Monday, May 21, 2012

Little Creek-Gila Wilderness



 I think I've fished Little Creek four times: twice in the spring and twice in the fall. The first outing I caught three small fish,but I was nonetheless elated because these were my very first brown trout. The next time out was one of my biggest days  in the Gila.  Somewhere between 12-15 browns came to hand that day including one skinny one that was at least 18 inches or so.That one was caught in a narrow run through some bedrock that couldn't have been more than 2 feet wide, which made its size all the more preposterous. The next trip yielded a single trout. The last visit, the water was low and warm and all I saw were suckers and shiners for most of the day and what I caught was nothing. I did see a few Gila trout right before I turned around in a particularly claustrophobic, boxed in, overgrown section of the stream.
There isn't any official trail on Little Creek and use trails kind of come and go, but you can't get lost: there's nowhere to go but the stream bottom in this canyon that almost immediately "boxes up" soon after you begin hiking from NM 15. I've only met one couple on one of my trips. They were surprised as are most of the very few people I've met while fishing, that there would be any fish worth catching in this very small creek.Each time, after finishing my day at Little Creek, I've tried my luck in the stretch  West Fork of the Gila(where Little Creek empties ) up and down for a 1/2 mile or so from the Little Creek bridge, but never with any success, no bites, no sightings, nothing. Note: At some point further upstream than I've ever been there is a fish barrier. This indicates the beginning of the Gila Trout water and the end of the legal fishing.



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