After catching my first coastal cutthroat trout near the California North Coast it was time to move forward with catching my last two native trout for the California Heritage Trout Challenge. The next species that I targeted was the Warner Lakes Redband Trout. Although the majority of their native range can be found in Oregon the Warner Lakes Redband can be found in a several small streams within a few miles of the California-Oregon border.
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| Into The Mountains |
Dismal Creek is one of the most well-known places to try and capture a Warner Lakes Redband. This small piece of water is well-documented to have a self-sustaining population of Warner Lakes Redbands that many anglers have caught, photographed, and submitted for the California Heritage Trout Challenge. The only problem I had was that it was on the exact opposite side of the where I was in California.
The drive to Dismal Creek all the way in Modoc County from Patrick Creek took a little under six hours. The drive was a bit grueling due to the not-so-scenic agricultural lands and high desert landscape however I did pass by several lakes and streams that looked interesting, most notably Upper Klamath Lake and the Sprague River.
Once I made it back into California and passed the town of New Pine Creek I knew I was near my destination. The dirt road that took me into the mountains was in fair condition and I arrived at Dismal Creek within 30 minutes.
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| Dismal Valley |
Dismal Creek is located at nearly 7,000ft elevation and sits on top of a valley full of grazing cows. There wasn’t a single soul out there and I didn’t see much reason for anyone to visit such a remote place with the exception of fishing for native heritage trout. My first impression of Dismal Creek was, “Do fish live here?” The creek was only two feet wide at most and had flooded runs, deep undercuts, and shallow pools. I parked next to the creek and scouted it out to see if I could find any fish. The first thing I saw in a deep undercut was a small trout. “Holy crap there are fish here.”
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| Dismal Creek |
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| Tiny Stream |
I continued scouting for better pools to target and found a nice trout right in-between two overhanging bushes. I saw several trout darting back and forth and started to undo my dry fly. Casting into the pool required pin point accuracy which made the fishing quite challenging. I managed to get a good cast and waited for the fish to respond. I was expecting a quick grab however I had to retrieve and twitch my dry a few times to solicit a take. After a few seconds of fight into the net was my first Warner Lakes Redband.
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| Warner Lakes Redband |
With my native trout challenge completed I continued to explore Dismal Creek. The fish were all very spooky which made sight casting for them near impossible. As soon as they spooked into cover there was no way of making them come back out again. There was an abundance of fish in this small ditch of a creek which truly amazed me. After I caught a few more fish I decided to call it quits and head out to my final destination.
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| Flooded Streams |
Hey great post and I enjoy the feeds about the Heritage Trout Challenge, I'm actually trying to do the same. I had a question about the road to get to Dismal, do you think a low clearance vehicle could make it or is it more 4WD recommended? I'm going to be up that way for a few days to see some family and might try to sneak away for a day if I can to get this fish! Thank you!
A low clearance vehicle should be fine. For perspective I drove my CRV and did absolutely fine. There were a few narrow spots and spots were water runoff created a dip but other than that no real potholes or bumps.
I would caution that it may or may not be to early to get up there though due to possible snow. Cave Lake Campground which is nearby is open so you may be good to go.
Great article. Planning to head to Dismal Creek summer 2024. Any chance you could say the time of year you visited there. I see your article has an August date but wasn’t sure that was when you fished. Thanks
This was the first week of August 2018. Water is probably looking great up there this summer. Good luck!
Hey good article and congrats! I am going to be heading up there this weekend and was wondering what pattern/size of dries worked for you?
I used simple flies like pheasant tail, bwo patterns, and adams if I remember correctly. These fish probably haven’t seen many flies before so they aren’t too picky. They were stacked in the pools but they were also super spooky.
Hey Ben I just got back tonight from my trip up to dismal and lassen creek. Road up to dismal was a little rough and tight in spots but doable in a truck or something with a little raise. The creek was super over grown and deeper holding pools were hard to find. Wind made casting the fly rather challenging while I was there.. I was with a group of 4 other friends doing the challenge as well and only me and one other caught one. After tangling multiple flies in brush we ended up throwing on a pearl white 1/80th oz tube jig and finally got a take. About a quarter mile or less north off the road when you get to the swamps is where I got mine and my buddy got his south of the county road shortly past the drainage tunnel walking with the jig down stream. I didn’t arrive until late afternoon but that was by far one of the toughest creeks I’ve ever fished.
Also, if you’re shooting for the goose lake redband I had fast luck above the campground with a dry dropper throwing many different dries and nymphs.
Good luck up there and tight lines!