Winter Walk on Hat Creek
Well, it’s hard to tell if winter is over or if it just hasn’t yet got under way! Whatever it is, these spring-like conditions have been pretty good for the fishing and fishing conditions. The Lower Sacramento is fishing well and Baum Lake is doing EXCELLENT! I took a drive up to Lake McCumber and there was still a lot of ice up there. When it breaks up enough to fish, it looks like the lake itself will be low. The Trinity River is in dire need of rain in order to get a fresh run of fish coming into it. I took a walk along Hat Creek today and the weather was beautiful! The creek was peaceful, which allowed the fish a chance to feed unmolested just below the riffle. This is normally the time of year when I’d be at my fly tying desk, trying to build up my stock of PTs, Pale Morning Dunns, Caddis Flies, Midges, Baetis Nimphs, and whatever else I would need for the upcoming season. But, since the weather has been so nice it’s hard to sit indoors and tie! SO for now I think I will leave the tying for the evening and plan a winter fishing trip on Baum Lake tomorrow. They’ve planted a lot of Rainbow Trout, which is a good fall-back when the native fish are hard to bring in to the fly. If the weather turns bad, you won’t find a better lake to do some Midging along with the great hatches of PMDs and Calabaetis.
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