Thistle creek??

[slimerslayer]

When I was driving to Huntington Res the other day I noticed a nice looking little creek along Hwy 89 just above the old Thistle slide area.Is this called Thistle creek?? I noticed access ladders across the fence so I assume us commoners can fish it.Has anyone fished this creek before and if so what type of trout are in it....hows the fishin etc??? Just looks like a nice spot to drift a fly through.Anybody know??
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[GotFish]

Slimer,

Fished there a few years didnt get up ther last year [crazy] It is a decent little creek to fish. I have always done better with drys up there ussally some sort of atractor pattern. The fish range is size form micro to the 15 in(largest i have seen or heard of being pulled up anyway.)Mostly brook trout with a splash of others. Averge fish was 6-8 in- nice way to spend a day espically on light tackle. There are guys who bait fish so there might be bigger one in the deeper holes. Tend to stay away from others when i am fly fishing.
Anyway just my previous exprince dont fish it alot lot.


Also late summer the flow can get very slow.
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[ScottyP]

I didn't know there are brookies in thistle. All the reports I've heard of the place talk about a healthy brown trout population that take dries eagerly.
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[cat_man]

I've never fished it, but I mean to do so this year. I moved to Payson last year and it's not too far from here. From reports I've heard it's full of trout -- overpopulated mind you. Which means potential fast action but small fish. It's full of browns, not brookies, if I'm not mistaken. Never heard of any brookies caught out of there. I wouldn't be surprised if it had a few rainbows planted by the DWR as well.

Small spinners would work well with spinning gear.
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[GotFish]

You are corect they are brown's. I need to proof read my post better [crazy][pirate][unsure]. I think the over population helps lead to the small fish but it could also do with the water fluction later in summer but this might not be the case. Does anyone no for sure.
And we have pulled a few bows out but not many and always small.
They do easly take a fly on the surface. Also forgot to mention the tree trout on a lot of streches of this creek they are big and plentful.[angelic]
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[riverdog]

Thistle Creek's Brown trout are usually a yellowish brown color and that confuses some. If you want to target the small fish use dries. I find to consistently do well on both Thistle and Diamond Fork you need to spend most of your time nymphing. This past year the fish I caught out of Thistle were mostly 12 to 18 inches long and fish under 10 inches quite uncommon. I caught a few 19 & 20 inch fish as well. The fish are quite skinny however. I would strongly recommend catch and release because its such a small creek and you'll commonly catch your limit in the first 10 minutes if your keeping fish anyway.
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[cat_man]

I disagree. If the fish are all so skinny it means there is not enough food to go around, and they should be thinned out some. I would recommend keeping the smallest and/or skinniest ones you catch for the table.
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[ScottyP]

You got it right cat man. Lots of little fish or less fish that go bigger and healthier. Streams like thistle have a pretty set amount of biomass to go around. As the numbers of fish go down, the size goes up. Harvest the pan sized ones and leave the mature spawner sized fish in there to do their 'thang'.

BTW cat man-- that's a nice DC smallie in your photo gallery. I've picked a few up in that same spot[]
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[cat_man]

Thanks!. Ya, depending on the year of course, that end is either high and dry and 1/4 - 1/2 mile from the water's edge (low water years), or like last year (and hopefully this year too), a nursery for smallies, perch and largemouth bass, and even a few green sunfish. I've heard the walleyes head into there (i assume more at night than in the day) to feed in the weeds, but earlyin the morning there are some big smallies that pass through too, as well as some bucketmouths that spawn and hunt in there.

When the water is lower, I like the "island" (peninsula at that point) best for big smallies and largies. That's where the pic with the bucketmouth was taken.

I'm working on building a better home page in my free time, and when it's ready, I'll put it up somewhere that hosts for free, but not on geocities.

Later. Kevin
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