Hat Creek
The best month to fish the Hat Creek is July. The month to avoid is May. Right now, in September, it is worth going.
- January: 74 out of 100
- February: 79 out of 100
- March: 80 out of 100
- April: 52 out of 100
- May: 51 out of 100
- June: 53 out of 100
- July: 88 out of 100
- August: 88 out of 100
- September: 75 out of 100
- October: 70 out of 100
- November: 74 out of 100
- December: 74 out of 100
GAUGE 11355500 · COLOURED BY SEPTEMBER
Month by month
| MONTH | TYPICAL FLOW | RANGE (P20–P80) | WATER | AIR HIGH | RAIN | SCORE |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 133 cfs | 121–147 | 44.2°F | — | — | 74 |
| February | 136 cfs | 122–151 | 44.0°F | — | — | 79 |
| March | 139 cfs | 124–151 | 44.8°F | — | — | 80 |
| April | 153 cfs | 136–187 | 45.4°F | — | — | 52 |
| May | 194 cfs | 136–235 | 46.7°F | — | — | 51 |
| June | 157 cfs | 142–225 | 48.8°F | — | — | 53 |
| July | 127 cfs | 114–159 | 49.5°F | — | — | 88 |
| August | 126 cfs | 107–140 | 48.8°F | — | — | 88 |
| SeptemberNOW | 120 cfs | 104–132 | 47.8°F | — | — | 75 |
| October | 120 cfs | 115–131 | 46.2°F | — | — | 70 |
| November | 123 cfs | 119–141 | 44.7°F | — | — | 74 |
| December | 134 cfs | 122–147 | 44.1°F | — | — | 74 |
WHERE THESE NUMBERS COME FROM
Flow and water temperature are medians of the monthly means reported by USGS gauge 11355500 over 2016-2025. Air temperature and precipitation are ten-year normals from Open-Meteo at this river’s gauge coordinates.
The window is deliberate. USGS’s own full-record statistics for a dammed river reach back before the dam — at Lees Ferry, to 1922, forty-one years before Glen Canyon closed — and describe a river that no longer exists.
Flow is scored against this river’s own fishable band of 126–139 cfs. There is no universal band: 8,000 cfs is low water on a big tailwater and a flood on a spring creek.
Water temperature is a ceiling rather than a weight. Above about 68°F a trout that is fought and released frequently dies anyway, so no month above that line is scored as worth booking, however good its flow.
The Hat Creek is at its best in July — water around 50°F, flows near 127 cfs.
← RIVERS GOING WELL IN SEPTEMBERRegulations, licences and access change without notice and are not reproduced here as fact — check the state agency before you travel. A median describes twenty years; it does not forecast your week. Source: U.S. Geological Survey, National Water Information System.