Hot Creek Flyfishing Ranch

The Hot Creek Flyfishing Ranch is located in the beautiful Eastern Sierra of California. 

The majestic 11,546-foot Mammoth Mountain acts as a back-drop to a sprawling 

meadow of 300 acres of land located at its base. The spring creek, they call Hot Creek, 

ribbons its way back and forth through this vast expanse of wildflowers, and tall meadow 

grasses. When Zane Grey visited this place forty years ago, he summed it up best. "This is 

the most beautiful place in the Eastern Sierras that I have seen yet." We agree.  We think you 

will too. This place is the Hot Creek Ranch.



Hot Creek originates right out of the ground in the classic spring creek fashion. Millions of 

gallons of clear, cold, water spewing forth from a fissure of lava rock created millions of 

years ago. A combination of eleven different springs make up the spring creek that flows 

through the Hot Creek Ranch. It is good habitat for trout and all different types of wildlife. 

The wild rainbow and brown trout now are the primary attraction.



It all adds up to the finest dry-fly fishing in the country.



In the early days, the land was a favorite summer home to the Paiute Indians who

 wandered the banks of the spring creek collecting seeds, and herbs for their 

medicines and teas. Tall wild grasses were used for their baskets, and obsidian rocks

 were collected from the nearby mountains to help them shape their arrowheads.

The valley was homesteaded by a family that had 

direct descendants to these Paiute Indians in the middle to late 1800's.  A small

 log cabin stands there today in the center of the ranch compound that is still referred

 to as the Tom Poole cabin. Tom, you see, was considered the original settler of the 

Hot Creek Ranch property. When the Los Angeles Dept. of Water and Power was 

buying up most of the land in the area for its water exportation projects, Tom held 

firm and said, "no way."  We are all in a debt of thanks to Tom for his foresight and 

decision. That was in a sense the first of many untraditional decisions made by the

 Hot Creek Ranch to come in the next four decades.  In the early 1950's un-traditional 

decisions were made concerning the fishery that still hold true today. We changed

 the regulations on the Ranch to catch and release flyfishing. They thought at that time,

 we were not sane. Then we followed with a "dry-fly only" method of flyfishing.

 Again, the heads were shaking in disbelief. In the 1960's when the cattle were

 removed from the riparian habitat that surrounds the spring creek, the echoes of 

despair can still be heard to this day.  My how things have changed over the past 50 years.

Looking back four decades, we are still pleased to be able to offer you something 

that has not changed. The angling tradition of the Hot Creek Ranch, a quality flyfishing 

experience, and a beautiful spring creek that still to this day relatively has gone 

un-changed in those past four decades. Something we are all very proud of...........

As a result to all of this, we have one of the most spectacular fly-fisheries in the country,

 if not the world. Brown Trout and Rainbow Trout in excess of 20 inches are not 

uncommon; 14 to 15 inch trout are the rule rather than the exception; and 12 to 13 inch

 trout are standard. Are they smart? You bet they are. The constant abundance of Mayfly,

 Caddisfly, and Stonefly make their selectivity very high. Come challenge your flyfishing 

skills. Come fish the Hot Creek Ranch. The Hot Creek Ranch also offers something else: 

The serenity of the Eastern Sierra with a clear view of Mammoth Mountain and the 

Minarets in the background, bald eagles, and osprey flying overhead, and the gurgle 

of a crystal clear spring creek at your feet.  The Hot Creek Ranch offers nine superbly 

maintained and fully equipped all electric housekeeping cabins. We also offer guide 

service. We are small and unique. You must have a reservation at the Hot Creek Ranch 

to flyfish the Hot Creek Ranch. The Hot Creek Ranch season is from the last Saturday

 in April to November 15th. We hibernate in the winter........

Come fish with us.





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Hot Creek Ranch

Rural Route 1 Box 206

Mammoth Lakes, California. 93546

Phone: (888) 695-0774





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