By Bruce Ajari ·
Recently, I took a trip to the furthest part of Northeastern California. The little town of Likely about 27 miles south of Alturas was our home for several days.
One of my friends knew the ranching family in that area and we were invited to stay at the family cabin. We met John Flournoy in downtown Likely and he took us for a tour around the area. At lunch, we went to the ranch house cookhouse and were treated to a great meal and conversation with about half a dozen of his employees.
After lunch, he showed us the route to the cabin. On the way, I rode with John and he told me that there would soon be five generations of ranchers since his niece, who just graduated from Chico State, was taking over one of the operations.
The cabin sat on the Flournoy property in Jeff Valley on a great little creek called East Creek. This is one of about a half dozen creeks that flow into the headwaters of the South Fork of the Pit River. The Pit was high and off color due to recent rains. We found out later that they had had 7.5” of rain in May.
East Creek was running high, but clear. Sadly, this creek had more water in it than the Truckee River did in front of my house. We fished the creek a couple of times while we were there and caught some smallish fish, mostly brown trout. We did hook several larger fish, but did not land them.
We had taken another friend’s boat to fish Blue Lake about 11 miles from the cabin. It turned out to be a smallish lake, but has some truly large fish in it. We used the boat to troll hardware and one of my friends used flashers and a half night crawler, the locally preferred method. My friends caught and released many rainbows and a few browns. Apparently, hardware is not my forte as I only managed a few fish.
At the end of our stay, we took a drive up to the entrance of the Warner Wilderness area and hiked to a little lake called Clear Lake. It is only about three-quarters of a mile hike into the lake. There we caught some rainbows in the outlet stream and brown trout in the lake. Carpenter ants were out and I had quite a few takers on that pattern and managed three to release to about 14 inches. One of my friends got a 16-inch brown from shore. Casting is limited from the bank, so we vowed to return another time with float tubes. It was a great place and has a campground at the trailhead.
FISHING REPORT
See Sightseeing for water levels.
Boca | Inflow is at 30 cf. and the outflow is 69 cfs. Powerbait, nightcrawlers and lures are all working. Fly-fishers have been catching some fish near the inlet with nymphs, streamers and dries.
Donner | Fishing has been fair to good. Kokanee fishing has been good. Nightcrawlers and Powerbait seem to be the main bait for shore anglers. Mackinaw fishing has been good. Fly-fishermen are catching some fish with streamers.
Lake Tahoe | All tributaries open from July to Sept. 30 only. Fishing has been fair to good for mackinaw. A guide is highly recommended if you are fishing for mackinaw for the first time. Toplining and shore fishing is fair. Most shore fishermen use inflated nightcrawlers.
Little Truckee River | The river is running low at 30 cfs. Consider fishing in alternative waters.
Martis Lake | Zero kill. Catch and Release only with barbless artificial lures or flies. Fishing is the best early in the season and again the fall. Smallmouth bass are now part of the fishery.
Prosser | Fishing has been fair to good. Anglers using bait, lures and flies have all caught fish. Fly-fishermen have done well near the inlet areas. Bass fishing has been slow.
Stampede | Fishing has been fair to good from shore. The ramp is not usable for larger boats. Nightcrawlers, Powerbait and lures have all produced from shore. Fly-fishermen have been doing well near the inlets with nymphs and streamers. The Kokanee fishing has been fair to good for those getting out. Smallmouth bass fishing has been fair.
Truckee River | Not flowing out of the lake at Tahoe City. The flows through Truckee are at 13 cfs as and the flow from Boca downstream to the state line is running at 102 cfs. Fish are at higher stress levels. Be mindful of this and give the fish a break. Target alternative water and other species such as bass or carp.
Other Waters | Davis and Frenchman Boat, shore and fly anglers are catching fish. The damsel migration is now in full swing and Hexagenia Mayflies are showing at Davis. Some days the fish are picky. Get there now.
Bruce is a long-time area fly-fisherman and past president of Tahoe Truckee Fly Fishers. Visit TheTahoeWeekly.com to read more.
