streams during warm water.

If fishing is tough and fish are small, why fish there? Because early spring and late fall weather is usually nice there, even when it is miserable elsewhere. And because the area is scenic, with opportunities for many other recreational activities. If you are going down there anyway, it can be fun to take a fly rod.

This is North Creek, in Zion Park

Fishing In Paradise
I fished one other stream in the St Geroge area last weekend. Had fishing been good, I wouldn't be writing about it. But I didn't catch anything, so here goes.

I have a fantasy about finding a private little Shangri-La, where fish are big, the weather is always beautiful and there are no other people around. I thought I had stumbled upon such a place, and it had everything except the fish.

I love to hike in Zion Park and I've done several hikes along North Creek, below the famous Subway. That stream has big, beautiful holes and clear, cool water. During summer, when flow are low and the water is clear, I often see small fish dart for cover. Occasionally, I see a larger fish that looks like a trout. I have often wished I had my fly rod with me, so this time I took it along.

On this trip the water was high and had a little color, and I did not see any fish. I worked flies along the surface any nymphs along the bottom without a single bite. A massive flood scoured the stream in December and maybe fish have not yet returned to normal haunts.

North Creek is home to endangered fish and there is tremendous effort underway to protect and restore them. Trout are considered competition and, as I understand it, wildlife officials would actually like to see trout disappear from the stream.

Many people hike from the Subway down to the Left Fork Trailhead. Seeking solitude, I avoided that area and explored farther down the canyon. I went in at Grapevine Trailhead and worked upstream, never seeing another person. The trail into the canyon is steep and rough, and it is hard to move along the stream, but there are some wonderful holes. Remembering how hard the approach was, I choose to escape the canyon by climbing the wall above Grapevine Spring. That was a mistake. I'm still pulling cactus needles from my shins.

Will I fish there again? Probably. I enjoy hiking there and so I might as well take my fly rod. It would be fun to pull a trout out of one of those deep holes.

- Dave