Clearwater Lodge on the Pit River

Clearwater is located in the heart of some of Northern California's premier wild trout waters, including the Fall River, Hat Creek, Pit River, McCloud River, Burney Creek, and more. There are options to fish any (or all) of these waters on your own, or with a guide.

The Clearwater Lodge on the Pit River is a magnificent Arts and Crafts building completed in 1921. Using lava rock and clear fir from the surrounding forests, skilled craftsmen created a masterwork of lodge architecture unique in California. Paneled walls and tall beamed ceilings rise above the clear fir floors. The original copper and stained glass chandeliers illuminate the Great Room. The Lodge originally served as the headquarters facility for the building of the nearby Pit One Powerhouse. It has evolved into a renowned fly fishing destination that has hosted anglers exploring the wonderful variety of trout waters of northeastern California for over 80 years.

The 100 miles of forested mountain country between the volcanic peaks of Mt Shasta to the north and Mt Lassen to the south hold the finest concentration of wild trout waters in California. Two remarkable spring creeks and three freestone rivers offer a range of fly fishing opportunities unmatched on the west coast. In addition to these five rivers, we have a number of smaller spring-fed creeks and stillwaters that grow rainbows of impressive size and beauty. Because these rivers are all within easy driving distance of each other, Clearwater guides often take guests to fish

The lodge is a 1920's era classic western fishing lodge in the heart of some of the west coast's best fly fishing. Located in a park-like setting on the Pit River, Clearwater Lodge offers fine meals and accommodations as well as guided fly fishing trips on the Fall River, Pit River, Hat Creek, McCloud River, Burney Creek, Baum Lake, and more.

The Lodge offers seven comfortable bedrooms in the main building, each features a queen or king bed and a private bath. Fly fishing prints decorate the walls and the rooms feature antiques and oriental rugs. After a day on the stream, you can look forward to excellent family style meals from a chef who understands that fishing builds hearty appetites. Modern amenities include wireless internet access and air conditioning.

A massive stone fireplace with cozy inglenooks on either side invites you to linger and relax. Comfortable Mission chairs and settles offer places for reading and chatting around the fireplace. The Library is the perfect place for relaxing with friends, enjoying a glass of wine, and sharing stories of the day's angling adventures.

Magnificent old sycamore trees create a canopy of shade on the wide front porch. There are chairs among the oaks and pines on the beautiful grounds for relaxing.

The Annex at Clearwater Lodge is located adjacent to the main lodge building, connected with a portico. The Annex provides European-style lodging accommodations, with six single bedrooms each with a twin bed, and two large shared baths. The Annex's spacious sitting room features a natural rock fireplace

Regulations were changed a few years ago to allow year-round fishing on the Pit River. While runoff and weather conditions can impact the river's fishability at times, the Pit River can provide some great walk and wade, classic pocket water fly fishing options through much of the year.

February, March, and April:
Late winter and early Spring fishing on the Pit River, if water conditions and weather cooperate, is terrific. There are hatches of March Brown mayflies and smaller caddisflies that can begin as early as February and run throughout March and April, topped out by Pale Morning Duns that start in mid-April. And the massive stoneflies even begin to hatch as the weather warms in April.

The fishing during these early months is largely dependent upon weather conditions and runoff. Fortunately, the river's flows are almost entirely controlled by releases from its many dams and powerhouses, so even on wet years it generally remains fishable through much of the spring season and the Pit has become our favorite early season fishery. Stormy weather can bring on some memorable Baetis mayfly hatches, while the warm, sunny days that mark the start of spring in the North State are quite possibly the best conditions for the fishing that time of year. The warm weather gets the bugs moving, and the more bugs are active the more responsive the trout are likely to be. We've discovered that some of the best dry fly fishing of the entire year comes on sunny days in March and April on the Pit.

May and June:
May and June have long been considered some of the "prime time" months on the river. As the weather warms in late spring and early summer many different types of insects begin to hatch on the Pit, creating consistent opportunities throughout each day to catch fish on both nymphs and dry flies.

The most important hatches on the Pit this time of year are the stoneflies. The massive salmonflies are the first of the stoneflies to appear, hatching sporadically throughout the month of May and sometimes into early June. They are followed by numerous Golden Stoneflies and Little Yellow Stoneflies, all of which can get the Pit River's wild rainbow trout rising on the surface. And even when the fish aren't focused on the flying adult insects, the pocket-water nymphing with big stonefly nymphs can be as good as it gets.

Hat Creek:
Hat Creek opens to fishing on the last Saturday in April and remains open through November 15. Hat is a spring creek, its flows mostly un-impacted by runoff, running clear and cold consistently almost every day of the season.

May and June:
May and June are generally considered the "prime time" months on Hat Creek. Starting as early as Opening Day (last Saturday in April), myriad insects begin to hatch on the spring creek, creating consistent opportunities throughout each day to catch fish on both nymphs and dry flies.

There can be so many different hatches coming off at the same time on Hat Creek during this time of year, it can be difficult to figure out which bugs the fish are eating. The most important hatches are generally the bigger insects, such as the salmonflies in May and Green Drakes in June, but the trout in the Wild Trout Section of Hat Creek will fill in the gaps throughout the course of each day feeding on little yellow stoneflies, Pale Morning Duns, and caddis. When the fish aren't readily taking dry flies, they can generally be taken dead-drifting nymphs under indicators in the riffle water.

Due to the prolific insect hatches in the spring and early summer, many of the more commonly known accesses on Hat Creek – such as the famous Powerhouse #2 riffle – can be quite crowded at times. Fortunately, there are plenty of fish to be caught and angler etiquette is almost always finely displayed. Still, for those wanting to get away from the crowds, our guides have a few tricks up there sleeve to access different sections of Hat Creek that see less fishing pressure.

July and August:
July and August are sometimes considered the dog days of summer on Hat Creek, but there is

Fall River:
The Fall River opens to fishing on the last Saturday in April and remains open through November 15. The Fall is a spring creek, its flows mostly un-impacted by runoff, running clear and cold consistently almost every day of the season.

May through Mid-June:
May and June are generally considered the "prime time" months on the Fall River because of the daily morning and evening hatches and profuse spinner falls. The largest spinner fall on the river is a heavy hatch of PMDs that begin to hatch in the morning and fall spent to the river and drift placidly down to pods of rising trout throughout the middle of the day. This epic PMD spinnerfall hatch occurs near the headwaters of the Fall upstream of Island Road Bridge.

It's not uncommon to see hundreds of finicky rainbow trout throwing caution to the wind and rising simultaneously during the heart of the intense PMD spinner fall on Fall River.

Mid-June through July:
June and July are two of the most popular months of the year on Fall River, largely due to the famous Hexagenia mayflies hatching at dusk and bringing the biggest fish in the river to the surface every night. Many anglers in the know plan their entire angling season around the arrival of these giant, bright yellow mayflies. Hexagenia are the largest of the mayfly species, yet are only available to the trout for a short window of opportunity from the middle of June through July when they emerge, right at dusk, to mate. Their nymphs are burrowing insects, living in the silty river bottom until their emergence each summer.

In spite of the hype and excitement that always surrounds the Hex Hatch, there are still some great midday mayfly hatches and blankets of caddis that swarm the river every afternoon. Often the best fishing of the Hex hatch event is actually casting emerging caddis patterns in the hour or two before the big Mayflies begin to show.

From San Francisco:
Go east on Interstate 80. At Vacaville, take 505 north. This will take you directly onto Interstate 5 near Willows. Go north on I5 to Redding. On the north side of Redding you will exit I5 onto Highway 299 EAST. The exit sign will say "Burney" and "Alturas". (Don't mistake the earlier 299 West exit.) Proceed about 65 miles east on Highway 299 through the towns of Bella Vista, Round Mountain, Montgomery Creek, Burney and Johnson Park. One mile east of Johnson Park, you will stop at the intersection of Highway 299 and Highway 89. Continue about 8 miles further east on 299 to a road marked by our large "Clearwater Lodge" sign at the Pit 1 Powerhouse Road. Turn RIGHT on the Powerhouse Road and descend the hill about 1/3 of a mile to the signed Lodge entrance on the left.

From Reno:
Leave the Reno Airport and head NORTH on Highway 395 to Susanville, about 90 miles. As you approach Susanville, follow the signs directing you to the downtown and onto Highways 36/44. Do not turn right onto Highway 395, on the outskirts of Susanville. Continue west from Susanville on Highway 36/44 for about 5 miles. Turn RIGHT on Highway 44. (There are no services on this road, but there is a rest stop about halfway to Highway 89.) Follow Highway 44 about 65 miles until you come to the stop sign at Highway 89. Turn RIGHT and proceed north on Highway 89 for about 25 miles to a four way stop signal where Highway 89 meets

It takes just a little over an hour to drive to Clearwater Lodge on the Pit River from Redding. If you'd like to fly private aircraft to Fall River Mills, arrangements can be made to pick you up and return you to that small airport, only about 10 minutes from the Lodge.

The Lodge offers seven comfortable bedrooms in the main building, each features a queen bed and a private bath. Fly fishing prints decorate the walls and the rooms feature antiques and oriental rugs. After a day astream, you can look forward to excellent family style meals from a chef who understands that fishing builds hearty