Hazel Creek

[got2fish]

Troutdawg and I left on July 16th to fish Hazel Creek. We opted to canoe from Cable Cove Campground and camp at campsite 83 (the horse camp). We had a GREAT time and caught many fish on both Hazel and Bone Creeks. Unfortunately, the trip cost me a fly box and a camera. The camera and the flybox are both replacable, but the photos were not... I will try it again another time and pay closer attention to the camera!

At any rate, we were able to wrangle a few nice fish to hand. I managed to catch a 14-inch rainbow and a 12-inch brown (of course, other than my fishing buddy, I have no proof due to the loss of the camera). Both of us chose to fish wet most of the time using beadhead nymphs for most of the fish. I did tie a turkey wing pattern before we left. I tied it exactly like a flashback beadhead pheasant tail, but used a wing feather from a turkey I harvested last spring. It did quite well!

The 14-inch rainbow came on a beatle, and the 12-inch brown came on a #18 flashback copper john dropper, dropped of a #14 flashback pheasant tail.

On our way out, we ran into two anglers camped above us at camp 82. They had fished most of the trip with a large stonefly immitation. They didn't say what exact size, but did say it was rather large with a yellow belly.

Needless to say, we had a great time! Ask any question you like about the trip and I will be glad to answer...

Tight Lines- G2F

[gjbu]

Sounds like a great trip. About how long did it take to paddle across from Cable Cove?

[got2fish]

We were able to paddle across in about an hour. Of course we were lucky enough to have flat water. According to the GPS, we averaged around 4 mph. I am sure with a head wind, it would be much different.

[gjbu]

Thanks for the reply.

[out4trout]

It sounds like a fun trip. Did you use that one camp site as base camp or did you hike and use other camp sites along the way?

[got2fish]

We used the same site (83) as our base camp. It was easier that way because we didn't have to haul our gear to different places and set up camp again and again.

[budman]

Myself and a buddy are headed over to hazel creek in mid-september and I was wondering if you could answer a couple of questions for me.
1) how far up Hazel creek did you paddle before you started hiking?
2) what did you do with the boats while you you camping?
I've got a couple of kayaks and we are going to paddle over and hike up to 83 or 84 for a couple of nights. Any other suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks, Matt

[Speckleman5]

Matt,
You have to paddle all the way to the mouth of Hazel Creek to hit the trail. While I was there in May with a truckload of traffic, people had left their kayaks, canoes, bass boats, pontoons, and everything else tied up there and no one bothered anything.