Butt Lake, Middle Fork Feather River

Butt Lake Hex & Middle Fork of the Feather River

Butt Lake

I’ve read and heard that the hex hatch happens on Butt Lake about two weeks before it starts on Lake Almanor. Prior to heading out I checked to see if there was an updated fishing report on the area from Lake Almanor Fly Fishing and to my surprise the report read that the hex hatch was beginning to happen. This would probably be my only chance this year to fish the hex hatch so I decided to give it a shot despite not exactly know what I’d find.

There are a few things that make me favor the hex hatch on Butt Lake versus Lake Almanor and tranquility is one of them. The most inconvenient aspect of fishing Butt Lake’s hex hatch is the long dirt road to get to the dam where the hatch happens. The road is well-maintained however it is made of red clay dirt which gets everything dirty. There is also no official launch site which means you’re going to have to carry your floating device down to the lake.

I arrived at the lake around 6:30pm and started fishing shortly after setting up all my gear. I noticed a few hex shucks in the water but not a whole lot. I used a Teeny 200 sink tip line that got the job done the last time however I wasn’t able to hook any fish before the hex hatch started.

The hatch started at around 8:45pm after sunset. It was a very poor hatch that lasted about three minutes; I probably saw a total of twenty duns. The fish that were targeting the hex where only eating dries and they stopped soon after I was able to switch between my rods. The lack of hatch activity was possibly due to the cooler weather that day and the timing of the hatch. After the waddle of shame back to the car I contemplated on where I would spend my next fishing day.

MFFR Nelson Creek Access

Middle Fork Feather River
Although I wanted to explore and fish Butt Lake below the powerhouse generator I decided not to due to the drive. I instead decided to visit one of my favorite places that was within a ten minute drive, The Middle Fork of the Feather River.

I consider June on the Middle Fork to be the best month to fish it. The run-off is over and the water hasn’t gotten too warm yet. I fished the Nelson Creek access and the fishing was excellent. The hot fly that the fish seemed to be keyed in on was the prince nymph. Every fish I caught nymphing was on this particular pattern.

Fish of the Day
Prince Eater

I’ve come to know the fish on the Middle Fork as aggressive wild trout. These fish will attack a streamer with no mercy therefore I always make sure to bring a versileader so that I can strip some streamers. I was not disappointed with my choice.

Lil Streamer Eater

I also explored Nelson Creek a bit further upstream. I’ve read that Nelson Creek can hold fish up to 16” however I find this hard to believe. There seems to be a point in the creek where it becomes fishless despite all the beautiful runs and pools. My theory is that the creek blows out often during the run-off making it difficult for trout to inhabit therefore the fish that are found in the creek reside close to where the creek meets the Middle Fork of the Feather.

The Middle Fork of the Feather is an amazing fishery that seems to have changed very little despite the high water floods. The fish are all wild and you definitely have to work to find the good ones. I wish I could have spent more time on the river but I had to all to myself while I was there and what could be better than that.

Beautiful Middle Fork
Baum Lake, Hat Creek

Visiting Fly Fishing Country

Baum Lake Run

I wasn’t able to get out very much last month and haven’t had too much time to work on my writing, I blame it all on adulting. Thankfully things have settled down and I can finally get out and fish again.

June in my opinion is by far the best month to go fishing. This is the last month before summer kicks in and the fish and bugs know it. Many of the most famous hatches such as the Hex hatch and damsel migration occur during this month and the top-water bite for bass can be phenomenal.

My wife and I just recently purchased a new SUV more suited for our outdoor adventures and I believed that it was my job to put it to the test. The Cassel/Burney area was my destination and I planned on visiting both Baum Lake and Hat Creek.

Pelicans Stalking Me

This is my second visit to Baum Lake. The fishing was so much fun the last time that I just had to do it again. The lake is accessible and pretty easy to figure out even for a novice angler. You will need to bring some sort of floating device like a float tube or pontoon to effectively fish the lake because it moves like a very slow spring creek. A pair of waders also goes a long way because the lake is spring fed meaning it remains cold all year around.

I caught fish all day on Baum Lake using a variety of methods: dry flies, indicator nymphing, and slow strips got the job done. In the morning around 10am there was a good Trico hatch/spinner fall that had several pods of fish rising to the surface. I didn’t have an exact Trico pattern match so I jumped the gun and threw on the closest thing I had in my fly box, a size 16 mosquito dry. To my surprised the fish were very receptive to my dry fly and I rose several fish for the couple of hours that they were feeding.

Baum Bow
Nice Brownie

After the dry fly bite died down in the afternoon I switched to indicator nymphing and caught many more fish. The quality of fish this trip was consistently good however I didn’t see or catch any monsters like I did during my first visit. Still, the fishing was great and the catching was fun.

Hat Creek

All my visits to Hat Creek have either been a hit or a miss. Sometimes the fishing will be really good and the fish aren’t as picky and then sometimes the fishing will be extremely difficult with fish ignoring every offer you throw at them. The first night around 8pm there was an epic PMD hatch in the lower section where I hooked fish but was only able to land one. It was like heaven being alone in the middle of the creek during last night with what felt like hundreds of fish rising to feed on duns.

The following day I tried a different spot closer to the Powerhouse Riffle hoping that the same PMDs would be hatching. In the late afternoon I found fish along the edges rising for small size 18 yellowish mayflies. I didn’t have any thing that size in my box but tried anyway and failed to interest any fish. In the evening instead of PMDs I got Yellow Sallies both depositing eggs and hatching. I didn’t have any Yellow Sally patterns and struck out my last night.

The new SUV definitely did its job. I was able to get through unmaintained roads that I would have never been able to get through in my Altima. I also slept in the new SUV and found it much more comfortable with plenty of room to spare. Now that I have a better vehicle I want to plan a trip to a place fly anglers consider the Holy Cathedral of rivers, the Lower McCloud.