Hat Creek Private waters- 7 days

So you may have noticed but I am counting the days I fish in each post title, from the Spring season opener and on...last year I logged 52 days total all without a 4wheel drive of my own and dedicated fishing only from June through November. Hoping to do more this year without losing my day job :)

This was Jo's maiden voyage and not sure if it was the fish or my ride that made this the best trip ever. Jo found a good buddy at the local Redding Wal-mart which square footage wise was about the size of Port Arthur and still they were out of the ammo we needed. That's alot of ammo sold to Deryl's but I digress.

Back to the fishing- this was my best fishing weekend. Ever. Epic. This property on Hat Creek is a peppermint farm and private water nirvana. Except for the fact that the fly shop didn't get our materials to us and we were supposed to bring our own towels and sheets- this would be my favorite place next to the McCloud conservancy. They have three large ponds or really two medium ponds and a large reservoir. No Deryl's in sight (remember Deryl's short for derelicts) and no Gore-tex hatch on any of the water- my only competition for the water was Denny and some very large beavers? wolverines? hard to say they were so large.

Anyway, we got in Friday night for the evening hatch with some really nice boiling water (meaning bugs hatching and fish coming up to the surface, it looks like boiling water but is actually a fish frenzied dinner time) on the first pond but I had one miss and nothing else. Denny was pounding some little guys on the creek but the wind picked up and we headed into town for some food. Unfortunately there was a power outage in Burney but we were lucky enough to find some pizza. Got up the next morning and hit the creek behind the house. Of course we were off like turtles (one of our favorite expressions because fly fishing is not a fast action kind of sport unless you count the hook set or how rapidly a tree eats a fly) and so after some time we spotted some pods of fish.

Denny was the first hook-up on his new bamboo rod- I was unable to cast that noodle effectively but I followed up a bit later with a really nice 20"+ rainbow. This is not large body of water- Hat Creek, so we were suprised at the size of these fish.

We were able to catch quite a few more before we spooked them for the afternoon and headed out to the reservoir. The afternoon was followed by Denny landing some very large pond monsters on some streamers from the reservoirs- I landed a few smaller guys on some dry flies (smaller meaning about 16") .

Overall these were some picky fish, I threw about every dry fly I had in my box only to watch them come up to the fly and turn right back around- there are so many fish in this reservoir I can't even tell you...We eventually resorted to a canoe but that was a lost cause with the wind, currents, two people fly casting- I had a monster for a few seconds but couldn't jerk the hook set without tumping us over, so I lost another shark...but it was fun regardless.

We then headed off to the other pond where I managed to kill it with rubber legs, just good ole rubber legs- brown. Fish after fish after fish, I stopped counting- good fights- good size. what I live for really. The next day it was more of the same although the fish were not biting at Denny's reservoir but we did manage to catch a few more at my sweet pond.

We headed out towards Mount Lassen to fish the Hat on the way back but it was really blown out and Deryl population was high- we managed to hike in and find some good spots but not much catching. We paid homage to the Chevy's in Redding and learned a very valuable lesson about radar detectors- if your music is up really loud and you don't notice the christmas tree lights on the radar- you will see CHIPS in your rear view mirror- luckily we weren't pulled over and made it home safe and sound.

EPIC fishing, quiet, nice beds, all that water just for us.

2010 Fishing Season Opener- 4days

Denny fishing the Pit at Big Bend
This trip has long since passed but hey- figured it might as well catch up while laid up from a minor motorcycle spill on the 101. Bike is fine, body is fine but Sergio Rossi boots- pretty scuffed but back to the fishing.

April 1-4th :: First trip was to Fall River Mills to fish the Pit and Baum lake. We left on Thursday night and stayed at Gaia in Redding which is probably the best fishing accommodations ever to be had- eco green, modern, quiet, comfortable, new and friendly staff- oh and more importantly less than $100 a night. Next morning after enjoying a nice brunch we head to the Sundial on the lower sacramento which had some great fishing reports the previous couple of days but a heavy rain was falling and we weren't deterred considering we both had new gear- G-Loomis MAX GLX and Abel Super-6 while Denny was throwing his new Winston Boron IIX (don't remember the reel but probably abel knowing denny). After about 4 hours in a texas like downpour we headed to Chuys- wishful thinking but of course it was Chevy's. There were about 5 drift boats with guides around us and we watched only 2 fish come in, since we hadn't spent $400 on a guide- we were feeling pretty good. The gear felt good and Denny's margarita was cold (my diet coke was a pepsi but oh well)....

After Chevy's we headed to Fall River late in the afternoon on Friday and of course a couple hours in there was a blizzard- lots of snow, not looking good for our fishing exploits but we carried on to Burney. In Burney we had the lovely experience of getting my gun license from the friendly folks at the only Fly and Tackle shop- Vaughn's, Denny bought a 22" rifle and we both got a wealth of information about the new Pit construction including the woman who wants her name on a plaque saying she restored the Pit to its historic flows (seriously, why??) to who in SF County has a conceal license to carry since there are only 7 permits issued currently (we can start with one is not for me, and not a surprise- it's all politicians) and of course California Groundling Squirrels. These little guys apparently eat the alfalfa intended for California's large cattle population (I probably have that wrong- remember my brain is a sieve from which sometimes information stays but often it falls through) and so these folks get sent out with a days worth of ammo and sit in chairs while taking out hordes of these squirrels.

Anyway, after about two hours we left the shop and checked in, had a warm meal at the lovely Fall River Mills hotel. Next day, we got up and headed to Big Bend- we really wanted to fish closer to Pit 5 powerhouse but the road wasn't plowed so we hiked into Big Bend- Denny had some bites and I landed a little 12" on a March Brown but the river and creeks were pretty blown out. Come to find out, the Pit isn't "as" affected by snow melt versus the claim by said fishing partner that the Pit isn't affected by snow melt but I digress- important point is that the first fish of the season was on a Dry ! its gonna rawk !!

Little Bow on a March Brown (above)

We headed to the Baum to see what's doing over there after a pretty crappy time at Big Bend- which we get to Baum and Denny's left his Simms jacket with his camera in it (about $500) so he leaves me with his glock (in case of Deryl's which is short for derelicts who like to steal fly fishing gear) and goes back (about an hour round trip) to find said jacket which gratefully he did recover. Ang had lost her brand new G-Loomis Max GLX and Abel reel last time we were at Big Bend- so we agreed no need to go back- too many lost things and really tough access and mediocre fishing- we can skip it, especially since I hadn't lost anything yet. Next day, Denny goes to church- it's Easter and I sleep in with Charlie dog. We head back again in a blizzard and then really hard rain- but hey, I caught a fish :)

The Baum

April 13th Steve Santucci Striper trip where many many fish were caught- mostly keepers and a couple of bass, crappie, etc..but nothing as gorgeous as that little guy on his March brown.

See you on the river...