The North Fork of the Feather River was absolutely hammered by rockslides this year. The Feather River canyon was closed the majority of the year and each time it reopened it was closed a week or two later due to more rockslides. This most recent reopening in the beginning of May has been the longest the Feather River canyon has been opened this year.
Construction is now underway on repairing HWY 70 through the canyon and there are 5 stops before getting to the Greenville Wye: 1. Short light near Scooters 2. Major construction at Cresta Rest Stop 3. Major construction at Rock Creek Dam 4. Major construction at near Twain 5. Moderate construction near Greenville Wye. The construction is be completed by 2025.
I’ve explored about 75% of the special regulation section between Belden and Cresta Powerhouse and have been itching to fish the remaining 25%. There’s a lot of good water in this section and finding where the money spots are is tons of fun. The flows below Rock Creek dam were at 470 CFS making it safe to explore.
The rainbow trout found in the North Fork are wild descendants of steelhead and share many traits with their ocean-run counterparts. A good North Fork rainbow trout specimen is hard pulling, high jumping, and shaped like a football. Living in the North Fork of the Feather is not an easy task, massive flows, warm summer temperatures, and ravaged by multiple fires, these trout have adapted to all these conditions and continue to thrive.
The fishing on the North Fork of the Feather was great, quality over quantity. The fishing wasn’t too difficult but it did take a lot of effort to find the fish. Fishy spots will hold fish most of the time but the fish density is relatively low. I explored more of the Tobin area and found that although there were some good fish to be caught in the plunge and pocket pools the juice wasn’t worth the squeeze. I feel like I’m pretty good at boulder hopping but even this area was a bit too much for me. The giant granite rocks are slippery and the deep pools look like they can easily drown a person. This section is not for the faint of heart and I personally won’t be fishing it anymore in the future.
