Short Notice

[ICE]

Hey all,
I was hopping for some collective in site on this seasons recommendations. I just got a hall pass from the wife and kids for a two night one day reprieve (8/22 -23rd). This would be my first for the season and want to find something good to hit. I'm coming from the Bay and will drive all night for the right spot to fill my season. Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated. Tube, Pontoon, wade, canoe, big med. or small all thoughts are welcome. I was thinking the Middle Stan out of Beardsley(any reports?) Upper Yuba?. Maybe the upper sac? P.M.s welcomed.
Last minute thought, the coast is not out of the question either. Perch, rock fish...... just gotta check the beach closures.

Thanks.
J. Ice

[markem8]

It's a long trip from the Bay Area, but I just spent 3 days fishing Crowley Lake and it is fishing very well.

[ICE]

So it tentatively looks like I'm gonna hit the Pit. It's been a while since I've fished it out of Big Bend Pit 4 and I recall it being a pretty rough area along the shore. I'm hoping to bring my dog (50-60 lbs small lab size), I did not on the trip out of Big Bend (and was glad). But was thinking about bringing him on this round concentrating on Pit 3 I wanted to see what others opinions were on river side access and flows in regards to the dog.

Thanks,
J. Ice

[Grassgrower]

Friend of mine was up last week below Britton. Flows were high. Pretty tough moving around took quite a few baths. But caught fish. Might be tough for the pooch.

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

With the higher summer flows on the Pit River now it is a better place for the younger crowd.

I think the flows are great for the fish, but not for my old body.

Glad I got to fish it in the old days.

.

[ICE]

Well..........Its one heck of an issue to have. Permission to go but so many options to consider. Maybe The Stan is looking better. The Video of the Pit I just found (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F-je2ioZBvk) makes it look darn good. Any other thoughts?

[amoeba]

Well..........Its one heck of an issue to have. Permission to go but so many options to consider. Maybe The Stan is looking better. The Video of the Pit I just found (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F-je2ioZBvk) makes it look darn good. Any other thoughts?

I think you get the picture. The only real flowing water left in a year like this is going to be on the Pit and it's a 5 hr haul from Sack. But you won't be tromped over by guides whose clients shun fast/deep water; and there's a nice new campground there for relatively cheep ($8 a night, correct?). As for anywhere on the Stan, what makes you think there's decent water coming out of Beardsly this time of year (I'm guessing a warm trickle)? Maybe something in Highland Creek (below Spicer) but I don't have flow info and wouldn't recommend tromping into the Stan without it and ending up in some jerkwater.

[Bob Loblaw]

I was up there this weekend At Clearwater Lodge....awesome place if you want to treat yourself! Unbelieveable food, all the beer, wine and cocktails you can drink, and a short drive to half a dozen great fisheries. A bunch of guys there went to Pit 3 Friday and Saturday and had some great fishing especially late in the day where they said they were hitting fish on just about every drift. I fished Hat Creek, flats above 299 and the #2 riffle on Friday...did OK..6 fish including a very nice brown. I drifted the Fall River on Saturday which has been a bucket list thing for me for a while. Glad to say it wasn't disappointing. Its the most beautiful spring creek I've ever seen and as soon as the boat leaves the dock the big pods of fish start to scatter in front of you. I have never seen as many huge trout in my life...almost like fishing in the indoor pond at Bass Pro Shops.

Conditions were tough, flat calm and glassy water meant for very spooky fish and very technical fishing. Luckily I had Art Teter in the boat and he was able to put this amateur into some very nice fish. I think I had 6 in the boat up to 18 inches and I missed a dozen more. Its tough to set a size 22 hook when you have 80 feet of line downstream. I broke a bunch off too by being too aggressive with my strike. 7x tippet breaks easy!

I'll definitely be back to the Fall. I love small creek fishing and rock hopping and I didn't think this sort of fishing would appeal to me, but it was awesome....very frustrating but awesome. Definitely a game that requires some patience.

[booneshaya]

I was at Pit 3 as well on Saturday. Tried some new spots but always catch some nice "footballs" there. It doesn't get much better than wet wading on the Pit.

[ICE]

Well, I made it to the Pit on Friday evening, 7 hour drive outta SF. Two hours wasted just getting through the City to Vallejo. After that smooth sailing minus a little road work on 299. Hug a hammock at the parking lot on Pit 3 on Talus Siren. Me and the dog were up at first light and fished the runs up stream working our way from access points off the road. The fishing was great! Far more shook the hook than got netted. The first to hand was an 18" Squaw. Great couple of head shakes and runs then just a log being dragged in. After that lots of takes and big hard fighting fish. Best bet was a golden stone fished deep with lots of weight. The runs and flows are great. It's been a long time since i've hit the water like that and it took some getting used to the slip and slide game. Lost my net once I did' hook up the lanyard. But did some deep wading and dug under some banks to come up with it. Pretty rough with the pooch. Double edged sword having him with me. He kept me in check by keeping me close to the bank and not pushing too hard. Bad cause he kept me close to the bank and from pushing too hard. There's a lot of nice water best accessed pushing up stream instead of up road. I did break my 5wt. One - That sucked! Oh well that's why we pay the price for a great warranty. Sunday on my way out I ran into a bait dunker fishing worms of Pit 4's inflow and was killing it each cast catching small mouth and trout. He said the small mouth had just hatched and were in the mouths of every thing he caught. I am stoked I got my Sh*t together and made the run north. It might be my only real 2014 season trip. For all those that were on the river Saturday, It is a testament to the river cause I did not see any others on the water. Thanks for the recommendations.

J. Ice

[EricO]

Nice report Ice. That river rules, but as you know, you pay the price.

I have several Pit scars that I've acquired over the years. Not a river for the faint of heart.

EO

[kylgrn]

I know nothing about the Pit, if one wanted to stay one night and fish it in 2 weeks, where would one camp?

[Bob Loblaw]

Burney McArthur State Park. Its a 10-15 minute drive from Pit 3, they have basic cabins (just bunks) and tent and RV spots. great little store with food basics, good beer, and great soft serve ice cream! The thing I like best is that you can walk over to Burney Creek in the evening and toss little dries on a 3 weight which is a lot of fun.

There are primitive camps down by Big Bend but for the extra $10-15 I prefer Burney.

[ICE]

PG & E opened a beautiful camp right on the rivers edge on the top of Pit 4 I squatted there on my last night with one other camper. No water service other than the river but new pit toilets, picnic tables & fire rings. I tried to attach a great map PG & E is supplying with their drive by fish survey teams (best most comprehensive map Ive been able to locate) but the scanned copy was to big. If any one wants a copy send me a message and I will e-mail it to them.

J. Ice

[kylgrn]

So is this PG&E camp OK to camp at legally?

[kylgrn]

Think i'm going to give it a shot the weekend of 5-7th, looking forward to falling a few times, hopefully not rip my waders before the cold weather comes!

[amoeba]

Think i'm going to give it a shot the weekend of 5-7th, looking forward to falling a few times, hopefully not rip my waders before the cold weather comes!

Water is a bit deeper/faster than past; so be prepared in event you figure out those waders aren't quite the ticket;

i.e., bring typical wet-wading gear; neoprene booties, liner socks, shinguards/kneepads, staff, gloves, first-aid kit, xtra clothes, etc.; if you have the skills/eqpmt, some people get around in small personal watercraft.

[ICE]

PG & E Camp is open to the public

[Dinky Jr]

I was on the pit last wed-sat. It fished well, especially in the early morning and late afternoon/evening. I caught bigger fish on pit 3, but more of them on the upper reaches of pit 4. I finally broke down and bought shin guards for this trip and wish I'd done it years ago. I still consider myself a spring chicken but every year the pit beats me up a little more. It's still my favorite river in CA to fish, but it is a bit of a brute.

[kylgrn]

Will be up on Pit #3/4 tomorrow, heading up this evening to the Burney Falls campground, possibly the PGE campground if I can find it in the dark.

[baldeagleflyfishing]

I've used slalom racing shin pads numerous times when fishing the pitt, thats the hardest wading anywhere, but can be very rewarding

[Tfisher]

PG & E opened a beautiful camp right on the rivers edge on the top of Pit 4 I squatted there on my last night with one other camper. No water service other than the river but new pit toilets, picnic tables & fire rings. I tried to attach a great map PG & E is supplying with their drive by fish survey teams (best most comprehensive map Ive been able to locate) but the scanned copy was to big. If any one wants a copy send me a message and I will e-mail it to them.

J. Ice


http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o288/asterr/PitRiverRecreationSites.jpg (http://s123.photobucket.com/user/asterr/media/PitRiverRecreationSites.jpg.html)

[kylgrn]

Man you guys weren't kidding, this place is pretty demanding of you! I did land some decent size fish, lost the big one almost instantly due to fast water, and missed several small ones. That was one thing I found myself doing more than anything, figuring out where to stand to get the best drift while also trying to see what's going to happen when I hook one. I did manage to stay dry all day, which was amazing considering the amount of rock skiiing I was doing. Super fun place, didn't see another person all day.

[EricO]

Man you guys weren't kidding, this place is pretty demanding of you! I did land some decent size fish, lost the big one almost instantly due to fast water, and missed several small ones. That was one thing I found myself doing more than anything, figuring out where to stand to get the best drift while also trying to see what's going to happen when I hook one. I did manage to stay dry all day, which was amazing considering the amount of rock skiiing I was doing. Super fun place, didn't see another person all day.

Ya, with the new flows once a fish gets downstream of you, it's hard to turn 'em. Gotta stick it to them fast
or it's "sayonara".

Stayed dry all day?....clap clap...that's an accomplishment on the Pit. I've had plenty of dunkings on the Pit.
I don't mind in summer, but sucks during colder weather.

Shin guards are a necessity. I've whacked mine against rocks too many times there.

EO

[kylgrn]

Well in all honesty I forgot my extra clothes at my in-laws on the way to the river, so I opted to wear my waders instead of wet my only shorts and have to drive home with them. As I was wading that beast I kept thinking how you would almost HAVE to use shin guards, you could get really bloody from those rocks. It wasn't so much that the wading was really difficult or that the rocks were slipperier than other places, it's just the fact that there's so much holding water that you find yourself tromping all around the place to get to them! I caught most fish on a golden stonefly with red copper johns, the CJ was the ticket to sticking the larger ones. Trying to nymph with those big islands of foliage in front of you is also challenging...