Arizona’s Silver Creek Gets Help

Photo: Alan Stark/Flickr

Most anglers are familiar with the infamous Silver Creek in Idaho. It’s a sprawling spring creek tucked against the foothills of the Sawtooth Mountains, home to enormous trout. Fewer anglers know of another Silver Creek, located near Payson, Arizona. This Silver Creek has seen a run of devastating floods that have decimated the existing trout habitat.

But according to an article from the White Mountain Independent, members of the local Payson Flycasters Gila Trout Unlimited chapter, the White Mountain Fly Fishing Club, and staff at the Silver Creek hatchery have come together to restore as much of the creek as currently possible. Major repair work is needed to fully restore the creek back to its former glory, but that work will require significant funding, which the creek is still waiting on.

In the meantime, volunteers have helped restore some streamside vegetation, as well as deepen some pools, to give trout better habitat throughout the warmest months of the year.