Drained Hobble Creek

[Jacksonman]

Yesterday I took my daughter and my dog to play in Hobble Creek up the canyon below the golf course for the second time this week. The first time it was running just fine, albeit low, with lots of fish.

To my dismay, yesterday the river bed was bone dry in most spots and a few small pockets of water. When we got down to the water, there were dead brown trout everywhere!! Several of them were the larger 16-20" fish, with even more of the 8-15" fish. The part is that there were thousands of little dead browns everywhere (2-4").

I am sure they diverted the water either to irrigation ditches or elsewhere, but this large stretch of river has been killed and the resource of the naturally producing browns destroyed. It really is too bad that they couldn't have netted up many of these fish and transported them somewhere, to a put and take fishery at the least or some other body of water (SF or DF river or their tributaries).

Anyways, hard to walk along this once beautiful stretch of river and see nothing but dead browns everywhere.
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[bowhunter3]

That just sucks. I like that little stream. I witnessed the same type of thing at Lost Lake in the Uintas a few years back. They were draining it, as all the water was pretty much gone, there were probably 200-300 trout in a maybe 10'x10' cement area beneath the dam. My brother and I had a blast catching a ton of fish, and throwing them back in (seeing how big of ones we could get). There were some 17-18" rainbows, and some pretty nice 15-16" brookies in there. All you needed was a single salmon egg on a hook. Anyways, we went back the next weekend and couldn't hardly walk up to it. Dead fish everywhere, and it smelled horrid.
I thought the same thing about these fish, wish they could have netted them up and took them somewhere. Hell Lily Lake and Teapot are right arcoss the street.
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[1sthound]

Forsyth is dry also, hopefully they (the fish) escaped into Mill Meadow
so much for my perching plans for vacation next week!
good fishing
Ken
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[Southpaw]

That sucks, I've caught some really good fish in that area in the past, when i hear that all those fish I've released over the years have died due to poor water management is a direct kick to the.... Well not much ya can do, thanks for the heads up Jacksonman.
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[bigfish6]

Thats a dang shame, i remember catching some nice sized fish there when i was a kid and even my wife caught some last year while we were deer hunting up there,of course that was farther up than where you were fishing but its to here all those fish died!!
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[riverdog]

Central Utah Water Project has had some major maintenance on that has impacted 6th Water and Diamond Fork tremendously this year. It hasn't been detrimental to the fish just anglers wanting to fish. I know Hobble is allocated water threw CUWP as well but I'm not familiar with how it works there. It might be a result of work on the system with CUWP. I wouldn't worry too much. All of those small streams from Hobble down to Thistle are among the most productive stream per CFS as you'll ever find anywhere. It'll bounce back fast once things are stabilized.
The folks at CUWD replied quickly to my questions earlier this summer. Let me know if you want a contact email to inquire?
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[doggonefishin]

Thanks for reporting this. Hobble Creek runs about 1/4 block from my house (In Springville) and I went over there with the fly rod after work and dinner. The flow was about average but a bit muddy for this time of year. I'm happy to report that the fish in town appear well, as I quickly caught a feisty little brown before losing my fly and heading back.

Hopefully, the damage upstream is localized and recovery is quick. Let us know if you find out what happened up there.
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[RyanCreek]

Hey Jacksonman... that is bad news. Hobble Creek Reservoir was really where I learned how to fish when I was about 12 years old. I started getting into fishing with my friends and younger brother and that's where it all started. Fond memories of that place.
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[CoyoteSpinner]

Wonder if they knew they'd be draining it - if they might have lifted limits, and encouranged anglers to have their take or then some. Seems a shame to waste fish. Seen similar along Springcreek - after last springs floods - we were still recoverying from the floods, and they'd dried up the flow. There were some pools I saw some nice looking browns, but they seemed potential for lockout, or dry-up and even though the roadway has been repaired (ready for the 100 year flood flows) the river hasn't been opened up this summer.

Hopefully most of the fish found their way downstream into wetter pastures.
"we" do control the waters in SO many ways. It's tough to face, but clearly many of our reservoirs etc are THERE for agriculture. The play squad and anglers are a bonus, but no the driving force...

[Jacksonman]

The thing is that a very minimal flow would have kept thousands of fish alive.

Or if the flow had to be stopped completely, net all these fish and throw them into a community fishery or to a place like Deer Creek or Jordanelle or even Scofield. We spend thousands raising fish in hatcherys while letting thousands of natural fish die. Ironic.
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[gstott]

That sucks. I spent a lot of my high school and young adult years exploring that area. Along with Diamond Fork, it's where I learned to fly fish. I was always impressed with how many nice browns were hiding in those log jams. What a waste.
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[LOAH]

That's too bad! It sucks to have a massive fish kill, but at least there will be less competition for food, once the water returns.

Fish from upstream or downstream will find their way into that area and grow quickly.

Still unfortunate though.
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[fishmasterjoe]

That sux they let it go dry. I caught my first fish in hobble creek, and that pond is a great one for an easy fish.. I hope they stock it back up with more than 6 inchers.. What a waste...
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