Best Walk and Wade Fisheries in Northern California

Top 3 walk and wade fisheries for the early season: "Out of the boat" options for the adventurous angler

It’s time to dust off the wading boots, spring is here and so are the first great opportunities to get out of the drift boat and stretch your legs for some boulder-hopping fun. Springtime fly fishing in Northern California is not complete without a trip to one of our world renowned walk n wade streams. The “early season” walk n wade fishing that takes place before the summer heat arrives can be some of the funnest, with little to no crowds and uneducated fish.

McCloud River

The McCloud River comes in at the top of our list for an early season out of the boat option. It’s sheer beauty in springtime is transformative. The first major hatches of stoneflies, mayflies, and caddis enjoying the increased warmth and sunlight, with a stunning backdrop of budding green river foliage and new growth all around. The month of May is often our first real opportunity of the season to go out and fish dry flies consistently throughout the day. Watching a feisty redband come up from the depths to inhale a chubby chernobyl will certainly get the heart pumping. We also like the McCloud River in the earlier months because it is ahead of the summer heat waves that cause the ice formations on Mt. Shasta to begin melting. Once this melt begins sometime in the summer, the river can become silty making the fishing more challenging. Early spring is a great time to get out and hike in below Ash Camp, or ply the more accessible waters around AH-DI-NA.

Hat Creek

Hat Creek is an easy early springtime favorite. The end of April into May and early June is prime time for this gorgeous little gem. Salmonflies, Golden Stones, and a plethora of Mayflies fill the air on a warming spring day. Again, this might be the best dry fly window of the whole season on this little stream. It is the most easily wadeable of all our Northern California streams making it more accessible for anglers with limited mobility. For the adventurous angler, there are miles of water you can hike and get away from the crowds. We especially enjoy hiking the stretch between Highway 299 and Lake Britton in the “wild trout” designated zone. It’s important to be stealthy, patiently stalking the banks looking for rising fish in ambush zones. You can also slowly pick your way through the riffles in the lower end of this stretch, and do not overlook the shallow water.

Upper Sacramento River

The Upper Sacramento River deserves to be on this list due to it’s pure variety and awesomeness. It’s important to note that flows can be a little too high at times to make early spring fishing ideal, as they are at the moment. This is not always the case. As the flows begin to recede, even at levels some folks consider to be far too high, the fishing can be beyond incredible. We find the fish pushed into soft water near the edges, sometimes in dense schools. This is when we typically catch the largest fish of the season on this river, as they are pushed out of their deeper preferred holding pools by turbulent flows. They are typically opportunistic during this time, making giant stonefly imitations an easy bet. To effectively fish the higher spring flows, you sometimes will have to cover lots of water often driving in between spots to maximize time spent fishing these softer holding pockets near the bank. It’s typically well worth the effort, and you will see very few to no other anglers while doing so.

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Preparing for the Spring Transition in Nor Cal

By Matt Formento • February 23, 2026

A keen angler is focused on the present moment, but also keeps in mind what’s ahead so that they are ready when the time comes. Don’t get caught with your waders down. Right now, steelhead are swimming heavy through our brains, and for good reason. We have at least a month and a half, maybe even two months of prime steelheading left in Nor Cal. Often, the last part of steelhead season is the best part. Fewer people out targeting them, warming temperatures turning on the bite, and both inward and outward migrating fish in the systems. Looking ahead, we know that the transition from winter fishing to spring fishing will happen sometime in March, and when it does, an angler should be ready. It happens fast. Typically, these first few weeks of spring fishing ushered in by the warming weather will trigger some of the best fishing of the entire spring. The portion of the trout population that are relatively dormant in the winter come alive and start feeding ferociously at the first sign of a good Caddis, PMD, or BWO hatch. They haven’t been pressured, and they are hungry. The month of March can mean fishing on the Lower Sac that rivals the fury of the egg-drop in October. While there is always a small chance of rain showers in March, usually the weather is nice, and either way the fishing is usually great as soon as the temperature warms up just a little bit. On the Upper Sac, March also marks the beginning of some angler’s favorite season on this river. We see great numbers of large lake-run rainbows enter the lower portion of the river from lake Shasta in March, some of which can rival the punch of a coastal steelhead. They are aggressive, opportunistic, and hands down the best fighting fish you will find in this river. The transition from winter to spring also often creates a small window of ideal flows on this river, where snowmelt from Mt. Shasta has yet to begin in full force, and the rains of winter have subsided. Other great spring opportunities abound in March, and sometimes anglers miss out on weeks of good fishing with no crowds if they are not prepared for when spring begins. The Feather River, Lake Shasta, and McCloud River should also be on an angler’s radar in March in addition to the Lower and Upper Sacramento. April and May are when spring fishing is in full swing on nearly every body of water in Nor Cal and is by all means a fantastic time to go fishing. However, if you like taking advantage of every good opportunity, the winter / spring transition time in March should not be overlooked. Usually water levels are ideal, fish are unpressured, and memories are made. In the fly box, having PMDs, BWOs, and small dark colored Caddis are the key to being ready for these early spring hatches. If the stars align, you might even see some pretty epic dry fly action.

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