East Branch North Fork Feather River

Fishing the East Branch North Fork Feather River

The East Branch of the North Fork Feather is a canyon river in Plumas County that keeps company with Highway 70 and the railroad from the Indian Creek and Spanish Creek confluence near Paxton down to Twin Bridges above Belden, where it joins the North Fork. It holds resident trout in long pools, deep holes, tailouts, pocket water and whitewater runs. Most of it is fished from highway turnouts, and many of those mean a climb down a rock slope. The top section starts near Paxton, close to where Hwy 70 meets Hwy 89, and runs down past Soda Creek, Dutch Creek and Hot Springs Ravine toward Twain. Turnouts here look down on huge pools, deep holes, tailouts and gravel and boulder bars, and the walking is mostly short. Below Twain, Hallsted Campground sits beside a big rock-bottomed pool; in 1990 the water just downstream of it was private. From there the river passes the bridge near Virgilia, where easy walking opens up water both ways, and the Rush Creek mouth, where there was a fish ladder and a trout planting road in 1990. Below Rush Creek it drops through 12 Mile Bar and the steep Serpentine Canyon, the least reachable stretch. It comes out near Mill Creek and reaches Rich Bar, with a fly run under the bridge, then a last few turnouts before the confluence at Twin Bridges. The trout are rainbows and browns. In 1990 Hallsted Campground was open from May through September, and the North Fork campgrounds just downstream ran from April to September or October. Beyond those camp dates, no month-by-month timing is known for this branch. The big pools are bait and lure water, fished from rocks and gravel bars. Fly anglers do better wading the riffles, tailouts and whitewater below the pools, or the run under the Rich Bar bridge. Stonefly nymphs, Elk Hair Caddis and PT nymphs fit this kind of water, and small nightcrawlers and spinners such as the Panther Martin work in the deep holes. Several turnouts have room for only a car or two, so be ready to move on. Regulations change and differ by section, so check the current California regulations before you go.