Lake Christine

This quiet 6-acre lake is less than an hour from Redding toward Mount Lassen National Park. It's easy to get to and is the perfect spot for a day of float tube fly fishing for brilliant rainbows and browns.

Access to the cold, clear, trout-filled Lake Christine is limited to very small groups and the lake is rested between anglers to ensure productive fly fishing and a quality experience. Like all of our Private Waters, Christine Lake is a prime target for self-reliant fly rodders that measure their day by elbow room and solitude.

Lake Christine opens to fishing with ice-out in the spring, usually around the first of March. The early spring fishing is mostly streamers on sinking or intermediate lines, and sight-casting midges to cruising trout. By early summer, the callibaetis hatches begin. And the callibaetis hatches on Lake Christine can come in epic proportions, sometimes two or three different

Lake Christine is known for its dry fly fishing because of the many weed beds and incredible insect population. This is a very easy ranch to access and utilize. You can drive right to the spot where you will be launching your float tube or pontoon boat. The 3000 foot plus elevation provides an ideal temperature for excellent water conditions and hatches. It takes the sting out of hot weather and it rarely gets uncomfortably cold.

We take reservations for Lake Christine anytime during the year. We start the season in March and keep the lake available until winter forces a closure, usually around the middle of November. In some cases you can make a reservation on any really warm winter day. The midges will be hatching and the lake's trout won't ignore them. As soon as Lake Christine ices out in the spring, the fishing can be great with streamers and midge pupae. By late spring, the lake's most famous hatch

Prices:
The cost of the daily rates (costs shown are per person) for the Lake Christine package are:

•  Fishing:  $135 per day
•  Occupancy:  maximum of 4 anglers
•  Tube & Fin Rental:  $12 per day

March to early May:
Cold and sometimes discolored water is the norm for the early part of the season. You can be fishing in rain and occasionally snow, or in beautiful sunny weather. It will be cold to cool at night and you may need to dress warmly during the day, although sometimes all you will need is a light shirt, and this can be especially true as you get into late April and May.

Usually hatches, especially in the first month or two, will be few and far from prolific. None of this means that the fishing will be poor; on the contrary, some of the best days of the season come in these early months. The fish are coming off of a long, cold winter and are ready to take on some calories. They are hungry, and this hunger can make them gullible at times, enough to make even novice anglers feel like a pro. They can be tough to fool at times as well, and knowing a few techniques for lake fishing will really pay off then.

March will mean off colored, cold water and you usually won't seem as many rising fish. However, they will slam those streamer type flies so you will want to have a good supply of various buggers and leech patterns. The larger sizes (#6-#8) can work at this time, but be sure to have some of the smaller patterns as well. Midges seem to be a factor every month of the season so having midge nymphs, emergers and some dries will be necessary. Something to remember is that when you are faced with cold water situations a slow to slower retrieve can be the ticket. That can be true when using these streamers and also with some nymphs. You can get away with heavier tippets in off colored water, but keep that slow retrieve on the back of your mind.

By late April and May the Callibaetis mayflies will begin to hatch, so you will want dries, nymphs and emergers of that fly. Crippled patterns seem to out fish dries by quite a good margin. There can also be other mayfly species hatching and usually these will be small (#16-#18) and light yellow, tan or sulfur in color. There is one terrestrial insect event you could see in May and that is an ant or termite flight. You will know it is going on because every fish in the lake will working the surface and you will catch more trout during the ant flight than at any other time on the lake. Carry winged ant patterns in May!

June through August:
Summer is always associated with warm to hot weather which means light weight clothing while on the water and maybe a warm jacket or shirt for the evenings, which are usually cool due to the 3200 ft elevation the lake sits at. This warmer weather also means that every kind of insect in the lake and

From Red Bluff (35 minutes):
Proceed east for 2 miles on Antelope Blvd. - Hwy 99E to Hwy 36.

Turn left (north) on Hwy 36 and travel 11 miles to the Manton Road (A6).

Turn left (north) on Manton Road and go 16 miles to the community of Manton.

Turn left (north) at the general store and travel 1-mile to the junction of Wilson Hill Road and Rock Creek Road.

Take the right fork( Rock Creek Road) and proceed 5 miles. At this point you will be on the top of a knoll or ridge -look for a large oak

From Redding (50 minutes):
Go east on Hwy 44 for 35 miles to the community of Shingletown.

Turn right on Wilson Hill Road and travel 7 miles to Rock Creek Road.

When you've reserved time at Lake Christine for the day, it's your own private lake from daybreak to dusk if there are least two of you. If you are a single we reserve the right to book at least one more angler on the lake with you. You are welcome to arrive as early as you like, and leave whenever your angling day is over. We would like to have you drive off the property before dark, mainly so you won't get lost on your way out.

When you arrive at the lake you may drive around it to the lawn area by the house. You can pull down towards the water and launch at that point. Set out your lawn chairs and make yourself at home. The lake's owners, Gary and Sue Young, are two of the nicest