Clear Creek Ranch

Much of this property is on the Kutras Ranch, protected behind locked gates since the gold rush, and opened for the exclusive use of The Fly Shop® clientele for the first time in 1989. We have been associated with the ranch owners (Kutras Family) since the 1960's and have had the pleasure of fishing there from time to time since then. You can imagine our joy when the family asked The Fly Shop if we would like to develop a private water program there. It has been one of our venues since the early 1990's. Just recently the family asked us to take a more active role in managing the fishing program and we eagerly agreed. We are going to be working all winter and spring to make an already great fishery even better. What fun!

In the center of the ranch, less than an hour from The Fly Shop®, there are 3 cabins for guest use. They're isolated from one another and when you rent one of the cabins it comes with the exclusive use of two miles of the stream. The Upper and Lower Cabins have comfortable bunks, and are furnished with a propane stove top, utensils, dishes, pots and pans, and picnic table insides, as well as a gas barbecue and deck chairs plus benches on the deck outside. There are flush toilets and showers only steps away from each of these cabins. The Middle Cabin is the owners' cabin and has an upstairs loft with two twin beds. and a fold-out couch on the main floor. The bath room is inside this cabin. The downstairs area is quite spacious and most or our big groups do all their cooking and eating here. There is a gas-fired fireplace, a swamp cooler and a remote start generator for lights. A propane refrigerator and micro wave oven round out the middle cabins amenities. You just need to bring food, a sleeping bag or blankets, pillow and fishing gear and you will be ready for a most enjoyable experience.

Clear Creek has a variety of water. Long, open pools, riffles, and pocket water lined with

Most of our regulars, when they leave the ranch, simply tell us they want their usual cabin over the same time period for the next year. If you want to fish this ranch in the early summer you will need to try for a spot before the beginning of the year, or get your name on a wait list for any possible last minute cancelations. If you wait until a few weeks before the season, it may be difficult to find available space in June or July. After the

Prices:
The cost of the daily rates (costs shown are per person) for the Clear Creek Ranch package are:
•  $175 per day (double occupancy - upper & lower cabins)
•  $195 per day (double occupancy - middle cabin)
•  $250 per day (single occupancy - any cabin)
•  $25 per day (double occupancy - non-angler in cabin)

This ranch was acquired in stages, the first being a dice game in downtown Redding in 1926. The Kutras Family purchased the last portion in 1954 and the rest is history. There are fenced in meadows at various spots on the ranch where you will see cattleor horses munching away in some years. This stream is not particularly large, but the under lying bed rock forces most of the water in this canyon to the surface, and as a result some of the pools are quite deep, and always crystal clear.

Streamside vegetation provides a cooling effect and also a rain of terrestrial insects of one sort or another. The elephant ears along Clear Creek are unbelievable in size and density. They also provide great cover for the trout. All in all this is truly a wonderland that cannot be matched in any private water program.

June and July:
Clear Creek itself is one of, if not the longest stream in California. Because of its long drainage it can suffer from snow melt right on into June. We usually do not open this ranch until the second weekend in June. The water volume and temperature will be higher in June than in the rest of the season. Normally, the stream will drop to summer lows by July, although in some years we haven't been able to open this ranch until July.

The elevation of the Lower Cabin is 1800 feet and that of the Upper Cabin is 2200 feet.

June to mid-July:
June fishing at Clear Creek Ranch means Golden Stones and various Mayfly hatches. This is the best time of the year for using buggers of one kind or another and larger nymphs that mimic the stoneflies. The water is quite wadeable, there is just more of it, and you will have an easier time not scaring the fish as you work around and in all the various pools. Many different types of nymphs will work this time of year and you can use the larger patterns easier in June than later in the season. The days can be warm, but the nights will cool down making those evenings on the decks a real joy. We encourage you to use fluorocarbon leaders and tippets, as you will be scraping stream side vegetation and rocks while casting. Be sure to practice your roll casting techniques before coming to Clear Creek. It will make your time here much more enjoyable.

From Redding:
Travel west on Hwy 299W for approximately 15 miles to the turnoff to French Gulch, which is the Trinity Mt Road. You will drive past Whiskeytown Lake and cross over Clear Creek before you come to the turnoff. Trinity Mt Road is just after you cross over the creek.

Drive north on Trinity Mt Road, through the community of French Gulch (3 miles), and proceed another 8 miles to North America Wilderness Academy (NAWA). You will be following right along Clear Creek until you reach the school.

At this point the road will begin to leave the stream and start to climb. You will go just 3/4

Getting to Your Cabin:

Lower Cabin:
Just down the road from the gate the road forks- take the left fork. Keep on the main road until you cross the first bridge. Now take a right and follow the road as it slowly climbs up the side of a ridge. At the top of the grade the road splits. Take the right fork which will take you down to the cabin.

Middle Cabin:
Just down the road from the gate the road forks- take the left fork. The road drops gently down the mountain, and as you come near the creek, the road will fork- again take the left fork! You will be driving along the creek for a bit until you come to a bridge. Just after you cross the bridge turn left. The road will continue along the creek, with assorted up and down grades. You will climb up over a ridge