Hat Creek

Current Report - September 1, 2007 - Saturday

This river is tough enough in June and October. Wait till it cools off some.

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**If you want to learn this stream we would recommend hiring a good guide for the day.

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General Stream Information

This is a very famous stretch of 'catch and release' wild trout water in Nor Cal. It can really challenge anyone with lots of hatches of small insects that keep you guessing. You can 'edge' wade this stream but it is nice if you try not to get in too deep and tear up all the aquatic vegetation. This stream is open from the last Saturday in April till November 15th every year. Basically June and October are two of the best times to be on Hat Creek. This can vary with the snow pack and spring weather. This area has lots of other great places to fly fish and there are lots of thing s to see as well.

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Tackle

For open flat water we like a 9' rod in 4 or 5 weight. Most fish it with a floating line. Use longer leaders (12-15') on the surface in the flat water. Most use very light tippets here in 5x - 7x to fool these wild trout. The water is cold so waders are needed. Having the right flies here is very important so be sure to stop by one of the fly shops near by for help with this.

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Hat Creek Map

• On the FlyFishNorCal web site.

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Burney Area Map

• Courtesy of Vaughn's

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Books

• CA Blue Ribbon Trout Streams by Sunderland & Lackey.
• Fly Fisher's Guide to Northern California by Seth Norman.
• Fly-Fishing Northern CA Waters by Lily Wong
• No Nonsense Guide to Fly Fishing in Northern California by Ken Hanley

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Fishing Guides

• Kiene's Hat Creek Guide recommendations.

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Local Fly Shop

• Vaughn's Sports & Fly Shop in Burney

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Lodging

• Burney Chamber of Commerce
• Area Lodging/Camping
• Clearwater Lodge
• Clark Creek Lodge
• Hat Creek Herford Ranch

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***We all learned how to fish Hat Creek from local fly shop owner and guide Bob Quigley in the '70s. It was a definite advantage. We mostly fished in the surface film in those days. We fished Bob's loop wing quill bodied fork tailed paraduns, Bob's cripples and spinners to working fish. No one had invented the indicator system yet. Boy those were hot wild Rainbow trout.