City Creek is a quaint, brushy little stream few people know holds trout. It is home to an abundant, yet delicate population of Browns and Cutthroats. The DNR stocks around 60, 4" Cutts monthly during the first part of the year, whereas the browns are self-sustaining. Rico and Bow frequent the area in Memory Grove Park and at the entrance of City Creek Canyon. Over the past year and a half there has been much reconstruction of the creek to control flooding. This (not surprisingly) had an adverse effect on the trout. Large amounts of silt from up heaving the stream bed killed many aquatic insects and flora. Slowly, the wash down from upstream re-established a fair amount of midges, caddis, worms, mayflies and a few stones. The resident beaver has also managed to survive in spite of the intrusion. In Bow's four years of fishing, small black nymphs consistently produce, dead drifted or emerged. During the summer, fish go Rambo over Wullfs and Licorice Ants. Much of City is narrow and tight, making bow and arrow casts the only option. The fish are also surprisingly wary of human presence, making every 6 incher feel like an accomplishment. The final aspect of City creek requires the most patience. Being so close to downtown, the creek gets a lot of attention from mountain bikers, dog owners, and fair weather fisherman. Most mountain bikers respect your presence and wont wash off while you're fishing. Dog owners will often have their loved ones off-leash, and dogs to water is inevitable. Other fisherman generally give a wide birth, waiting until you are done. However, there are always those days where you'll be crouched behind a bush when someone with a red, Hills Brothers coffee can full of worms comes up and chucks out five feet from you. After catching five, "with enough extra to feed these two to my cat" he chuckles and casts out again, not realizing how he has affected the stream. And despite how badly you want to catch that gentlemen in the nose and release him off a precipice, you smile and walk away. These frustrations are all part of fishing within city limits of a metropolis such as Salt Lake. Overall, if you enjoy catching energetic fish, and don't mind other people, City Creek is a nice retreat close to home.
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