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Johnson Creek

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Well I have to admit I was skeptical... a brown trout fishery in Wayne county, come on!  I had heard the reports and decided to check it out.  Thanks to the long hours of work put in by the Johnson Creek Protection Group, and others it's true!

The creek's headwaters start out in Washtenaw County near Salem, and it picks up speed as it moves into Wayne County.  It picks up spring fed water along the way cooling it enough to support trout.  The MDNR has been planting trout there for the last several years.  There are hold-overs from year to year as I have seen some monsters in some of the holes first hand.

 

This is the same section of creek after big rain.  This is why the Johnson Creek Protection Group needs your help.  Over-development of the area without proper flood control and silt barriers leads to a floodwaters that looks like light coffee.  I am surprised any trout could live through such a disaster.

Recent heavy development along the creek threatens to was the water and fill it with silt.  Hopefully this can be controlled.  Please join the Johnson Creek Protection Group if you care about the future of this potentially great fishery.  Hopefully a Trout Unlimited Chapter can be set up to help care for and fund stream improvements as well.

Below is a more serene night on the creek with a nice mist in the air.

There has been a lot written about this creek and efforts to protect it in local newspapers.  The map below came from a Detroit News article about the creek.    Pulte Homes did a nice stream improvement project in the upper portion of the creek last year.  I walked this section of creek 5/18/07 and while it looks promising, I'm not certain there is enough cool water up in this section of the creek to support a local trout population.  There is a whole lot of silt and sand up in this area as well.



Join in on this discussion about this river and either post or read about it here.