Hat Creek is now open to fishing year round.
Hat is a spring creek, it 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 the 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 their 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 still some great fly fishing to be had at that time of year. There are consistent hatches of tiny trico mayflies nearly every morning, and caddisflies by the thousands continue to emerge in the riffles at dusk.
Anglers targeting Hat Creek in the midsummer months generally focus on the hatches that occur early and late in the day. Admittedly, midday fishing can be slow, making midday siestas a nice relaxing change of pace, although die-hard anglers will often head to the nearby Pit River to high-stick its oxygenated pocket waters before heading back to Hat Creek for the evening rise. Combining Hat Creek dry fly fishing with Pit River nymphing can make for a great day of summer fishing, and likely without seeing another soul on either stream.
September, October, & November:
The Fall Season on Hat Creek is a favorite time of year on the creek for locals. Other North State Rivers get most of the attention and angling traffic, so it's not uncommon to have Hat Creek entirely to yourself to enjoy the morning trico hatches. Caddis flies are common during the evening rise, and there are even a few of the giant October Caddis to get the bigger fish in the creek excited. Dry fly opportunities abound, while dead-drifting nymphs – or even suspending dropper nymphs below big attractor dry flies – can also be quite productive.
On overcast days, there can be some phenomenal blue-winged olive hatches. These tiny mayflies respond to changes in barometric pressure, and hatch whenever a storm front moves through the area, stimulating some great midday dry fly action on all of our regional streams, including Hat Creek. For a real challenge, try to trick the finicky trout that live in Hat Creek's most demanding section of technical water: the clear, smooth micro-currents of Carbon Flats.
December through April:
The recent changes implemented statewide have opened up Hat Creek to fishing all year. Blue Wing Olive hatches during the winter should keep you busy chasing noses. During warm springs, be on the lookout for the Salmonfly hatch happening north of the Highway 299 bridge.
