Lassen Volcanic NP and Manzanita Lake

[SHigSpeed]

I got a chance to head up north a bit this last weekend with my two sons to spend a night at Manzanita Lake and check out Lassen Volcanic NP.

I'd never been to the park before, and I'd also heard about how great a fishery Manzanita is so I jumped at the opportunity.

If you haven't heard yet, they just recently put in some new cabins at the lake campground and they're great. Bear boxes, fire rings, picnic tables, the works. The cabins have propane heaters and come with an electric lantern - no power hook-ups though. The store up front has food, ice cream, ice, coin-op hot showers, and the facilities is amazingly clean and the camp host was extremely friendly and helpful.


Pic of the cabin (kinda...):



Best thing about these cabins are that they are a quick walk down to the lake. Put the tube on your back and in 2 minutes you're wet. They rent kayaks there as well but take your own if you want to fish. As a concession to us, they have an agreement that the boats can only go out after 10:00 and back out by 4:00 so we can have the lake to ourselves during the happy hours. Pretty cool...

One other bit of info: If you take your own kayak or pram, you can't leave it on the shore overnight, and you can only launch the boat at the designated launch to prevent trampling of the shoreline elsewhere (though I'd guess if you humped your tube around the lake on your back they'd look the other way).

Finally, being a "wild" lake, it's zero take, single barbless artificials, and no fishing in the inlet creek or within 150 feet of it on the lake. It's amazing that the browns and bows share this little creek to keep the quantity and quality of fish going in the lake. There were lots of little schools of fry about so you know it's working. No plants for many years from what I heard.

The cabin we rented had 4 bunks so you can sleep 8. Since they're new, it was in spankin' fresh shape. Laminate floors, clean matresses. All you need are a sleeping bag or some sheets and blankets and you're set.

Half of the cabins can be reserved and half are first come, first served. The store opens at 8 so get there early if you want a shot at picking one up.

I was the first to show up, way too early to check in so we decided to head down to the lake to check things out.



First impression: What a gorgeous place! Seemed really shallow with a very gradual slope into the water. Definitely an advantage to have a tube. Crystal clear water, and TONS of bugs. I saw some rises out past the manzanita islands so I figured I'd wader up and at least try to get the skunk off early. Why no tube? Well, I'd forgotten one of my fins at home - I took it out of my gear bag as part of my fin project! I was at ARCO Arena when I realized what I'd done and wasn't going to turn back. I called my friend who was coming up later and he was kind enough to drop by the house and grab it for me. Unfortunately I had to get my wife out of bed to set it outside for him - sorry honey!!!

The mud on the bottom is very soft, and I soon realized that I wouldn't be able to wade out as far as I'd hoped, and the rises were out of range, so I started walking around the lake looking for a better shot at something. Finally I found a spot where they were rising within range and got this little guy:



Unfortunately these were about the size of all the ones rising within range and although I got a few other light takes, no more fish to hand in my first exploratory session.

Walked back up to the car for a bit of lunch. The ravens, chipmunks, and Steller's jays are very persistent in trying to share!



After lunch, it was finally check-in time and my friend had shown up with his family. We've car camped together a few times before and his son an mine are good camping buddies so they keep each other out of trouble (mostly). I had my second fin now so I figured I'd get a couple of hours of fishing in before dinner.

My first idea was to circle the lake and cast to shore. The callibaetis and midge hatch was INSANE. The entire lake surface was covered in shucks, spinners, and bugs. I wasn't really having any luck throwing a bugger followed by a PT or a GRHE. My friend had walked around the lake and casting a bubble/fly setup and was gesturing me to come over. When I got there he said that there was a "shark" cruising and slurping just in front of him and between two other fishermen casting from shore (no, I didn't shoulder in, there was plenty of courtesy space). Sure enough there were fish feeding actively, but I couldn't buy a strike on streamers, dries, nymphs. This aspect of lake fishing is definitely my weakness. Just as I was tying something else on, the one guy down the shoreline's reel starts screaming! After a few minutes, he finally hauls in a beast! I didn't see it up close, but he figured the big brown went 20"! On a #20 dry of some sort. Damn...

I think a pram would be great for this lake for anchoring and sight fishing.

At that point, I'd had enough of this so I resorted to a tried and true lake technique. I kicked out to where the weed tops were at least 5 feet down and started kick-trolling an intermediate line with my olive X-Mas bugger and a trailing PT. BINGO! Finally I got into one pan-sized brown:



...and whiffed another and finally a really feisty 16" 'bow:



By that time it was getting on towards dinner so I kicked back to shore, headed up the hill, and we got our grub on! There was grilled New York steak, Hawaiian style teriyaki chicken thighs, rosemary grilled chicken breast, baked beans, grilled corn on the cob, tomato salad, fresh salsa and chips, and my wife made and sent with us some "worlds best cookies" for desert.

Unfortunately all the cooking and feasting prevented me from fishing the sunset bite, but I was full and happy. After dinner we all did the hike around Manzanita in the dark with some help from flashlights and the setting half-moon.



Cool millipede:



Speaking of bugs, there were really no mosquitoes to be found. That made life a lot simpler. I was prepared for battle with nets and chemical weapons, but none were needed!

(to be continued)

[SHigSpeed]

After the nearly two mile hike to work off a bit of the dinner, we all crashed hard, but not before I set my alarm for o-dark-thirty. I was out of the cabin and down to the lake just as the eastern sky barely started to brighten. A bit chilly with a bit of a breeze, but not cold other than on the hands once wet. And they got wet! I got two more of the beautifully colored wild rainbows before sunrise missing a few other takes:







and one more (and a few more missed opportunities and an LDR) before heading back in for breakfast:



Funny thing was as I was inspecting my flies at the cabin, I noticed that the hook on my trailer nymph was not only barbless, but pointless. It was broken off comptely!

While taking off my gear and prepping breakfast, the camp host came by and voiced his surprise that I'd be heading out so early in the cold - and greater surprise at finding I was already done. When asked if he'd heard of any other fishing success, he mentioned that there were reports of not only the one 20" brown that I saw, but a second pig of 22"! Damn... Next time...

And that was it for fishing. We broke camp, packed up our gear, and did the tourist thing stopping at the museum and driving around the park. What a night and day experience between Yosemite and Lassen. Though there were lots of people at the various points of interest (and many if not most of them were from out of the country and amusingly wearing t-shirts from other west coast tourist destinations), there wasn't the road clogging rubbernecking that can really detract from the Yosemite experience. Though the summit hike wasn't in the books for this visit (for anyone thinking of going, the trail is clear of snow - 5 miles round trip and 2000' elevation gain to just over 10,000') we did do the Bumpass Hell hike down into the boiling mudpits, acidic pools, hot runoff, and steamy fumeroles.







Here the crowding was evident and we did have to walk over a few patches of snow and slush. It's amazing what people will wear on their feet (and the rest of their persons) doing this hike! Lots of kids in tow, drag, and different styles of drayage from Baby Bjorns to framed packs to slings to brute arm carrying.

When we finally came to the end of the trail, the sulphur smell and the humidity when the steam blew across was intense. Overall a very cool "mini-Yellowstone" experience. The slushball fights were a good diversion for the kids, though the constant prodding to maintain proper lane etiquette and preventing the often inattentive boys from tumbling headlong down the mountainside was tiring.

After finishing the 3 mile adventure, we drove out towards the park exit for a quick lunch and drive back to the valley. The kids were wrecked from the whirlwind overnighter, and I was ready for a shower and a full night of sleep.

The weather was perfect - 70's to 80's in the day, maybe down into the 50's at night. Partial cloudcover during the day made being exposed at 8000' bearable not to mention the ever-present breeze.

I'll certainly be back to bag the peak, and to spend some more quality time on the lake. I hear that fishing wasn't "that good" from people who know the lake, so I'd LOVE to see what it's like when it's "on". Hitting a motorboat caddis hatch would be a highlight for sure. Again, next time...

I'll leave you with one final photo that should sum up how the kids felt after the trip:



_SHig

[Ed Wahl]

A great story told well. That last pics too cool.
Ed

[Fly Guy Dave]

Sounds like a fantastic time (and quite a feast!). Good stuff!

I've caught Manzanita plenty of times when it was only 'ok', but once I was there during a solid mid-day callibaetis hatch and it was quite memorable. I caught a nice brown like the one you described in your post, and it was indeed cruising around like a shark, with its dorsal fin out of the water, picking off the callibaetis on the surface. I've gone back several times, with that one day firmly imbedded in my mind, hoping for more of the same. Someday...

Cheers!

--F.G. Dave

[BillB]

Isn't that a wonderful place SHig? I've had the opportunity to visit several times. This summer my wife, after reading in Sunset and exploring the cabins on the web, ask if I would like to head up there in late September for a "camp". "Yes dear, if that's what you would like to do we should!"

[SHigSpeed]

Isn't that a wonderful place SHig? I've had the opportunity to visit several times. This summer my wife, after reading in Sunset and exploring the cabins on the web, ask if I would like to head up there in late September for a "camp". "Yes dear, if that's what you would like to do we should!"

Funny thing about that blurb in Sunset. The camp host said that before the write-up they'd get ten calls a day inquiring, but after it's a THOUSAND! His numbers - kinda hard to believe someone actually answers a phone a thousand times in a day, but...

You'd better reserve early!

I'd like to take "me" trip maybe next year with time to bag the peak and fully explore the lake and hopefully corral one of those brown torpedoes!

_SHig

[aaron]

Good stuff Scott! Lassen is near and dear to me; doesn't have your typical national park crowds and is amazing year around.

[k9mark]

Your last picture cracked me up. I have one of those too of my little one. Also, check your PM, I just saw it now.

[windknot]

Thanks for the entertaining story and report, Scott! That last picture is priceless. Your trip reminds me of a family trip my parents took us on to Lassen NP several years ago; I kicked around in the float tube for a few hours with nothing to show for it except a little brown, but my uncle pulled in a nice brown at dusk on a bugger. The next day, I stalked the perimeter of the lake and caught some nice 15-16" colorful rainbows that looked exactly like the ones you got poking my fly rod through gaps in the trees. We also did the Lassen hike with my little cousins in tow (one of them reached a point on the trail and refused to go further). It was a fun trip!

Matt

[neil]

...and well done, sir. The family and I spent most of a week at Manzanita Lake in early August. Fished every morning/evening, and got a big fat skunk to show for it. That alone will be enough to bring me back...