Directions: The Upper North Fork of the Feather can be reached from Chester on Hwy 36. Turn NW on Feather River Drive by the Chester Fire Dept and stay left toward Warner Valley Road (Road 28N34), go 1.3 miles to fishing access behind Collins Pine Lumber Co., a series of dirt roads head south to the north side of the river. Another access site along Warner Valley Road is the next 6 miles to High Bridge Campground. Warner Creek can be reached from the High Bridge Campground by continuing 0.7 miles to (Road 28N34) turnoff. Turn Right and go 1.1 miles to Warner Creek Campground. Just past Domingo Spring CG , a gravel road 29N63 continues to the North Fork Feather and crosses a bridge , past Wilson Lake and continuing onto Hwy 36. |
Notes:
The season for the Upper North Fork Feather River is the last Saturday before Memorial Day to Nov. 15th. This is about one month later than the General Season to protect spawning rainbows from Lake Almanor. The Upper North Fork of the Feather River is fed by several small streams that originate from the snowmelt of Lassen Volcanic National Park. These streams run year-round as Spring Creeks providing cold, clear water to the North Fork. The North Fork passes through the town of Chester where it drains into Lake Almanor. Some of the best fishing can actually be within the town limits of Chester, with good access, for Rainbows and Browns. The major creeks feeding the Upper North Fork are Warner Creek, Willow Creek and Rice Creek. Most of these creeks have rainbows in the 7-12 inch range. Warner Valley Road (28N34) will take you west of town and follow the river with a number of dirt roads providing access to the river. About 5.4 miles from town, the road will veer to the right and follow Warner Creek. If you keep to the left, the road (29N63) will continue to follow the river reaching Willow Creek at 6.4 miles and reaching Domingo Springs Campground at 7.7 miles from town. Domingo Creek is a Spring Creek at the campground and quickly becomes a freestone stream as it flow fast through the rough terain. The creek has a nice population of brookies. The Pacific Crest Trail crosses the road just west of Domingo Springs. Again, numerous dirt roads exist to reach the river to the left. Just beyond Domingo Springs, you can take road 29N18 to the right and go northwest about 5.5 miles to the upper reaches of the North Arm of Rice Creek. This section of Rice Creek is a lava rock stream with deep holes and riffles. You can walk either upstream or downstream. Most of the trout are Rainbows in the 7 to 12 inch size class. This is good dry fly water using attactors in sizes 14-18. If you go straight on the road out of Domingo Springs traveling 8.3 miles, the road forks once again, taking the left fork will keep you on Rd. 29N63 and it will continue to follow the North Fork until it meets the tributary of Rice Creek at 13.0 miles from town. The North Fork section will have some large lava rock pools leading into riffles. Excellent Golden Stone hatches in June. Continuing on this road for another 3 miles will take you back to Hwy 36.
Warner Creek: Take the Warner Valley Road from Chester about 6 miles to the Drakesbad turnoff (28N34) and continue 1 mile to Warner Creek Campground. Warner Creek originates from the southern slopes of Mt Lassen at the confluence of the Kings Creek and Hot Creek, just outside the park. A historic community known as Drakesbad existed in this area starting in 1880 and had a hotel until it collapsed from heavy snow loads in 1937. Warner Creek is about 8 miles long and had an early history of large Rainbow migrations in the early Spring from the NF Feather. A fish trap was constructed in 1920 to collect eggs. CDFW stocked the creek until 2009 with about 1700 rainbows, particularly around the Warner Creek campground. Stocking was ended by 2010 and the creek was surveyed for consideration as a Wild Trout stream. Preliminary findings were favorable with good habitat for juvenile rearing within the neighboring meadow channels. Surveys in 2009 found about 700 fish per mile with an even mix of Rainbows and Browns. The creek is shallow, about 1.3 foot average depth and a 30 foot average width, but remains cool throughout the year. Consists mostly of flatwater with some pools. Rainbows and Browns, 7-12 inches.
Benner Creek: Take the Juniper Lake Road (28N42) out of Chester. The Benner Creek campground is 6 miles out of Chester. The creek is small and fast. The upper portion of the creek holds Brookies while the lower portions of the creek hold both Browns and Rainbows 7-12 inches. Brown Trout out of Lake Almanor use Benner Creek for spawning.
Willow Creek: Take the Willow Lake Road (29N14) from Old Red Bluff Road 29N63. The road turnoff is about 1 mile past the High Bridge crossing. This is a gravel road that skirts past the Willow Creek homesites and allows you access to the creek above the homesites. The road continues to Willow Lake with campsites. The lake is shallow and subject to Algea Blooms during the Summer, a peat bog is present along the shoreline. Fish the creek below the lake. Rainbows 7-12 inches
During May and June, expect to see Golden Stoneflies and Salmonflies. May and June will also have hatches of Yellow Sallies in the afternoon and these can continue through July depending upon flow and temperatures. A caddis hatch will start in June and continue throughout the Summer months during the late afternoon. Many will fish nymph patterns during the day and dries during the low light periods. Attractor dries such as a Parachute Adams, Parachute Madam X, and Royal Wulffs are very good here. The meadow section near Lake Almanor will have a Hexagenia hatch at the end of June, peaking around the Fourth of July. Callibaetis mayflies will also be hatching within this meadow section throughout the season until the end of October. During November, large Browns will enter the meadow section from Lake Almanor for their spawning migration. The area gets heavily fished with Streamers such as Wooly Buggers, Krystal Buggers, and Muddler Minnows during this period.
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