What’s Up with Hat Creek?
If ever there were a piece of fly-fishing water with the power to drive anglers mad, that would…
If you asked Chip O’Brien whether he preferred fly fishing or writing about it, it could go either way. As a kid, he fanaticized about learning the ways of the long rod, and his love for writing barely managed to keep pace.
O’Brien worked as a Northern California fly fishing guide for fourteen seasons and a Regional Manager for CalTrout. O’Brien currently resides in Spokane, Washington within easy striking distance of the Idaho Panhandle and Montana. He retired from teaching, fished all over the West, got bored, and now works in a fly shop in Spokane. He has been a contributor to California Fly Fisher since the early 1990s. His other titles include River Journal: Sacramento River (1996) and California’s Best Fly Fishing (2009).
27 posts
The Foraging Angler: Hoppyness is a Warm Dun
The procession from fishery to brewery is not only predictable, but surprisingly direct during toasty Northern California summers.…
Lassen and Modoc County Lakes
You expect to read about great places to fish in a fly-fishing magazine, but this story is going…
Sacramento River Synchronicity: Trout and Bass
Fly-rod anglers sometimes seem to come in two types. There are trout anglers, and then there are bass…
Breaking the Ice: NorCal Winter Trout Fishing
On a cool winter Saturday, would you prefer to be parked on a sofa eating Ho Hos and…
Manzanita Lake
Climbers are not the only ones who know what it’s like to get sucker punched by a mountain,…
How Not to Float Your Hat: Strategic Wading
We’ve all done it — gotten in a little over our heads while wading. Of course, most people…
Lewiston Lake
Sitting in a boat on Trinity County’s Lewiston Lake and feeling dumb is a specialty of mine. The…
Be a Fall Guy
When easterners speak of “frost on the pumpkin” to describe their fall season, Northern California anglers may find…
Going Home: A Keswick Reservoir Fishing Story
What I was about to do was foolish. I knew that. People already had questioned my mental stability…