Hat Creek Fly Fishing

Hat Creek is a spring- and snow-fed creek that runs nearly 50 miles from the eastern slopes of Lassen Peak down to Lake Britton. It is a tributary of the Pit River.

Fly fishers generally focus on four sections: headwaters, Old Station, Cassel, and the wild trout section.

• The headwaters section encompasses the main stem and its tributaries above Emigrant Ford.

• The Old Station section is roughly 20 miles long, from Emigrant Ford down to Honn Campground.

• The Cassel section starts at the confluence of the Rising River and ends at Powerhouse #2. It includes the Cassel canal and forebay.

• The wild trout section runs 3½ miles from Powerhouse #2 down to Lake Britton. (map)

Old Station Section

The Old Station section fishes as a freestone creek. It is regularly stocked with rainbow trout, especially around campgrounds and day-use areas. It fishes well except during the spring runoff, when the creek and upper tributaries are often blown out. The Fisherman's Trail between Cave and Bridge Campgrounds provides easy access for the four-plus miles just downstream of Old Station. Other easy access points include the Old Station day-use picnic area; Hat Creek, Honn, and Big Pine campgrounds; and various dirt roads in the area.

Cassel Section

Hat Creek adopts the slow, meandering tailwater character of the Rising River at its confluence. At the diversion, its character changes again. The dam backs the creek up, creating a large pool that locals call the diversion pool. The diversion siphons most of the creek's water into the Cassel canal and forebay to feed Hat Creek Powerhouse #1. The creek, reduced to a trickle, flows into Baum Lake. Just above Baum Lake, the outlet of Powerhouse #1 returns the diverted water to the creek.

These waterways, except for the creek stretch below the diversion, fish well. They are regularly stocked with rainbow trout.

The canal and forebay get a lot of fishing pressure from anglers using conventional gear.

The diversion pool is a short walk from the Cassel Campground, making it ideal for some sunset and sunrise fishing for those camping there.

Seasonal Changes

Spring (April through June) is generally regarded as the prime season for fly fishing in the Cassel and wild trout sections. At any given moment in the spring, there will likely be some hatch... including salmonflies, green drakes, pale morning duns, caddisflies, little yellow stoneflies, and tricos.

In the summer months (July and August), temperatures can get quite hot on Hat Creek, especially on the Cassel and wild trout sections. Most mornings will have a nice trico hatch and most evenings will have a nice caddisfly hatch. Please avoid taking fish out of the water in these months and stop fishing altogether when water temperature is 67℉ or higher.

The fall (September, October, and November) is a great time to fish the Hat... pressure wanes and there's lots of hatches to get fish rising. As with the summer months, tricos commonly come off in the morning and caddisflies in the evening. You might even find a few large October caddis coming off. There can be awesome blue-winged olive hatches on overcast days. Late in the season, one can find blue quills.

During high-pressure months, it can be hard to get fish to rise in the middle of the day, especially in flat water sections... but fishing wet flies on Baum Lake or above the Cassel diversion dam or on the nearby Pit River will likely produce some fish.

Fishing terrestrials can be quite productive throughout the season... including grasshopper and ant patterns. Trout will take streamers, such as small Woolly Buggers and leech patterns. Try swinging wet flies as well.

For gear, a 3-to-5 weight rod/reel with a floating line and 9 ft 5X tapered trout leader and 5X tippet will do nicely. In more technical waters, such as Carbon Flats, drop to 6X if necessary.

For dry fly fishing, you'll commonly be rigging with an indicator fly, like a small Hot Creek Stimulator (#18) and then a small fly for the trout to actually take. Size the indicator fly so it is large enough for you to see it well but no larger. Hang the second dry off the bend of the indicator fly so that it's about a foot away. Set if you see any rise anywhere near your indicator. And, if not on a fish, put your flies back upstream of the rise. For Carbon Flats, you may need to drop to 6X tippet.

For nymphing, a hopper/dropper rig is recommended, especially in the Cassel and wild trout sections.

Best Camping

There are lots of great campgrounds in the area. A great one to consider is PG&E's Cassel Campground. This small, basic campground provides an ideal base for fly fishing in Hat Creek and many of the nearby waters.

Additional Reading

• How I fish Hat Creek by Matt Vang

• Hat Creek Fly Fishing by Troutsource

• Hat Creek (with hatch chart) by Confluence Outfitters

• Hat Creek: Restoration leads to Resurrection at Casting for a Rise