The famous Wild Trout flat below Powerhouse 2 — a spring-fed, glassy meadow stream where California's whole wild-trout management idea got started. Cold, clear water and wild rainbows and browns that have read all the books, so this is hatch-matching with fine tippet and downstream presentations, the kind of fishing that makes you feel either very good or very foolish. In high summer it warms up, so do your fishing in the morning and let the river rest in the heat.
Hat Creek is where California decided wild trout were worth protecting — the section below Hat Creek Powerhouse became the state's first designated Wild Trout water, and it set the template for everything after. It's a spring-fed creek of the volcanic country near Mount Lassen, running clear and cold and even out of the porous lava, the lower 'flat' a smooth, weed-rich spring-creek glide where the wild rainbows and browns sip insects with spring-creek fussiness. The bed is volcanic sand, gravel and rooted weed; the water is glassy and demanding, every drift on display. Above the flat it's quicker, rougher pocket water over basalt. The geology is all Cascade volcanics, and the springs keep it temperate year-round. Wading the flat is a careful, often-resisted business on soft footing — mostly you wade slow, cast long, and accept that the fish saw you first.
Wading: Soft footing, glassy exposure on the flat
- Volcanic
- Unconfined
- Spring creek
- Pool riffle
