Included in your lodge package at Bailey Creek Ranch is accommodations, and access to all the ranch facilities. There is a two-night minimum stay.

Not included in your lodge package at Bailey Creek Ranch are food and beverages, fishing license, waders, rods/reels, and terminal tackle (flies, tippet, etc.) These items are not available at the ranch, so you’ll want to bring your tackle and equipment with you to the lodge, and plan on purchasing your California Fishing License ahead of time.

The Fly Shop™ is not in the insurance business, but we recommend Travel Guard coverage as a service with a desire to see your best interests protected. It is impossible to know when an unfortunate situation (loss of luggage, fly rods, illness in the family, or an accident) may occur. However, such things can and do happen, and this insurance can provide a means of recourse against non-refundable financial losses.

• Travel Guard Insurance

Non-angling companions are welcome on the ranch. All guests have the run of the entire ranch. Within an hour of the ranch is Lassen National Park and another 1/2 hour will bring you to Subway Caves on Hat Creek. Add 20 minutes more and you find yourself at Burney Falls State Park, and in between is the Radio Astronomy Observatory. Other non-angling guests may simply choose to relax in the lodge, play a game of billiards, enjoy the shade-covered deck and patio, or lounge beside the pool.

March, April, & May:
Cold and high water is the norm for this early part of the season. You can be fishing in rain and occasionally snow, or in beautiful sunny weather. It will be cold to cool at night and you may need to dress warmly during the day, although sometimes all you will need is a light shirt, and this can be especially true as you get into late April and May. Usually hatches, especially in the first month or two, will be few and far from prolific. None of this means that the fishing will be poor; on the contrary, some of the best days of the season come in these months. The fish are coming off of a long, cold winter and are ready to take on some calories. They are hungry, this hunger making them gullible at times, enough to make even novice anglers feel like a pro. They can be tough at times as well, and knowing a few techniques for lake and stream fishing will really pay off during the early season.

March will mean off colored, cold water and only the lakes can be legally fished. Anglers may not see many rising fish, though the trout are often aggressive towards streamer type flies so you will want to have a good supply of various buggers and baitfish imitations. The larger sizes (#6-#8) can work at this time, but be sure to have some of the smaller patterns as well. Midges seem to be a factor every month of the season, so having midge nymphs, emergers and some dries will be necessary. Something to remember is that when you are faced with cold water situations a slow to slower retrieve can be the ticket. That can be true when using these streamers and also with some nymphs. You can get away with heavier tippet in off colored water, but keep that slow retrieve in the back of your mind.

By late April and May the Callibaetis mayflies begin to hatch, so you will want dries, nymphs and emergers of that large mayfly species. Crippled patterns seem to out fish dries by quite a good margin. There can be other mayflies hatching and usually these will be small (#16-#18) and light yellow, tan or sulfur in color. There is one insect event you could see in May and that is an ant or termite flight. You will know it is going on because every fish on the ranch can be feeding on the surface and you will catch more trout during the flight than at any other time on the lake. Carry winged ant patterns in May!

The stream opens to legal fishing starting on the last Saturday in April. Bailey Creek has a good population of Golden Stones and Green Drakes. You may have action on Stonefly drys and for certain of the nymph patterns of both. Big attractor dry flies such as yellow humpies and stimulators work well, too.

June, July & August:
Summer is always associated with warm to hot weather which means light weight clothing while on the water and maybe a warm jacket or shirt for the evenings, which are usually cooler. This warmer weather also means that every kind of insect in the lake and stream is becoming active. June is considered Callibaetis month in this country, but you will see mayflies, caddisflies, midges, dragonflies, damselflies and the terrestrials (beetles and ants) throughout the summer season.

June and a good part of July can bring an amazing cast of insects doing their thing at Bailey Creek Ranch. We left off with a tip on the early season about always carrying winged ant patterns and that goes for the month of June as well. We have found that using callibaetis cripples is the best dry fly pattern for the callibaetis hatch. Midges are active every day of this season and here is another tip- watch carefully during this hatch and you will see that the trout are most likely taking the midge before it comes to the top of the water. They will almost always eat the midge when it is stuck in the bottom of the surface film (meniscus) and will ignore anything sitting on top of it.

Fishing mayflies and caddisflies in the surface film (using cripples or emergers) can sometimes mean the difference between success and failure. Streamer type flies will work, especially those that mimic damselfly nymphs, but you must use the smaller patterns. This season is terrestrial time and you will want to have beetle and ant patterns in your fly box. Beetles in size 14 and ants in size 16-18 seem to produce the best. These patterns will take fish anywhere, but all terrestrial fishermen know that these insects seem to like to fall off of trees and bushes that hang out over the water- enough said! One last thing you might keep in mind is to use a loop knot to attach your streamers or nymphs when fishing the lake, since it will help keep the fly looking natural and you can use a size larger tippet. Many anglers like to use a dry fly and hang a nymph underneath it, especially on the creek. Also, keep in mind that just going down to smaller size nymphs can really pay off in the stream and lake as well.

September, October & November:
All the information above about summer time fishing will hold true for a good part of the fall season. As the nights get colder and colder the hatches will get fewer and fewer, with the exception of the midges. They seem to hatch out everyday, sometimes for just a bit and sometimes off and on all day. Callibaetis will provide some action much of this season, but the flies themselves will be a size or two smaller than the June variety. Terrestrails will work in at least the first month of the Fall. During the first part of this season you can almost always get action early and late in the day. However, as the colder weather comes you will find that midday fishing is great.

Bailey Creek Ranch closes the stream to fishing for the season on November 16th of every year. The lake fishing is still fabulous and available until the opening of the stream the following April.

activity on one of the lakes or stream.

The fishing at Bailey Creek Ranch has been tailored with the self-reliant angler in mind. It is particularly suited for the fisherman that prefer the sense of accomplishment associated with a well-earned bend in the rod rather than the hand-held, guided experience. That said, guides can be provided through The Fly Shop for an extra charge for added instruction or assistance fishing on the lake or stream.

Guests will be responsible for their own meals, which can be cooked in the kitchen, as well as their own beer, soft drinks, liquor, and mixes. Ice tea, lemonade, and unlimited bottled water is always available in the outdoor refrigerator.

The ranch is located roughly in the middle of the property, with lakes and stream both above and downstream from the accommodations. The creek and the lakes are yours to fish whenever you wish, and all of the fishing is within walking distance of the lodge.

Guests are asked to vacate the lodge at 11:00 a.m. on the day of their departure in order to allow the housekeeping staff and to depart the ranch no later than 3:00 on the afternoon of their last day of their stay..

A few points to remember:
There is poison oak on the property and poison snakes are around, but almost never seen. The lodge is a non-smoking facility and guests are welcome to enjoy cigars or cigarettes on the deck or anywhere outside the lodge on the ranch. This is a fire-prone area, so please be very careful with ashes from cigarettes or cigars.

• Turn left (hard left) or east on Rock Creek Road and go ¼ mile to Battleview Rd.
• Turn left on Battleview and travel to Linman.
• Turn left on Linmen and go to where it dead ends in Battleview.
• Turn right on Battleview and go 100 yds to the driveway leading to Bailey Creek Ranch. Just past this driveway you will see an open field and house on a knoll.
• Turn left into the driveway and follow it ¼ mile down over Rock Creek. As you travel down the driveway to Rock Creek you will go past the home on the knoll. This is not the ranch. You must go another 300 yards to reach the lodge entrance.
• Just after you cross the narrow, metal bridge the road will fork. Take the gravel road in the middle that borders a steep bank. Go up the short section of steep, gravel road and then follow the driveway over to the lodge. (The gate combination will be provided to you upon receipt of deposits).

From Red Bluff:
• Turn right on Antelope Blvd-Hwy 99 east and travel 3 miles to Hwy 36.
• Turn left on Hwy 36 and go 11 miles to Dales Station and turn left on Road 6 (the Manton road). Follow the Manton road or Hwy 6 approximately 16 miles to Manton and the Manton store.
• Turn left at the store and go 1 mile to the junction of Wilson Hill Road and Rock Creek Road.
• Take the right fork and follow the direction details above from this point on.

From the Burney Area:
• Go north on Hwy 89 to Hwy 44 junction. Follow Hwy 44 to Shingletown and Wilson Hill Road.
• Turn left on Wilson Hill Road and then follow directions detailed above from this point on.