Pit River - 1990

[John H]

I liked Pupa's report on the Pit and realized things have not changed much there since I fished there back in the day. I got to thinking if there had been an internet and a Kiene's message board back in 1990 I may have made a similar report so I decided to write one up. This is my fictitious but based on reality June 1990 Pit River report. I was 26 at the time.

June 1990 Pit River Report -

Drove up from Winters Friday afternoon. It took 3.5 hours and I sweated like a pig the whole way because I was too cheap to get AC in my new Nissan King Cab pickup. Stopped at Taco Bell to eat. I really like their bean and cheese burrito and it only costs $0.59. What a deal. My girl friend was not happy about me fishing this weekend. I think she wants to get married. That would severely limit my fishing time and if we had kids I don't know if I would ever fish again. I am going to need to give this some serious thought.

Camped at the Cassel ditch and caught a few planters in the evening. Thought about going down to Hat Creek but those fish are so finicky and there would probably be guys in the riffle shuffling their feet around in the rocks and fishing in their own chum line. Seems like that should be illegal.

Went into Burney Saturday morning and ate some pancakes then swung by the Trout Country Fly Shop to get the report from Hippie Dave. Bought some tippet from him so he would not think I was a deadbeat coming in for a free fishing report. I like his shop and he is a funny guy.

Got out to the Pit below the dam and strung up my sweet Sage LL 5 weight 2-piece rod that I bought used at Kiene's. Got into my neoprene waders and hiked down to the river. It was hot and I sweated like a pig again in the waders. I hope they come up with a wader material someday that is not so hot out of the water. Poison oak was everywhere. I hope I don't get it. I have gotten it three times up at Putah Creek so far this year. I know there were rattlesnakes around but I did not see any. The wading was brutal as always and I fell down twice but as soon as the sun got off the water the fish were killing the caddis. Good dry-dropper action and then really good dry fly action close to dark. Fished until the bats chased me out of there and went back to Cassel to camp. Had a cup of noodles and some saltines for dinner. The wading is tough at the Pit but if they ever raise the flows up to say 350 cfs it would be about impossible. The fishing seems to be getting better every year since PG&E put some water back in the river. I am not sure how they ever got away with drying up the river for 50 years.

Drove home Sunday. Long, hot drive home but I stopped at Cow Creek to swim and cool off before getting on I-5. Maybe the Truckee next weekend. Flows should be fishable but I wont know for sure until I drive up there and see the river.

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[Troutsource]

Reminds me of Big Two-Hearted River by Hemingway, but with a bit more humor.

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

I think they raised the flows on the Pit River so it is nothing like it was back in my early days, 1970s on.

The Pit River was the favorite of several groups of old fly fishers.

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One group was the old Powell Rod family who fished in sense before World War 2.

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Another group was kind of led by Frank Scofield of Scofield's furniture store. He had a half dozen fishing buddies who fished the Pit River way before I did....probably starting in the 1950s? Frank Laprezioso, Dick Hume, Gary Allison, Ed Hurley and some others? All these wonderful men are gone now but they had wonderful lives. These guys had a permanent camp of their own kind of hidden just off the road to Deep Creek Camp Ground and Henderson Springs Ranch. Neil Hansen told me they had a kind of old wood cabinet nailed to a tree with pots and pans they left there. I think they had a big table.

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This was how our group got started in the 1970s?

Jerry Lyerley told my friend Neil Hansen about the Pit River, probably in the 1960s.

Neil told me about the Pit River and took me there.

Strangely my brother Dick new some friends who lives in the Bay area and fished the Pit at Deep Creek Camp ground. He went there once with them and they were fish killers who used night crawlers.

Then my brother and I went there and started our lives on the Pit River at Deep Creek camp ground.

We took teenagers Paul Keel and Galen Geller there. They later took their classmate Phil Romig. They found Jim Killian somehow too.

My brother took his best friend Vince Dutcher and later his son Chris.

We took many to the Pit River over the last 50 years.

We took Skip Orr, Jim Innes, Ron Hayashi, Alan Barnard, Paul Johnson, Don Rotsma, Bob Giannoni, Mel Jeffs. I am sure I am forgetting some.

After the big chemical spill that killed the Upper Sac, guide Fred Gordon added the Pit river to his service.

He took Frank Pipgras who became a Pit River mad man.

Lou Lane was a Pit River guy.

Out of The Fly Shop in Redding, Mike Mercer was a Pit River commando too.

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The big deal for us was the Isonychia mayfly emergence in September.

We used a number #8/10 dark swimming mayfly nymph which Galen Geller tied for many of us.

Many of us fished two of these nymphs Ted Fay style in the highly aerated pocket water.




I would still fish the Pit River if the flows were low like the good old days.

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[k.hanley]

That's a very cool history lesson there Bill. Thanks. I always appreciate your personal connection and perspective.

Cheers, Ken

[Pupa]

John H that is awesome. The thing about about the Pit is that every minute on the river creates a unique memory (for better or worse).

Bill - thanks for sharing the old-timer's lore. Are the isonychias still around? We go frequently in October and have never seen them. Maybe a month too early...

[steveg137]

Love both of these posts.
Props to John h for the creative idea and Bill for the perspective.
Been in Bay Area for 11 years and love learning about the past fishing, almost as much as the present.
Thanks for sharing
Steve