Pit River Fly Fishing Report

Hogan Brown, Hogan Brown Fly Fishing

I guided the Pit 3 one day this last week and fished right below the dam and then down river by “power lines” fishing was fair to good with mostly smaller fish in the 12-14" bracket. The bigger fish didn’t seem to be eating, but I was guiding with Dave Neal and he said the day before he was catching some nicer fish…just depends on the day I think. Most fish came on #16 and #18 mayfly nymph imitations and #14 caddis imitations…didn’t seem to matter what pattern as the fish seemed to be keyed on those bugs. 

Dave Neal, Reel Adventures Guide Service

I spent a few days working the Pit 3 reach this week with some fun clients and happy to report the river was in great shape and fishing was all around good-to-great. We did experience some slower times through the middle of the day, but morning and later afternoon was pretty solid with everyone hooking some nice wild Pit rainbows…

The big news, however, are the many wildfires burning in the local area and others parts of northern California at this time.  The Bald Fire, southwest of Fall River Mills (over 40,000 acres now 87% contained) and Eiler Fire, south of the town of Burney (over 30,000 acres 40% contained) were absolutely raging, over this past weekend creating very smoky conditions in all areas of the Fall River, Pit River, Hat Creek, Baum Lake, etc. We watched as the fires quadrupled in size from Friday to Saturday evening.

There were many local road closures in the area over the weekend, so maybe get an update before travelling to and from the Intermountain region. These fires currently have over 2,000 firefighters from multiple City, State and Federal agencies. USFS officials say possible containment by Aug 18th…possibly sooner with higher humidity settling in the area.

Orders to evacuate have been lifted for the communities of Hat Creek, Cassel, and Johnson Park. Evacuation advisory lifted for the town of Burney