Big Chico Creek

Winter Time On Big Chico Creek

Big Chico Creek a tributary of the Sacramento River that shares a common trait with many of the Sac’s other tributaries in that it is open to fishing throughout the winter. The lower portion of the creek is open until February 15th and the upper portion above Bear Hole is open until April 15th. Big Chico Creek serves as an endangered spring chinook and central valley steelhead spawning ground making it an important watershed for salmonids.

Despite living in Chico for nearly five years I never took the time to try and fish the creek during the winter. With limited options due to high and muddy flows I decided to kill my curiosity and spent the day fishing Big Chico Creek.

Big Chico Creek Canyon

Big Chico Creek is the sister creek of Butte Creek. Both creeks can be found within a few miles of each other and carve through a tall canyon. One defining aspect that differs between the two is accessibility. Butte Creek sits in a small valley within the Butte Creek Canyon and has roads that follow it all quite a way upstream. Big Chico Creek on the other hand is relatively flat until you hit Bear Hole where the creek begins to become enclosed by huge basalt rocks and tall plateaus. Trying to access Big Chico Creek above Bear Hole is literally scrambling down the steep Iron Canyon until you hit the water.

The creek was flowing at 500CFS in Chico which was far from ideal however it was clear and had a beautiful steelhead green tint to it. I started my day fishing Five Mile covering as much water as I could both nymphing and swinging.
Summers fishing Five Mile can be epic fun with the smallmouth bass so fish are bound to be somewhere in this section.

I was hoping the lower section of Big Chico Creek would fish similar to Butte Creek in that there would be a few trout holding in the fishier water but I couldn’t find any. Knowing this terrible truth made me the jump the gun in exploring a new section that I had been wanting to check out, the Big Chico Creek Ecological Reserve at 14 Mile House Road.

Ecological Reserve Headquarters

14 Mile House Road is the furthest public access point to Big Chico Creek’s middle watershed. Similar to 10 Mile House/Green Gate the only way to get to the creek is to descend down about 1000ft into the canyon. It’s a short hike going down but a bit of an ass kicker coming back up.

The Crossing

After making my way down to the creek I found it flowing a bit higher than I had hoped. Not a whole lot of bank space but just enough to give a try.
The first section I fished had a nice deep pool but I couldn’t find any fish willing to eat.

Big Chico Creek Rainbow

I wandered around a bit exploring upstream and downstream with no luck. Too much water was the problem. I finally discovered a nice run that was fishable and hooked my first fish of the day. Nothing big but I wasn’t expecting any thing sizeable. I hooked a few more fish in the run but couldn’t land any besides my first.
I called it a day and hiked back up the canyon.

I bet this creek fishes amazing in the spring. Not a whole lot of fish but it was a beautiful day.

Butte Creek, Feather River, Yuba River

Visiting My Favorite Winter Fisheries

Winter can be a tough time of year to fishing due to the weather and streams being closed but where ever there are rivers or streams open I take the opportunity explore and fish. The Lower Yuba and Feather are the rivers I spend the most time fishing during the winter. Both rivers are about thirty minutes away and I have, for the most part, figured out their winter patterns and secrets. I will often try to make a few trips a bit further up north to fish Butte Creek for the solitude and possible wild steelhead. There’s always somewhere to fish here in Northern California!

Yuba Rainbow Before The Storm

Lower Yuba River
Last year I avoided the Lower Yuba. The new changes the flood of 2017 brought really hampered my love for what I would consider my “home water.” A lot of my favorite runs and flats above the bridge have been flattened out and though the river below the bridge remained relatively the same, many of the runs became deeper and more difficult to fish from the bank. The only fish that seemed to have survived the catastrophic flood were smaller fish which left the Yuba full of hard fighting dinks. I probably only fished the Yuba five times last year hoping that if I left it alone things would return to the way they were prior to the flood.

After a few visits to the Yuba this winter I’ve found that the fish quality has improved quite a bit. Rather than 6” – 8” dinks that were common last year I am catching the typical 12” – 14” rainbows. I haven’t had much luck fishing around the new structure but I know there are fish there. The Yuba still has a lot of flat areas but I’m holding out that a few good winter storms will carve up some new productive nooks and crannies. I’m essentially relearning the river again but working with less can be disheartening.

Combat Fishing

Feather River
In comparison to the Yuba after the flood the Feather River hasn’t changed much. The only riffles that I have seen change have been Outhouse, Mathews, Robinson, and Eye. With the exception of Outhouse riffle, all the other named riffles have been flattened out.

The hatchery section opened on January 1st and I fished it on a Monday two weeks later. This section appeared to have been hammered by all types of anglers since it opened leaving much to be desired. I was surprised to see ten fly anglers fishing the main run and about six gear anglers above the hatchery pipe on the day I fished. Combat fishing just isn’t for me especially if I plan on swinging flies. I left the hatchery section after covering water that didn’t have people holed up in it and fished below the bridge. I ended the day with three hits and one quick-release. A quick-released steelhead on a swing is worth ten in the net on an indicator in my books.


Pray For Butte Creek

Butte Creek
The devastation that was the Camp Fire left the Butte Creek Canyon a burnt mess. As I drove up to get to the area I could see the ashes of what was left of homes, fireplaces, and trees. I hadn’t seen the fire’s destruction yet and was mortified of what I witness. I left to fish the Feather in respect to the recovery of Butte Creek.

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