Pit River

• Year-round
• Walk/wade

The Pit River below Lake Britton dam has the highest catch rate and most consistent fishing of all the streams in northern California. One reason for the excellent fishing is the physical difficulty involved in fishing the Pit. Flows bottom out around 300cfs in the fall, which means the river flows very fast year round. Combine the swift current with slippery boulders and thick streamside vegetation and you have some truly difficult conditions. If we were to rate rivers on their level of wading difficulty, the Pit River would be an 11 on a scale of 1 to 10!

If you're up for the physical challenge, we would love to guide you on this great fishery. Once you get in place to fish a nice piece of water, it's rare to not find fish! When the Pit River is fishing at its best, anglers hook multiple fish in each small pocket.

Thirty miles of river provide endless opportunities to get away from other anglers. There are parts of the river right alongside a paved road as well as portions that require a strenuous hike to access. No matter where you choose to fish, you are likely to be rewarded with strong, wild rainbow trout pulling on the end of your line. The Pit fishes best from April through mid-July and again from mid-September through December. Mid-summer can be excellent, too, especially if the weather is not overly hot. Dry fly fishing is good mid-day early and late in the season and is excellent on summer evenings. Most of the time we fish with nymphs on the Pit. This river is an excellent place to learn various nymphing techniques, including indicator and indicatorless techniques.

Most of our Pit River trips originate from Burney, Fall River Mills, or Redding. Guides Brian Kohlman and Mike Wright do most of our Pit River guide trips.