Fly Fishing Huntington Creek - Electric Lake to Engineer Canyon

Overview

Huntington Creek below Electric Lake drops through a high Wasatch Plateau canyon to the Flood Canyon and Engineer Canyon confluences. The dam-fed creek mixes willow-lined grassy runs with cobble riffles, boulder pockets, and pools beneath spruce and aspen slopes. Short casts and careful drifts suit the narrow water; undercut edges and downed timber call for attention to the slower seam beside the main current.

Side-canyon snowmelt can change the creek's color and pace in spring. Summer brings caddis, small mayflies, and terrestrials to the surface, while autumn cooling shifts the emphasis toward blue-winged olives and small streamers along the banks. Approach low from downstream and give each pocket a few deliberate drifts before moving on.

Reading the canyon water

The banks are a mix of willow, spruce and aspen, with open grassy benches where the canyon widens. Riffles and plunge pockets alternate with short glassy runs. Read the pocket in front of you rather than casting past it: keep the rod tip high to lift line off the faster currents and let the fly travel through the softer seam. Undercut edges, downed timber, and pool heads offer different drifts, so adjust your position before changing flies.

Because the creek is small and clear, approach from downstream, stay low, and fish each pocket with a couple of good drifts before moving on rather than flogging one run. A size 14 or 16 dry on a fine tippet suits the rising fish; in deeper runs, a nymph or small streamer lets you work beneath the surface.

Hatches and flies

Caddis are a workhorse insect from early summer through fall, and an Elk Hair Caddis in size 14 or 16 is a useful starting point. Summer brings pale morning duns and other small mayflies to the afternoons, and a parachute-style PMD in size 16 covers them, with a small Parachute Adams as a backup when the hatch is unclear. Spring baetis show on cloudy afternoons, and blue-winged olives return with the cooler weather of fall, when a size 18 or 20 olive dry on a long fine tippet suits the slower runs. Yellow sallies and small golden stones flutter along the canyon in midsummer; a small yellow Stimulator fits those hatches.

The grassy benches and aspen edges give hoppers, ants, and beetles a place in the late-summer fly box. A foam hopper with a beadhead dropper covers surface and subsurface presentations. A Pheasant Tail or Hare's Ear in size 16 or 18, a small Prince Nymph, and a caddis pupa cover the water between rises, while a Zebra Midge under an indicator offers a cold-morning option. Carry a few small olive or black Woolly Buggers and sculpin patterns in size 8 or 10, and work them tight to the banks as the light fades.

Season and water changes

The fishing calendar follows both reservoir releases and plateau snowmelt. Side canyons can add colored water in spring, and releases can increase as the reservoir fills. As summer water clears, watch for afternoon and evening caddis and mayflies, then turn to terrestrials along the grassy banks in late summer.

Autumn brings lower, clearer water and opportunities for smaller baetis dries on overcast days. Streamers offer another way to work the deeper runs when surface activity slows. The high canyon cools quickly, and snow and ice can shorten the fishing season.