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Knee Deep in Coffee Creek |
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"Sy Nome Waukit"
was what the Wintu Indians called Coffee Creek
before the catastrophe of the California Gold Rush came upon them. From its
waters the native peoples sustained themselves, in part, by fishing for the races
of salmon and Steel head that returned from the ocean each year to spawn in
the creek. The word's Sy Nome Waukit
simply meant "north fast creek." A perfect description of this
mountain free stone stream that descends from the highest elevations in the
Salmon/Trinity divide in These thoughts came to mind one Saturday morning last August as I made the
drive up Highway 3, headed for a day fishing on
Coffee Creek, my fly rod already assembled in the back seat. The ragged peaks
of the Trinity Alps stood stark in contrast with the blue of the sky. There
was not a cloud to be seen from horizon to horizon. The weather had been
holding steady, each day a mirror image of the day before. Over night lows
were in the sixties but by How Coffee Creek got its name was and is the subject of some debate. It was reported by Isaac Cox in "The Annuals of Trinity County," written in 1858 that, "The creek was named by the circumstances of a sack of coffee being spilled at its mouth." Other historic records suggest that the real significance of the naming of Coffee Creek was that the waters of Coffee Creek ran the color of coffee from the gold mining excavation upstream. Now, long after the Gold Rush the fast cold waters of "Sy Nome Waukit" run clear again. The gold miners are gone. The Native American peoples are gone. And since the establishment of Trinity Dam the wild runs of Salmon and Steel head are gone. What remains is a habitat for wild trout who's genetic origins are rooted to their sea going ancestors native to this drainage. Coffee Creek is a monument to the persistence of life in a natural
environment. It has become one of Coffee Creek heads in the Folks approaching the region from the north via Highway 3 from California
State Highway 96 in the Siskiyou County town of Yreka, find that Coffee Creek
Road intersects Highway 3 right at the bridge that spans Coffee Creek through
the little hamlet of Coffee Creek.Coffee Creek Road
runs west and parallels the creek for eighteen miles. It ends at a large
natural meadow near a Forest Service campground with the unimaginative name
of "Big Flat Campground." Here the stream is barley discernable
with the mountain meadow straddling the Salmon/Trinity divide. The first nine miles of Coffee Creek has several resorts and a sizeable amount of private property along its banks. Parts of the stream are posted, "no trespassing," so without permission only guests of the resorts or of the land owners, can fish. However, once it enters the National Forest, the bulk of Coffee Creek is open to public angling. The lower reaches of the creek runs through a rubble stream bed area punctuated by a few meadows where it meanders. Beyond the meadow areas of lower Coffee Creek the water cascades over relatively small rocks and boulders. There are a few spots where deeper holes have formed, but the bulk of the lower stream is comparatively shallow. The trout in this area will be found in smaller pockets of water where the stream has gouged out small holding water ranging from a shoe box to shopping bag size. Above its confluence with the North Fork of Coffee Creek, the main stem of Coffee Creek tumbles through a steep hard rock canyon with many sizable holes and waterfalls. The creek can be accessed in this narrow canyon stretch a couple of ways. Extensive historic and contemporary mining activities on the creek have created short access roads and established trails down to the waterline, and at points where side streams feed into Coffee Creek. These streams have cut pathways along their course where you can gain access the main stem of Coffee Creek by descending their banks. Coffee Creek is a classic freestone stream and its character is dominated by high seasonal runoff juxtaposed by extreme low water during the dry seasons. Life forms in the relatively inhospitable freestone environments are sparse so if the fish must be opportunistic to survive. Aquatic insect populations most commonly found in waters of this type are Stone Flies, cased Caddis, and May Flies. These comprise a major source of food for the trout population and the fish feed on them during all stages of the insect's life cycle. In addition to these aquatic insects trout are always on the look out for terrestrial insects that make the mistake of taking a dip. The most important of these are ants during the early season, and jassids and grasshoppers from mid-June into the fall. I prefer to fish with dry flies whenever possible but I have found it wise to carry a selection of flies that reflect the populations of aquatic and terrestrial present on Coffee Creek. The flies I like to use are Elk Hair Caddis size 14, Gold Ribbed Hares Ear Nymphs in sizes 12 and 14, size 10 black Wooly Buggers, Muddler Minnows in size eight, and a few black and red Ant patterns in sizes 12 and 14. It was When water conditions like this occur the trout don't just disappear. They don't have that option. Instead nature has endowed them with the ability to take advantage of conditions that insure their survival. It's what rainbow trout do best. As water temperatures go up, it's ability to hold oxygen decreases. Therefore if a fish is to exist in this environment they must find the cooler waters in deep holes or where cold water springs emerge into the stream. Or, they must move into more highly oxygenated water in and below white water. The trout can tuck right up into the bubble curtain for cover and oxygen. I was knee deep in Coffee Creek and it felt good to be alive. In my mind, no where on earth is there more beauty than found in the canyon of Coffee Creek. Spectacular snowcapped peaks' press closely upon the stream. Above, light blue skies with wisps of cloud pushed about by stratospheric winds created by the very mountains themselves. Towering granite cliffs festooned by Fir, Red Cedar, and Ponderosa Pine descend to the creek bed. The grey blue of a clean granite cobble mixed with yellows and ochres of chert deposit litters the streams bed, and every so often revealing the artifacts remaining from the California Gold Rush. All around me was the sound of rushing waters, fresh from its escape from the snowfields and high mountain lakes above. The sound of the waters movement is pervasive. My first cast was a short pitch upstream. The Elk Hair Caddis alighted upon the water then was swept down a little rapid only to collide with a tire sized boulders. Swirling around it, the tiny fly danced out of the current line, into a back eddy the size of a shoe box. Bam! Fish on, it jumped, then raced upstream fifteen feet through the little rapid, jumped again. Then the trout turned and ran right back at me, jumping once more at my feet. A magnificent display. This was an aggressive hunter. I brought that fish in as quickly as possible. It was Silver with a grey back and a broad slash of red, midline, running to the tail. It was thirteen or fourteen inches long with a deep belly. The fish was clearly well fed and in perfect condition. How did it ever fit into that tiny hole? When I released the fish, it had never left the water. I brought it close to my hand and with my hemostat turned the barbless hook out of the tip of its nose. The fish ran free. Under warm waters conditions it is a good idea to catch and release trout as quickly as possible and refrain from handling them. This reduces the mortality rate in released fish immensely. Throughout the day I used each one of the flies I mentioned earlier and all but the Muddler Minnows caught a fish. On this day the Muddlers may have been too big or perhaps I just couldn't put together a way to present the fly that didn't scare them. The fish were not finicky as to fly selection but once warned of danger they stayed down for quite a while. Casts were made upstream and then the fly allowed to be swept naturally into the short sections of white water that preceded each little pocket or pool. Strikes came quickly in this kind of water. I found that I had to stay in contact with the fly to detect the take and immediately take enough slack out of the line to set the hook. The fish, if not hooked, would eject the fly and make itself unavailable instantly. Short line nymphing techniques are well suited to fishing the pocket waters of Coffee Creek. On this day I found that every piece of water that could hold a fish had one in it. The largest was right at fifteen inches. It couldn't resist the size 10 black Wooly Bugger as it emerged from the bubbles at the base of a rapid to suddenly appear right in front of its nose. Mr. Rainbow thought he had it whipped swimming off with the foolish morsel until brought up short by the sting of the hook. To me it seemed an allegory for life. As I live in Trinity country, Coffee Creek is a short drive from home. But
visitors from elsewhere coming up to fish the Creek will find ample services
available in |
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KNEE DEEP IN COFFEE CREEK
