Currant Creek Fishing Report

Hopefully you are aware, Currant Creek is our favorite fishing spot in the entirety of Utah.  Currant Creek is a small tailwater that flows from Currant Creek Reservoir and converges with Red Creek before that converges with the Strawberry River and then flows into Starvation Reservoir.  

The majority of Currant Creek flows through private property, especially South of Highway 40.  Either way, the best fishing is North of Highway 40, so don’t even concern yourself with getting permission from the Southern landowners.  Even travelling North, the lower reaches occasionally travel through private property, be mindful of where you are fishing.  The further that you travel, the less private property that you’ll encounter.

To get to Currant Creek, travel East on Highway 40 from Heber City for about 40 miles, or West on Highway 40 from Duchesne for about 25 miles.  The turn off is on the North side of the highway, if you’re heading East, it’s at the bottom of a hill and you will see a run-down, closed service station a little bit passed the turn.  If you’re heading West, it’s just passed the run-down, closed service station.  There will be signs marking the turn, but if you’re travelling East, the turn can come upon you with little notice.

The stream follows pretty close to the road, with the exception of a few places, for the entire 14 mile drive to the dam of Currant Creek Reservoir.  The first 8 miles, roughly, of the road is paved until you reach the Nation Forest and then it is a gravel road.  If you continue passed the dam and around the reservoir you’ll find a Forest Service ran (read that as, contracted out) campground that has limited services.  Also, you’ll find USFS roads that will lead you deeper into the Utah forests.  There are many non-designated camps along the creek though if you don’t want to pay the Forest Service fees.  

The landscape through the canyon is a striking example of the greater Utah ecosystem.  The hillsides are lined with scrub oak and sagebrush, beckoning to the harsh, arid environment that the early pioneers found across the state.  However, along the path of the creek is an oasis of lush, green vegetation.  Willows line the bank and a small meadow of green grass spreads out from there for a small distance.  It is this environment that kept the pioneers here!

The dense vegetation along the bank can make it difficult for a lot of back casts and the smaller the rod, most of the time, the better.  Our standard rod for Currant Creek is a 7’6” 3 wt  that handles everything the creek is ready to throw at it.  For Currant Creek, a 9’ 5 wt might just be overkill, and anything over that is definitely akin to taking a Spey rod on the Provo.

The waters above Water Hollow is going to be the best fishing on the stream.  Water Hollow meets up with Currant Creek about 4 miles up the road from the turn off from Highway 40.  Interspersed between Water Hollow and the Reservoir are numerous beaver dams that many of the big fish call home.  You’ll more than likely find wild browns with the occasionally stocked rainbow or native cutthroat in the creek, some reaching more than 16 inches.  

The fish here can be difficult to catch and each fish you catch is worthy of a picture, regardless of it’s size.  Standard midge, mayfly, and caddis patterns work well.  During the late summer and fall ants, hoppers, and beetles work wonders.  Even though the fish can be finicky, if you can get in the middle of a hatch, you can pull six or seven fish from the same hole without putting the rest down.  

While fishing, be prepared, and a bit cautious, you never know what you might run into.  Moose call Currant Creek home and for being as large as they are, are more than capable of hiding in the willows until you stumble upon them.  Mule deer and elk also call the canyon home and will more than likely dot the fields, meadows, and hillsides as you drive to each fishing hole.  There is nothing like listening to a hen mallard quacking from a not too distant beaver pond while the sun begins to set to remind you why you chose the fly rod.

With it’s definitive claim to solitude, Currant Creek should be a stream that everyone hits at least once a year.  Even on the weekend it’s the adventurous fisherman who treks so many miles to possibly get skunked.  Good Luck and Guid Luck!

Welcome!

Welcome to the Currant Creek Fly Company.  Our goal here is to help create a community of fly-fishermen across the nation and the world.  We are located in the highlands of Utah, surrounded by many waters that we love to get on as much as we possibly can.  Therefore, our primary focus is fly-fishing is Utah, however, we are expanding our content and are more than happy to receive submissions from our readers.

From general articles to DIY projects, the content that you'll find is meaningful and applicable to your current fishing adventures.  We will update the site twice a week, on Tuesdays and Thursdays, with new content.  Other than guaranteed updates on Tuesdays and Thursdays we do not have a set update schedule, for example we may update with two fishing reports in a row and the next week we may update with a DIY and then an Ecology article.  We are going to try our best to "spread the love" between the various categories.  But our best advice is to stay tuned and visit every Tuesday and Thursday for new articles.

We have a lot of fun things planned for the future: giveaways, a forum, videos, and a store.  We are excited for the places that Currant creek Fly Company is projected to go.  Once again, welcome and come back often.  As always, Good Luck and Guid Luck!

The Currant Creek Declaration!!

Fly Fishing is one pastime that allows each individual to just disappear from the world, disappear from the cares and concerns, the troubles of life fade into nothing, and we become one with Creation.

Fly Fishing isn't the sport that many view as being pretentious.  It is anything but turgid or bombastic.  In fact it is simple, elegant in it's unencumbered virtue.  Many wish it to be something other than what it is: beautiful, straightforward, and pure.  When we lose ourselves in the rhythm of casting, watching the fly upon the surface film of the water, hoping, and doing it all over again we have lost ourselves to the stream of primal existence.  Tempting each fish to rise to a dry fly rolling down the riffle or take the perfectly drifted nymph is a primal connection that we make with that fish; respect, awe, and deference to one another.  

Fly Fishing is beautiful!  It is beautiful for what it is and not for what others would make of it.  Let us not forget that fact or we have lost our art.  We must forget the pretentious nature that we have assumed upon ourselves and understand that fly fishing is about the connection we make with nature and, to be completely honest, not how tight our loops are when we back cast.  The true fishermen is one who loses themselves in the essence of nature and carries nothing but an old cane rod and one fly tied on, not the one who wears the newest, neatest vest with the newest, lightest rod and gives pride to himself more than the fish he disgraces by catching it.

This is the Currant Creek Declaration...We have lost sight of what Fly-Fishing is and what it does for the soul!  The call to everyone is get out there, forget yourself, and have fun!  

That is the goal here at Currant Creek Fly Company, to get everyone out on their local streams, catching fish and having fun.  We don't care if your casts are a little sloppy, you shouldn't be making ten false casts anyway, and if you think you do, you've watched A River Runs Through It a little too much.  We don't care if you have the newest gear or something that you inherited from your grandfather, as long as you're taking it out and getting lost in nature, we're here to support you.

As you come back, we'll be adding more and more content that is designed to help everyone, both amateur and veteran alike.