There was a time, not too long ago, when a father would hesitate to teach his child to fish on the Mill Creek. Thirty years ago the water would have been too polluted to fish in and besides, there was not much life in the stream. Years of industrial degradation and misuse of the creek created a habitat that was, well, uninhabitable!
But today, a father can take his child to the creek and teach him to fish. Together they will find plenty of large mouth bass, hybrid striped bass, fresh water drum, bluegill, pumpkinseed sunfish, catfish, and carp.
Its also possible that on the Mill Creek, they might find turtles, beaver, osprey and great blue herons.
This summer, we checked in with Andy Suthoff, a Maketewah Angler who said, “I've seen more smallmouth bass this year in the Mill Creek than in past seasons. Smallmouth are a key indicator fish for water quality, so it's reassuring to see this species present in the urban waterway.”
Recently, Andy made an unexpected catch on the Mill Creek. “Today I caught a "new" species on my lunch break and named it the Mill Creek Walleye. I don't think we've officially documented walleye in the creek yet. What this fish lacks in size, it makes up for in novelty. “
As the creek has gotten cleaner and more of the low head dams have been removed, the stream habitat has gotten healthier and more and more species are returning. Ultimately, we hope the Mill Creek will be clean enough so you can catch your fish and eat it too*!
(*For now, the water is not quite clean enough to eat the fish caught in the creek. Patience!)