Included in your ranch package at Antelope Creek Ranch are accommodations and access to all the ranch facilities.

Not included in your ranch package at Antelope Creek Ranch are fishing license, waders, rods/reels, and terminal tackle (flies, tippet, etc.) These items are not available at the ranch, so you’ll want to bring your tackle and equipment with you, and plan on purchasing your California Fishing License ahead of time.

The Fly Shop® is not in the insurance business, but we recommend Travel Guard (AIG) and Global Rescue (IMG) coverage as a service with a desire to see your best interests protected. It is impossible to know when an unfortunate situation (loss of luggage, fly rods, illness in the family, or an accident) may occur. However, such things can and do happen, and this insurance can provide a means of recourse against non-refundable financial losses.

• Travel Insurance Information

Non-fishing companions have the run of the entire ranch and as much of the surrounding countryside as they'd like to cover for hiking and relaxing. There are three superb golf courses (Mount Shasta Resort, Shastina, and Running Y) less than an hour away in opposite directions, and it is less than an hour to two of the finest bird watching areas in the Pacific flyway (Meiss Lake Tule Lake National Wildlife Refuges). Herds of antelope dot the nearby National Grasslands, and the wonders of both the Lava Beds National Monument and the surrounding Klamath National Forest are too numerous to list. Other non-angling guests may simply choose to relax in their room, on the patio, or yield to the temptation of the always inviting streamside hammock.

May and June:
In May and June the high (5000') altitude translates to cool mornings and evenings. Hatches aren't heavy in the creek or either of the two trophy trout lakes until late in the morning, when the sun hits the water solidly, its warmth stimulating the insect activity - and the trouts'! Fish feed actively all day long and leeches, streamers, and nymphs are very effective throughout the day. The single most effective dry fly and nymph fishing in the stream are small mayfly imitations, while standard damselfly or water boatman patterns work well in either of the two lakes. Slowly retrieved streamers and small, bead-headed patterns are equally productive.

Midges are very active in the spring months, and imitations continue to work well every day of the season. Sometime early in June there is a migration of termites that moves through the high mountain forests. Trout begin rising with apparent abandon to beetles and ant patterns that resemble the termites.

Moreover, the water boatman that begin to hatch in early to mid June is one of the most exciting stillwater hatches you will every come across. The water boatmen are very fast and have the unique ability to both fly and swim, which enables them to tantalize the trout into very aggressive takes. Once you've experienced the water boatman hatch at Antelope Creek's lower lake you'll want to come back year after year.

The ranch comes alive with wildlife during this time of year, and it isn't unusual to have dozens of mule and blacktail deer foraging in the meadow adjacent to the lodge. Bald eagles, osprey, Great Blue Herons, and a non-stop migration of songbirds add color and sound to every spring day.

July and August:
July and August at Antelope Creek Ranch contrast dramatically with the scorching summer weather of the Sacramento Valley. The high (5,000') ranch elevation generally supplies the most pleasant and consistent mid-summer weather in Northern California. At the same time, the terrestrials start to come out, and grasshoppers blown into the lakes and the stream become a prime item on the trout menu in mid-summer. Leeches, streamers, midges, callibaetis nymphs and dry flies, beetles and ant patterns remain a staple in every Antelope Creek fly box.

September and October:
September and October are spectacular at our ranch from both a fishing and a visual perspective. The groves of aspen turn brilliant shades of yellow, contrasting vividly with the evergreen forest. Hunting is not allowed on the ranch and herds of deer, intuitively knowing that they are protected, congregate on the property. The fishing remains very consistent throughout the fall. Hatches are predictable and the selection of flies doesn't change much.

Antelope Creek Ranch closes October 15th until the following Spring. The ranch is reopened in May. Though the fishing remains productive until well after the first snows fall, use of the lodge is returned to the Michalak family and their private guests in mid October.

Accommodations can be selected (or combined) to match the size of each group, ensuring privacy and comfort. At the conclusion of each visit the suites and/or ranch house are thoroughly and professionally cleaned and sanitized.

Though the facility has room for sixteen, anglers are limited to no more than eight guests, and cohesive groups of five or more will be guaranteed the exclusive use of the entire complex and angling on the ranch.

A few points to remember:
The elevation of this ranch is too high for poison oak and poisonous snakes. This is a fire-prone region, so please be extra careful with any ashes from cigarettes on the ranch proper.