Hat Creek....A Mystery To Me

I have fished Hat Creek for a few decades now and have grown to love it, especially the flats (Iron Bridge). Part of loving it is the fact I caught my largest trout there 7 or 8 years ago, but mostly it is because of both the beauty of the clear water and the fish seem like they know I am there so there is a "head game" we play. Some days have been a great success and some have been a greater success...for the fish.

I have, only a few times, bothered with the Powerhouse as I am not much of one for crowded fishing spots. To me it is the punchline to a bad joke, but I do see the appeal as lots of fish to be caught in an easily accessible area. Just not my cup o' tea.

One rather idyllic afternoon, stopping with a friend on our way home for a tango festival, I even fished the "Park" right next to 299 and it was fun. Catching a few smallish fish that seemed pretty wary.

But the mystery to me of Hat is the area below the park. That part you drive to off 299 on the dirt road, down to the flats. I have fished it 5, maybe 6 times and catching a fish there eludes me. I have walked it all from the parking area to the weir. Fished it from the bottom to top. Dries, nymphs, big bugs, tiny things, every color and shape. Morning, noon and evening. I think (this may be my mind playing tricks to keep myself sane) I may have had one strike, just above the weir. Baffling to me.

Interestingly I have seen only one or two others in that stretch over the 30+ hours I have fished it. Maybe I am not getting the message...?

Is there a mystery to be solved?

Had any luck there? (I do not want your secrets...just the knowledge there are fish and they can be caught)

That is my musing for the morning.

It is exciting to hear someone is doing well on Hat Creek, today.




I can't imagine it being more crowded now than it was in the 1970s on the weekends.

It was very difficult to catch fish on top, matching the hatch, even back then.


The largest difference in the fisheries is the fact that below the "Power House 2" riffle the river was very deep.

I heard it is all filled in with silt now and very shallow.

All you could do was edge wade back then and make long casts, down-streaming fish feeding in the surface.

I have not been there in a while but hear you can wade across it now?


Back then we got to hang around Bob Quigley who was the most helpful, fun and generous person I ever met.

Like many in the fly fishing world, it is not about making money, it's the lifestyle.



Before the 1970s there we only a handful of "fly fishing only shops" in America.


In the 1970s Fall River, Hat Creek, the Pit River, the McCloud River and the Upper Sacramento River were amazing fisheries.

I've fished it maybe 4 or 5 times. I caught two, one one a nymph above the wier and one on a soft hackle a little further upstream. I've found the access rather difficult though for this 70+ year old man.

I fished Hat Creek all day Friday and Saturday. Friday I took my bamboo rod down to the flats and tried my luck throwing dries at those picky fish. I had a couple of refusals at that first bend below the riffle, and a couple more at the bend above Wood Duck Island but no takers. Saw a LOT of sucker fish, two big pods of them with about 15 fish in each. I don't know if they are getting through the fish barrier or if they are holdovers and are breeding like crazy, but I've never seen so many. Saturday I fished the powerhouse riffle. There were 4/6 people there and plenty of room to move around. Fishing was slow, I was trying my Euro setup for the first time and got 4 and then another two in the evening on dries. One really nice fat fish about 18 inches. Saw some golden stones come off and some BIG salmonflies....managed to get the evening fish in the section above the parking lot on a big size 6 orange and black stimulator. Met some really nice people too! we were all on the same schedule...fished a few hours in the am, stopped for a sandwich and beer...fished a few more hours in the afternoon....stopped for a beer and a snack....and fished a couple more hours at dusk. In between we swapped big fish stories and hung out. Good times!! (in the lower section below the park where the water is fast and shallow, tight lining with a low rod tip and just a foot or two of leader outside the rod tip works for me)

I fished it last fall and absolutely nailed fish. Euronymphing produced the best results since its too fast to indicator fish. Without spoiling any secrets take it slow and cover water. A lot of people just park themselves in the holes and dont really move. Those fish can hold in some surprisingly fast water. I believe there are a lot of buckets and rocks that help them hold in the current.

We use to like May/June and October for Hat Creek.


The norm for stream fishing is to keep moving unless you get somewhere that is on fire.



In the 1970s on Hat and Fall you fished downstream to the rising fish, matching the hatch in the surface with dries, emergers, and spinners.

We were very lucky to have great fly fishers like Bob Quigley, Andy Puyans and Mike Monroe teaching everyone tie wonderful flies to

match the hatch in the surface.


This was well before indicators were developed and took over the sport.

I met fly fishers in the past 30 years who had never fished for anything without an indicator on their line. Pretty sad........







The sink tip lines were developed in the 1970s because top fly fishes in Oregon were making their own for Steelheading.

Before that everyone used 30' shooting heads for Steelhead on fiberglass fly rods.