PatrickM
06-22-2006, 12:43 PM
Went up to the Burney area last weekend to meet up with WillJ and his brother Cooper.
We fished Pit 3 the first afternoon right below the damn, and then went down to Rock Creek the next morning. Fishing was good to very good at times, with golden stones, dark lords, and pts being the hot bugs for us. Fish size was good, with most fish in the 12-16 inch range. Cooper won the big fish of the day prize on both days, landing a legit 18-incher each day. The big surprise on the Pit came on the first evening. There were a few salmon flies cruising around, so we tied on some big dries for fun and caught some fish on them. The surprise was that the fish weren't trout, but smallmouth bass. I didn't realize there were bass in there, or that bass would take a big dry. Fun way to finish a day.
The Pit was beginning to take a toll on our weary bodies, so the second evening we fished Burney Creek for a couple of hours. We did pretty well on small pts, and then switched over to big dries again near the end of the day. The fish weren't totally keying in on the big dries, but there were enough to keep things interesting.
Monday morning we fished Hat Creek for a couple of hours down towards the fish barrier. Fishing was pretty slow for us there. Will landed a couple on nymphs, but that was it. I tried swinging leaches and soft hackles, dry flies, dry and dropper, and nymphing, but nothing. We ended up going up to the PH2 riffle and got a couple on nymphs, but I'd have to say that Hat Creek won the battle on this day.
I should mention that we were planning on camping at Burney Falls campground, but it was sold out. We ended up finding a nice PG&E camp ground in Cassel that wasn't crowded at all.
Sorry, no pics as I dunked my second digital camera last month. Maybe Will can post a few.
Overall, a great trip with some great guys. Cant wait til the next one. :D
We fished Pit 3 the first afternoon right below the damn, and then went down to Rock Creek the next morning. Fishing was good to very good at times, with golden stones, dark lords, and pts being the hot bugs for us. Fish size was good, with most fish in the 12-16 inch range. Cooper won the big fish of the day prize on both days, landing a legit 18-incher each day. The big surprise on the Pit came on the first evening. There were a few salmon flies cruising around, so we tied on some big dries for fun and caught some fish on them. The surprise was that the fish weren't trout, but smallmouth bass. I didn't realize there were bass in there, or that bass would take a big dry. Fun way to finish a day.
The Pit was beginning to take a toll on our weary bodies, so the second evening we fished Burney Creek for a couple of hours. We did pretty well on small pts, and then switched over to big dries again near the end of the day. The fish weren't totally keying in on the big dries, but there were enough to keep things interesting.
Monday morning we fished Hat Creek for a couple of hours down towards the fish barrier. Fishing was pretty slow for us there. Will landed a couple on nymphs, but that was it. I tried swinging leaches and soft hackles, dry flies, dry and dropper, and nymphing, but nothing. We ended up going up to the PH2 riffle and got a couple on nymphs, but I'd have to say that Hat Creek won the battle on this day.
I should mention that we were planning on camping at Burney Falls campground, but it was sold out. We ended up finding a nice PG&E camp ground in Cassel that wasn't crowded at all.
Sorry, no pics as I dunked my second digital camera last month. Maybe Will can post a few.
Overall, a great trip with some great guys. Cant wait til the next one. :D