Baum Lake, Hat Creek, Pit River

Fish Camping Party At Cassel Campground

by Matt

This year has been another high water year which has put a hamper down on my outings. The Yuba River hasn’t come down since February and it seems like every time I have the opportunity to fish the weather doesn’t cooperate. I’ve been spending most of the year fixing up the house, reefing, and taking care of my kids during my days off. The few times I’ve been out to wet the line I didn’t feel like I was missing out on much. Now that summer is here and the spring runoff is on it’s way out I can finally get some real adventures in.

My cousins from Fresno who also like to fish were getting the itch to get into some real fishing as well so we planned a two day overnight trip to Burney. Being from the Central Valley they find themselves limited in their choices on where they can fish so I was hoping this trip would be one to remember. This would be their first time venturing up north and with my knowledge of the area we were going to fish the hell out of it.

We had planned to fish Baum Lake for the majority of the stay but kept open the option of visiting Hat Creek or the Pit River if Baum Lake wasn’t fishing well. We made camp at Cassel Campground which is the best campground to use as a homebase for fishing the area. The mosquitoes were out in full force this trip and we all ended up getting over 15 bites despite smelling like DEET the entire trip. The weather was nice but I didn’t pack enough blankets. The lows got down to about 50 degrees which woke my brother and I up at 3am and left us unable to sleep comfortably the rest of the first night. We made an impromptu trip to Burney Sporting Goods the following day for some nice fleece blankets and slept fine the next night. The campground host was a bit overbearing but I did appreciate him taking his job seriously. Overall the camping itself was fine.

After setting up camp we geared up and headed out to Baum Lake to do some fishing. We were all on the water at around 3:30pm. My brother and I were in the Seaeagle Stealth Stalker and my cousins were in float tubes. Baum Lake is usually a bit slow from about noon to 4pm so I told everyone not to expect stellar fishing until a few hours. My brother and I floated down to the dam switching between the two of us who was fishing and rowing. We caught a few fish along the way but nothing the quality that I usually find. I worked the deep channels that we discovered and I was surprised to find little to no action in the areas where the fish would usually hold. We all met back up at around 6pm and shared our reports. Everyone had caught fish but they were all in the 10″ range. I told everyone that this was a bit unusual as the fish are usually bigger and hopefully we will catch some nicer fish tomorrow morning.

My cousins kept a few of the fish they caught and we cooked them at the campground. We all forgot to bring salt and pepper and I recommended that they season it with the ramen that they had packed. Some of the best camping meals I’ve had have been improvised with random ingredients pieced together. The fish turned out great.

The following morning we were out on Baum Lake at 7:30am. There were already a few people fishing before us and as the day progressed I had never seen so many cars in the parking lot at Baum Lake. I was in a float tube this time and was working a stretch that I always had luck at. I was nymphing my typical Baum Lake rig; a pheasant tail with a zebra midge dropper. I caught two small fish and at around 9am I started noticing fish rising all throughout the lake. I could tell by the rises that these weren’t very big fish and tried to ignore them but my nymphs didn’t seem to be working anymore. The fish were rising for a trico spinner fall. I reluctantly switched to a dry fly and caught a few more fish before the rising slowed down at around 11:00am. We met back up at the the parking lot at 12pm and shared our reports. Again we all caught fish but no one had caught anything exceptional.

We packed up and went back to camp to have lunch. I suggested we check out the Pit River for better quality fishing. The Pit River in my opinion takes a different mind and gear set to fish safely and successfully and we did not come prepared.

The Pit River was flowing at 340 CFS below Lake Britton. We were on the Pit at 3pm and fished at Ruling Creek access. The Ruling Creek access is probably the easiest access on Pit 3 as it is right along the road. We didn’t have wading staffs so we grabbed the best sticks we could find. The Pit always fishes well and I was catching fish left and right. The fish were much more quality than the Baum Lake stockies that we were catching but as the Pit dictates it was a pain to get around the river.

As we made our way around the Pit I hooked a nice fish that was using the current to try and break me off. I made the mistake of following it downstream to try and land it and during the chase through slippery boulders and rough current the stick that I was using as a wading staff broke. I ended up on a small island about 20 feet away from the bank. The fish eventually broke me off and as looked around to get an idea of where I was a sense of dread hit me. On both sides of the island I was standing on were rapids too dangerous to try to cross and they both emptied into a deep pool below. I tried to walk upstream a few times to backtrack but without a wading staff I couldn’t get good footing without slipping. I was stuck.

I flagged down my brother and told him about the situation. They tried to float down a new stick several times but the current wasn’t working in our favor. I told them to drive back to the campsite and grab a rope that we were planning to use as an anchor rope for Baum Lake. I kept calm by fishing the spot I was stuck in while waiting for my brother and cousin to return. After hooking several nice fish and sitting around contemplating my life my brother and cousin finally made it back. The plan was to tie a rope around myself and tie the other end to a tree to have them pull me in case I slip. Unfortunately the rope that I had asked them to retrieve was too short to reach me. I thought at that point maybe my fly line would work. My cousin had the idea of throwing me a new stick while tied to the end of my fly line so that I would be able to pull it in if it doesn’t float near me. This idea worked and I had a wading staff to work with while I tried to make my way back.

I had been reading the water for a long time after my brother and cousin left. There was a tailout that I was planning on walking across to get back to the bank. The danger zone was in between a rock that split the current one way into the deep pool and one way to the bank. I had to at bare minimum make it past that rock. I tied the fly line to myself and told everyone the plan. I got into the Pit and slowly made my way towards the bank. The new wading stick was a tremendous help and I made it 90% of the way before I lost my footing as they grabbed my hand to lift me when I was near the bank. After a bit of a struggle fighting the drop of the tailout they were able to pull me onto the bank. We all let out a sigh of relief and agreed that that was enough adventure for the day.

We fished Hat Creek one evening and it wasn’t as great as I had hoped it would be. We first started around at the powerhouse and I was able to hook a good +18″ fish that broke me off. A PMD hatch happened at Carbon Flat but we only had about 20 minutes before it got too dark. I rose and hooked a few fish but didn’t land any.

The last day of our trip we fished Baum Lake for a third time with the mindset of limiting out fish to take home. I fished from a float tube and worked my way from the Crystal Lake outlet all the way down to the fallen trees. I didn’t hook a single fish on my nymphs and another trico spinner fall started at around 9:45am. I switched to a dry fly, limited out with my five, and kicked my way back to the parking lot. In total we caught 12 trout that morning to take back home. Unfortunately for a third time none of us hooked into any thing big although I did see a few large trout hanging out in the deep channels.

The fishing overall was good, everyone caught fish but it was a quantity over quality trip this time around. I learned my lesson on the Pit River that in the future I won’t go without a wading staff and will consider wearing a life vest for extra insurance. We all had a good time and hopefully we can all make another trip in the future.

McCloud River

On The McCloud

by Matt

The McCloud River is perhaps the most famous fly fishing river in California. The McCloud is renown for being one of the most magnificent streams in the state as well as being home to the world famous McCloud River strain of rainbow trout. The McCloud’s rainbow trout have been stocked all over the world such as Jurassic Lake and New Zealand where they have been known to grow into monster sizes. I’ve spent several years exploring and fishing many of California’s best fly fishing streams and the McCloud has always been towards the end of my list of places to check out. The Lower McCloud is notoriously known to be difficult to access due to very rough road conditions in addition to being quite literally in the middle of nowhere. After previous plans fell through I decided to finally make my attempt to traverse through the road from hell to fish the most holiest of rivers.

My original plan for my annual fall trip was to bikecamp and fish Kirman Lake. I had been keeping an eye on the weather hoping that it would hold but a few days before my trip there was a forecast of a 20 degree drop within two days and a day later there was a winter weather advisory for the area. I had yet to field test my new sleeping bag, a Nemo Disco 15, and I didn’t want to try in below freezing temperatures. Instead I started looking up north for better weather and settled for the McCloud.

Last year around this time of year the McCloud experienced higher than normal temperatures which led to a glacial melt creating turbid conditions. This year appears to be the opposite with cooler temperatures coming earlier however there was a period in early September where the river blew out for a few weeks. There is a gauge on the Lower McCloud that measures turbidity that can be a helpful tool in determining on whether or not it would be a good place to make a trip to. I’ve read that anything within 1-3 is normal and anything between 5-10 can appear as dirty. There was a cold front that passed through before my trip but thankfully it didn’t raise the turbidity too much. On the day I left I was looking at 2-3 in turbidity and felt confident that this would be a good trip.

On the way to Ah-Di-Na I stopped by The Fly Shop in Redding to grab some flies and gather some intel. The fishing report was good and I was happy to hear that I would be in for a good time. The dirt road to Ah-Di-Na at the turn off from McCloud is about four miles. The road for the first mile and a half was in fairly good condition and I was hoping that it would stay the same the rest of the way however once I hit the last three miles I had found what the USFS considered “very rough” road conditions. The very rough road conditions were sections of the road where the road turned into rocks. Some of the rocks looked jagged so I took it slow in these sections. I didn’t bottom out but I held my breath hoping that I wouldn’t hit anything sharp. I also found out that road to the McCloud River Preserve from Ah-Di-Na doesn’t get any better. The road to the McCloud River is definitely top contender for being one of the worst roads I’ve ever driven on. I believe the road requires a mini-SUV at minimum. Trucks and full-size SUVs I wouldn’t worry at all about getting down there. It’s a rough road for sure but it’s not too bad. Take it slow, pay attention, keep calm, and you’ll most likely be fine.

I made camp at Ah-Di-Na and started exploring after setting up camp. I fished upstream from the campground and finally set foot in what many would consider the most beautiful trout stream in California. The water was a beautiful chalky blue and bank was a mix of various riparian plants in fall colors of yellows, browns, and greens. The umbrella plants that were all over the river stood out the most as the huge leaves grew up and into the river. The McCloud River is truly a beautiful one-of-a-kind river. The only con that I found about the river was that the wading was a bit challenging due to deep holes and algae covered snot rocks. If I had known this I would have brought my wading staff. My feet and legs got banged up pretty bad and I slipped a couple of times trying to feel my way through the water. It was zero fun trying to get around out there.

The McCloud River is suppose to be a technical fishery where presentation is critical to your success. I found the river fairly easy to fish however it did seem like 90% of the fish were in 10% of the water. The fish were taking a variety of flies but I did my best with a rubberleg stone and a small BWO type nymph on a dropper. The fish were holding in very key parts of the river. On this trip the fish were in deeper runs behind boulders and in the pools above tailouts. A lot of good fishy water didn’t hold any fish for some reason which was sort of disappointing. Most fish were in the 12″ range with a few in the 16-18″ range.

My original plan was to hike upstream to Ash Camp via the PCT and fish along the way however as I made my way upstream to the bend of Ah-Di-Na I saw how steep the river became and opted out on that plan. Instead the following morning I would wake up early and fish the McCloud River Preserve.

After a decent nights sleep I made my way to the McCloud River Preserve at around 7:30am and was the first tag of the day. The McCloud River Preserve has ten total tags: five tags that are designated as first-come first-serve and five tags that are reserved which then become first-come first-serve after 10am. There is a log-in sheet near the entrance where you can sign in and grab your tag. Once signed in with tag in hand you are then free to explore the preserve until dark. I found the Ah-Di-Na section of the river to be a bit gradient which made the fishing a bit tough since the fish weren’t holding in the pools. The McCloud River Preserve and the area just before it was a bit more flat which helped create longer pools where, in theory, fish should be. My experience in the McCloud River Preserve was similar to the Ah-Di-Na section. 90% of the fish were stacked in similar water making the fishing a bit boring once you knew what to look for. A lot of beautiful fishy water had to be overlooked because the fish just weren’t there.

A disappointing fact about the McCloud River that I learned was that although it is heavily advertised throughout the internet as a big brown trout river in reality brown trout only make up 4% of the species caught. The guides that fish the river regularly probably know the holes where these fish hold but most angler will probably never hook a brown trout on the Lower McCloud.

I fished the McCloud River Preserve for about 7 hours and made it about 2/3rds of the way in before calling it a day. I had planned on staying another night but there was nothing on the McCloud to keep me from leaving. Once you’ve seen a section of the river you’ve kind of seen it all. I packed out in the afternoon and had my heart set on Hat Creek for a possible evening hatch.

The road out of Ah-Di-Na is worse getting out than it is in. It took about 45 – 50mins to scramble out of the canyon back onto the turn off. I’ve never been so happy to see a paved road in my life. I probably wore out a few hundred miles on my new tires getting in and out of the McCloud. My overall thoughts on the McCloud River is that it’s somewhat overrated. The water and surrounding area is better looking in pictures than in person, the wading is a pain, and the fishing is average. It’s definitely a river that everyone should experience at least once however other than that I can name a handful of places around that area that offers easier access and better fishing.

I got to Hat Creek about an hour before sunset and hoped that the overcast that had been looming above would trigger a good hatch all the way up to the evening. It turns out I didn’t get lucky this time and around and only caught a weak and sporadic hatch of PMDs. I set out to Carbon Flat were I proudly rose up a few small trout and swung up what felt like a monster fish that I quickly lost on a caddis emerger. I debated on staying another night but was ultimately fished out and called it a trip.

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Keep Calm and Fly Fish™