Pit River
Below the Pit powerhouses (Pit 3/4/5), Fall River Mills to Big Bend · near Fall River Mills · Shasta Cascade
Fishing · Rivers & Whitewater
At a glance
- Difficulty
- advanced
- Best season
- Year-round; best spring and fall (PG&E-controlled flows)
- Season
- Dam-release windows · Section-dependent
Permits and booking
- Licence required
- Yes
- Licence detail
- CA license (16+). Special/wild-trout-style regs by reach: general season (late April-Nov 15) allows limited harvest; the rest of the year is 0-limit, no bait, barbless. Pit 3 is stricter (2 fish, 18-inch minimum, no bait, barbless). Verify the exact reach rules in current CDFW regs. Monitor real-time flow releases before wading.
- Permit
- PG&E dam-controlled reaches (Pit 3, 4, 5) in the volcanic country east of Redding. Release-dependent flows. Primarily an experienced-kayaker's river with excellent, uncrowded Class III–IV.
What is here
- Features
- Big wild trout in powerhouse tailwaters · Widely called NorCal's hardest river to wade · Low pressure due to brutal access · Flows increased under FERC relicensing
- Activities
- kayaking · self-guided
Worth knowing
- Dogs
- Allowed
- Good for a first timer
- No
- Minimum age
- Experienced / adult
Guides, rentals and operators
- Outfitters
- Experienced-kayaker / self-guided runs
Fishing detail
- Water type
- river
- Water
- fresh
- Methods
- Fly
- Boat
- shore
- Target species
- Big wild rainbow trout · Wild brown trout
- Nickname
- The Pit
- Intl tip
- Big wild trout, brutal wading - studded boots, a wading staff, and a belt are mandatory, and never fish it alone. Check PG&E flow releases before you go. Regs vary by reach (Pit 3 is strictest). Solitude is the reward.
Rivers & Whitewater detail
- Nickname
- The Volcanic Sleeper
- Class min
- III
- Class max
- IV
- Trip options
- Day runs on dam-release reaches (Pit 3, 4, 5) · Experienced boaters
- Key rapids
- The Pit 5 reach · Volcanic springs inflow
- Intl tip
- The Pit country holds Burney Falls (McArthur-Burney Falls State Park — Teddy Roosevelt's 'Eighth Wonder of the World') and the spring-fed Hat Creek and Fall River, legendary fly-fishing waters. Combine with Lassen Volcanic National Park to the south for a wild volcanic-NorCal trip.
The guide
The Pit River is Northern California's rite of passage - a series of powerhouse tailwater reaches in a rugged volcanic canyon t…
In the Guidebook
Everything above is yours for free. The written guide to Pit River — what it is actually like, and what we would tell a friend before they went — comes with the Guidebook.
Getting there
- Coordinates
- 41.01, -121.8