Butt Lake, Hex, Middle Fork Feather River

Butt Lake Hex & Middle Fork of the Feather River

by Matt
Butt Lake

I’ve read and heard that the hex hatch happens on Butt Lake about two weeks before it starts on Lake Almanor. Prior to heading out I checked to see if there was an updated fishing report on the area from Lake Almanor Fly Fishing and to my surprise the report read that the hex hatch was beginning to happen. This would probably be my only chance this year to fish the hex hatch so I decided to give it a shot despite not exactly know what I’d find.

There are a few things that make me favor the hex hatch on Butt Lake versus Lake Almanor and tranquility is one of them. The most inconvenient aspect of fishing Butt Lake’s hex hatch is the long dirt road to get to the dam where the hatch happens. The road is well-maintained however it is made of red clay dirt which gets everything dirty. There is also no official launch site which means you’re going to have to carry your floating device down to the lake.

I arrived at the lake around 6:30pm and started fishing shortly after setting up all my gear. I noticed a few hex shucks in the water but not a whole lot. I used a Teeny 200 sink tip line that got the job done the last time however I wasn’t able to hook any fish before the hex hatch started.

The hatch started at around 8:45pm after sunset. It was a very poor hatch that lasted about three minutes; I probably saw a total of twenty duns. The fish that were targeting the hex where only eating dries and they stopped soon after I was able to switch between my rods. The lack of hatch activity was possibly due to the cooler weather that day and the timing of the hatch. After the waddle of shame back to the car I contemplated on where I would spend my next fishing day.

MFFR Nelson Creek Access

Middle Fork Feather River
Although I wanted to explore and fish Butt Lake below the powerhouse generator I decided not to due to the drive. I instead decided to visit one of my favorite places that was within a ten minute drive, The Middle Fork of the Feather River.

I consider June on the Middle Fork to be the best month to fish it. The run-off is over and the water hasn’t gotten too warm yet. I fished the Nelson Creek access and the fishing was excellent. The hot fly that the fish seemed to be keyed in on was the prince nymph. Every fish I caught nymphing was on this particular pattern.

Fish of the Day
Prince Eater

I’ve come to know the fish on the Middle Fork as aggressive wild trout. These fish will attack a streamer with no mercy therefore I always make sure to bring a versileader so that I can strip some streamers. I was not disappointed with my choice.

Lil Streamer Eater

I also explored Nelson Creek a bit further upstream. I’ve read that Nelson Creek can hold fish up to 16” however I find this hard to believe. There seems to be a point in the creek where it becomes fishless despite all the beautiful runs and pools. My theory is that the creek blows out often during the run-off making it difficult for trout to inhabit therefore the fish that are found in the creek reside close to where the creek meets the Middle Fork of the Feather.

The Middle Fork of the Feather is an amazing fishery that seems to have changed very little despite the high water floods. The fish are all wild and you definitely have to work to find the good ones. I wish I could have spent more time on the river but I had to all to myself while I was there and what could be better than that.

Beautiful Middle Fork
Butt Creek, Butt Lake, Hex, Lake Almanor, Lake Davis

Hex & Damsel Stillwater Vacation

by Matt
Almanor Hex Sunset

The hex hatch and the damsel migration are two of California’s most famous fly fishing attractions. Both the hatch and the migration draw in visitors from all over the country to beautiful Plumas County.

Timing can be everything when it comes to catching the hatch. Too early and the fish won’t be keying on them, too late and the fish will be too full from gorging themselves. Factor in weather conditions, water temperature, and the crowds and you have your timing equation.

Manda and I pushed our visit to Quincy from last week to this week in order to catch the warmer and hopefully more productive weather.

Lake Almanor
The hex were in full swing at Almanor. After packing all my fishing gear and the kayak for the missus, we set off to the lake at around 6:30.
I was a bit worried that we’d be late but luckily the bugs weren’t popping yet. There were a lot more people than I expected when we arrived at Geritol Cove at around 7:30. I estimated about fifteen plus people some in tubes, others in boats, and a few on the bank. Most of the anglers were fishing closer to the boat ramp rather than the cove.
My set-up for this trip was a 6WT rod with a ten foot extra fast sinking versileader with a nymph and a dropper.

Anglers Awaiting The Hatch

Floating and casting from one spot to another produced nothing. I observed very few hook-ups throughout the evening despite the hundreds of hex that were coming off. Once the majority of the bugs were on top, I switched to a dry cripple in hopes of catching something on top. Adrenaline overcame me as I finally rose a fish but too quick of a hook set ended my night with zero fish in the net.

Many anglers who were also anticipating a fish-on during the hex emergence were left disappointed. The waddle of shame.

Land Ho!

Butt Lake
Just south of Lake Almanor lies Butt Lake, a smaller lake that also has a good population of hex and large fish. Left with dissatisfaction from the previous night and not willing to get skunked a second night, I needed some local intel.
Fishing hex nymphs off the bottom will always produce the most fish. Fish primarily target the nymphs that are emerging through the water column rather than the the duns that are on the surface. Last night I felt like I wasn’t getting down deep enough. I needed a fly line that could get my flies to the bottom.

New Fly Line

There is a small fly shop in Quincy that I’ve probably driven past over a thousand times and never been in. This is where I met Allen, the owner, who helped solve my problem on which fly line I should use. He suggested a Teeny-200 with a long ten foot 3x leader by the dam. Time to give it a go.

Butt Lake

This was our first drive to Butt Lake and we found that Pratville-Butt Reservoir Road was a little dirty but well-maintained. We arrived at the dam at about 5:30 and was surprised to find no one fishing. There wasn’t a single person on the lake. Were we at the right place?
There weren’t any good flat spots to launch near the dam so we had to walk our flotations down to the bank. A bit of a pain but no biggie.

Her Taking a Picture of Me Taking a Picture of Her

The lake was cool and clear, excellent for floating. After floating around for about twenty minutes and giving the new rig a try with a slow two strip retrieve, I finally caught my first fish of the day on a hex nymph. Not quite what I was looking for but better than nothing. A smallmouth bass.
What I was doing was working so I kept to it. My next take is a good one. You know that feeling when you have something big on the end of your line? This was one of those times. Huge silver sides flashed as the fattie surfaced. Holy shit! Big runs, high jumps, and loud splashes. Good thing I brought a big enough net.

First Fish – Smallmouth Bass
Second Fish – Giant Bow
The Thickness!
Third Fish – Nice Streamline Bow

Throughout the day I landed one more bow and lost two more big ones. One of those bruisers actually bent my hook! Once I was finished fishing I had Amanda drag me back to shore on her kayak while I acted as a rudder. Definitely a better day than yesterday.
Lake Davis
To complete our stillwater adventure we planned our last trip to the famous Lake Davis. “Not a lot of fish but they’re catching big ones,” reported Allen when I asked him about the lake.

Jenkins Cove flats
Nice Shallow Weedbeds
Pelicans Too

I’ve heard a lot about the Lake Davis damselfly hatch. Nymphs migrate from the lake to the bank where they molt into flying adults and complete their life cycle. A few bugs here and there that get the fish excited. Neat right? Wrong! How about hundreds and hundreds of damselfly nymphs wiggling towards the bank to molt?
I was amazed to find how many damselflies there were at Lake Davis. As you wade the flats you can find these little wigglers swimming all over the place. Their were tons of adult damselflies fluttering throughout the lake as well. It’s totally obvious how these fish get so big and what they are eating to put on so much weight.

Damsel Wiggling To The Bank
Attempting to Match the Hatch

In the morning we drove to Lake Davis and settled for Jenkins Cove. “I’ve been coming here for a few days and the fishing has been really slow,” stated an angler before leaving to try a new spot. Not the best of news…

I didn’t have a lot of time to fish so I needed to make the most of it. Time to learn how to fish the migration in four hours.The majority of anglers both wading and floating were fishing near the main road. If I’ve learn anything from fly fishing it’s that the fishing gets better the further you move away from the crowd. I hiked and covered quite a bit of water before I got my first take. A big fat stillwater bruiser but because the take was so subtle I didn’t get a good hook-up. Damn.
The saying goes don’t leave fish to find fish. I kept calm and fished on and finally hook a good one. Luckily no snaps on the 4x tippet and my first Lake Davis bow in the net. One of the big ones too.

First Lake Davis Fish Ever

I kept fishing and missed two more huge bows before the wind starting howling. Beautiful and fun lake to fish. Thank goodness for beginners luck! What an excellent way to end the trip. Now that I have the stillwater fever I’m going to start looking for some good lakes around the Yuba City area to fish. There are some big fish living in these lakes!

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Keep Calm and Fly Fish™