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| Bear Wallow Wilderness |
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| Bear Wallow Wilderness |
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| Bear Wallow Creek |
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| Fish Creek |
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| Meadow at KP Cienega |
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| Colorado Spruce like a Christmas tree farm |
We camped here a couple of times, once in July, 2005 and the second time in June, 2008. On that first trip, We hiked down the headwater branch of KP Creek that starts at the"cienega" near the campground. We got to the main KP Creek (a Blue River tributary) where I had a great time doing some really exciting fishing for (and catching!) Apache trout. I also went to the upper end of Fish Creek and tiny Bear Creek (two tributaries of the Black River) on this same trip but didn't have any luck at either. We hiked in the Bear Wallow Wilderness along Bear Wallow Creek (another Black River tributary) but I don't recall doing any fishing there. We did a bunch of driving around in what was then the largest expanse of ponderosa pine forest anywhere. Much of it got burnt in the massive Bear Wallow Fire in 2011. I've written about the second trip in a previous blog (see "Aker Lake" from July, 2008). It appears from more recent photos that the campground did not get damaged, although the forest nearby lost many spruce, fir and pines. I remember the hummingbirds at the campground host's feeder and the mice scurrying all around the vault toilet. I remember it being damp and cool and worrying about cooking salmon because it might attract bears. I remember feeling like the desert was a thousand miles away when really it was only 40 or so. I remember seeing some smoke in the distance as we wound around good gravel roads and that a stand of trees at the edge of the meadow were already burned during our visit, but it was nothing like the damage that was to come. I remember going to the store at Hannagan Meadow an hour early and then figuring out that Arizona doesn't do daylight savings time. I remember elk and deer in the meadow every evening.
I probably won't ever return. I think I prefer to think about it this area the way it was instead of seeing what it is now, but who knows?
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| KP Cienega Campground |
casting to a pool on KP Creek
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| Aquarium sized trout on the line in the headwater branch |
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| KP Creek |
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| Apache Trout |
Labels: camping, flyfishing, hiking, scenic driving
4 Comments:
Hello, I live in southwest NM in the booth hill, in the town of Animas. Ironically for someone who lives in the desert I enjoy fly fishing. After a trip elk hunting last winter along the blue river in the white mountains of AZ. I keep thinkIng back to the blue river where we camped. We watered our horses and mules out of the river every morning and night I kept thinking there should be some trout in here. Was wondering if you knew if there was any? If not what other streams would you recommend checking out in the white mountains? Thanks
I camped on the Blue River more than 10 years ago. I fished the main river with no luck, but had a nice day catching browns in Lanphier Canyon(a very small tributary of the Blue) on the east side. I also fished the lower end of Grant Creek that trip but it was rushing torrent that spring from an early snow melt, so no luck. In that region I've also fished KP Creek which had very good fishing for Apache Trout at the time. Aker Lake was great for stocked rainbows. I also fished Fish Creek, Bear Wallow Creek with no luck. I may have caught a couple of fish in Bear Creek(a Black River tributary) which was a very small stream but with a strong flow. I fished upper Grant Creek with no luck as well. I may have fished some Black River tributaries on north side as well. Believe it or not the many of the streams in the Chiricahuas used to have trout, but by the time I visited there the first time in 2005 there were only a very few left in Rucker Canyon. Mount Graham has a few streams with trout- notably Grant Creek on the west side. I caught trout there and in Ash Creek on the east side quite a few years ago. Some of the streams have Gila Trout now, but may not be open to fishing. I feel like the Blue River should still have a few trout in the higher elevations, but who knows? With all the fires over there and the now permanent drought, it may be very slim pickings at this point. I have book Arizona Trout by Rex Johnson Jr. that gives very detailed information about the area, however it was published in 1999 and just like many streams in New Mexico conditions have been altered vastly in the last 25 years, and mostly not for the good of the fish or for fishing. You might want to find the book just to give you ideas of places with potential. There's the Little Colorado River, the White River, the Black River and all of their (at one time ) many fishable tributaries. There's still some good streams in the Gila that I can speak more directly too.
Thank you very much for the info. The most challenge part of trout fishing in the desert is finding a stream that actually holds fish. Like you said between the droughts and the fires not very ideal conditions for a trout. I have seen a little information online about Big dry creek which is located near glenwood NM. They say it holds a good Population of brown trout. Might be the next stream I try out.
Are there any other streams in the Gila you would recommend?
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