Has anyone fished the Middle Fork of Stony Creek north of Clear Lake? I was reading about it on the DFG website and was wondering if it is worth a trip.
I called a couple of the local stores about a month ago and they said the only action around there was dirt bike riding and hunting until may or june when the levels drop. One store clerk said Stoney creek was pretty easly blown out. He said if Putah and Cache were high you could figure on Stony being unfishable. He also said he rarely saw fishermen on the creek at any time of year but there were a good amount of trout there. If you hear different please post here!!!! Paul
I fished Stony Creek last weekend and caught half a dozen rainbows. I only fished a small stretch however the creeks in the forest run for miles. I liked it and think it is worthwhile.
The road in from StonyBrook to get to the creek was one heck of a drive. You end up climbing 2,000 ft on a one lane(one and a half lane) semi paved, dirt gravel road. The road runs right by the edge of the mountain so you get nice views however it is stressful(at least for me it was). The road is also very windy with a lot of tight S curves(many blind curves). People take motor homes on that road(god bless them). I was fortunate that I didn't run into anyone going the opposite way..I'm not sure how you resolve that..not much realestate to back up on...
Once inside the forest, they have alot of ATV/bike trails and lots of folks doing that. Din't bother the fishing however.
So I liked it and think it was worthwhile. However the drive in was interesting If you don't mind some rough roading, the forest is
nice, scenic, and the creek is nice to fish. I only wish I could hav spent more time there...
Thanks for the report! I'm thinking of making my first time ever trip there this weekend. What did the flows look like? Was the creek within it's banks, above the banks, looking pretty reasonable? I'm trying to weigh whether or not I go to Hat Creek or here.
Water at Stony Creek was within it's banks and was running nicely. Very fishable. If you go, let me know how you make out and what you thought of the area.
OK, now I'm all fired up! I'll probably head toward Middle Fork Stony Creek this weekend, next weekend is the start of a one week vacation that will find me up around the Shasta area. It will be a couple days at Battle Creek Ranch, one day at Sugar Creek Ranch (gotta try it just once...), that will leave about 3 or 4 days for places like the Pitt, Baum Lake, Hat, McCloud, Upper Sac, or wherever the flows seem to be cooperating. The Pitt just advanced to the top of that list though. Aside from a brief expedition to the Hat on opening weekend I'm unfamiliar with that neck of the woods. A sweep or two with an acquarium net when I was up at Hat strongly suggested a big black stonefly nymph that day, I did OK with that down by the fish barrier, nothing bigger than 12" but the fish were wild and beautiful.
I'll be sleeping in a tent and eating lots of spaghetti to help offset the splurging at Battle Creek, Sugar Creek, and the tank full of 87 octane, oh the sacrifices one has to make...
If you fish the middlefork of Stoney Creek, a word of caution. . . In the evening the rattlesnake citizenry comes out to say hi, so don't stay for the evening hatch.
I was talking about the Stony Creek inside of Mendocino National Forest. I entered the park through Stonyford on Fout Springs Road.
I believe the creek flows out of the park and travels up to Stony Gorge Resevoir and possibly further up towards Black Butte Lake. I don't really think the creek outside the park is good fishing based on what I saw when travelling by it. I'm not sure however.
As far as snakes go, I came across a large black smooth skin snake that slithered by my foot and into a bush. I don't think it was a rattler. However I wouldn't doubt that ratttlers roam the park...
Well, I just got back and everything I read and heard seems to be true, including the bit about the snakes. I encountered a small rattler that was not too pleased to see me, though fortunately we parted company quickly with neither of us the worse for wear.
The Middle Fork runs up a canyon with very steep walls on either side and after a quarter mile or so of scrambling on game trails it gets very sketchy and difficult to maneuver. I fished all day and covered a few miles of the wild trout section, they could have designated this the catch, kill and eat all you can trout section and it wouldn't make much difference because of the difficult access. I saw 4 other people fishing and that was only very briefly as they walked by. The trout were all natives and for me ranged from about 5 inches up to 10 inches with most in the 6-8 inch range. I caught fish and had many many hits & misses on anything that looked like a bug, but mostly on nymphs. Copper Johns, brown prince nymphs, and gold ribbed hares ears caught the most probably because I fished them the most, but I also got them on stimulators, elk hair caddis, yellow humpy's and probably some other stuff that I've forgotten about. There was just about everything buzzing around, yellow stoneflies, golden stoneflies, PMD's, caddis, and terrestrials, though there wasn't any real surface activity until dusk when they really started going nuts for what appeared to be stoneflies coming back to lay their eggs. I didn't have my light so I took my best guess and caught a couple in the main stem below the bridge on a yellow humpy and a caddis just as it was getting dark.
I had a 7' 4 wt rod and that was plenty and allowed for better rod handling in very tight quarters, there were many casts were I just pendulumed the nymph into a hole, in other places you can cast a dry fly 40' without tangling as long as you can keep your back cast over the creek, under the branches, and don't mind casting side-armed. I varied things a bit and caught them with no weight, lots of weight, or middle weight and all seemed to work though the better fishing was right on the bottom in the larger deeper holes, with lots of takes at the tail end of the pools. Repeated good presentations seemed to be generally rewarded with a take, there seemed to be lots of fish in every pool and throughout all the rips. A 12 or 14 incher would likely be a very good fish for this creek. The South Fork is much smaller and didn't seem worth bothering with, though there may be some holes in the South Fork that carry fish. The North Fork is really just a trickle. Though I covered a few miles of the Middle Fork I really didn't see any difference in fish population or size as I made my way deeper and deeper into the canyon.
I fished a little in the main stem below North Creek campground and there was pool after pool through another difficult to access canyon with no trails. There may be larger fish down as there is more water, it still measured at 56 degrees, a couple degrees warmer than the Middle Fork but there's lots of cover and it's just one pocket after another, a thorough exploration would require another weekend trip.
Middle Fork isn't the place where you would go for a quick after work fishing trip, there's lots of travel time just getting there and once there you'll be faced with a lot of scrambling and potential ankle busting footing both on land and in the water, even if you fish the main stem. You definitely need waders here too, most of the time you're in the water or crossing it, there's no room to bank cast though you may be able to pull it off on the main stem. So depending on who you are and what type of fishing you're up for this could be a blast or it could be a nightmare, I really enjoyed it though.
Great report Jim! It sounds like this creek is fun but a whole lot of work. I have gone to Deer Creek on the other side of the valley the past two weeks, and while the fish are small there as well, there is plenty of room for casting and easier access. I caught quite a few fish, but 8 inches was the absolute maximum so far. It is also quite a drive to Deer Creek as well. It takes at least 2 and a half hours from Davis to get there.
Hopefully places like the upper sac will be fishable soon and we can get into some larger fish, but with the high flows, catching anything is fun, especially on dries.
Great summary of your trip. When I went out there, I didn't stray too far so I didn't see as much water as you did. Your comments on the rough terrain and access are right on the money. It's a great place to fish and be challenged, however it takes a lot of work.
If you don't mind some rough roading, the forest is
