Burney Creek, Pit 3, Hat Creek report
Took a 3 day weekend and went up north to hit 3 of my favorite places.
Friday was Burney Creek. The pool below the falls is open again after a year to rebuild the trail. Apart from some new walls, looks exactly the same. The fishing was great. Put a dozen or so fish in the net with a few about 18 inches despite being harassed by a huge otter all day. All on big stimulators, which is the funnest fishing there is. In past years the rainbow/brown ratio there was usually 50/50, this year it was 100% rainbows. Wonder if they took the browns out when they closed the access last year?
Saturday was Pit 3 and it was the usual mix of frustration, terror, and bliss. I decided to go with an indicator setup which was a mistake. Any snags, tangles, breakoffs, take forever to sort out on the Pit especially if you have to wade back to dry land. The tight lining set up is definitely the way to go because there's so much less to go wrong. The first 90 minutes were very frustrating. Couldn't buy a knock fishing the usual Pats Rubberlegs and Dark Lord setup. Went opposites with a big Walts Worm and bright green Blowtorch and it was on like Donkey Kong. I was hooking up almost ever drift and the fish were footballs and they pull like only Pit fish can. Plus they love to jump which is an added bonus. Ended up with about 8 fish.
That evening it was off to Hat Creek for the dusk hatch, which didn't happen. We fished a couple of hours and managed just a couple of small fish that too small Elk Hair Caddis patterns. Fished all the way until dark and there wasn't much bug action. So it was off to the Fall River Hotel for beers and the best Tomahawk steak money can buy!
Sunday was Baum Lake day, but we were too beat up after a long day on the Pit and when we got there the lone guy pulling his boat out told us not to bother, it was dead. Stopped by the bridge over the Rising River on the way home to drool over all the big fish in there. Someone has strung up barbed wire across the river to keep the riff raff in boats out. Like the old days on the Fall.
Great weekend. Cant wait to get back up there!
You can't buy happiness, but you can buy new fly fishing gear and that usually does the trick.
Bookmarks