California · Spring creek · Pacific
Hot Creek — Mammoth
Spring creek with public-access reaches; regulations are strict. Not a secret.
California · public-access reaches. This page is what the desk knows about the water itself. What it is doing today — flow, water temperature, weather, and the hazards those produce — is a reading with a date on it, and it lives in Trip Prep.
Plan a trip on Hot Creek — MammothStores this page so it opens with no signal. Live flow and weather are never stored.
Who manages it
California Department of Fish and Wildlife
These links were checked against the live agency site on 2026-09-01. Rules for a water change inside a season, so the agency’s own page on the day you go is the only current answer — this desk does not hold one.
Directory review
Review provenance unavailable
The fleet directory names this water differently, and nothing records which of its records is the Hot Creek — Mammoth this desk plans on, so the desk will not borrow a review date from any of them. Linking them is a review task for the directory’s owner, not a guess for this page. The directory’s record:
The agency links on this page were checked on 2026-09-01; check the agency’s own page the day you go.
How access works here
Short public reaches, mostly walk-in
Spring creeks are small, heavily fished, and frequently bordered by private ground. Public reaches can be short, and some are fee- or reservation-managed even where the water is public.
Launch · Too small to launch. This is a walking water.
Parking · Parking is usually a small designated lot or a signed pullout, and it is genuinely limited. Arrive early or pick another reach.
California's Fishing Guide map shows public waters and access; many reaches sit on national forest or BLM ground.
Gauge
A public gauge is mapped
Flow and water temperature for this water are read from USGS site 10265150, Hot Creek at flume near Mammoth Lakes, CA. It is an official public gauge, not a fishing pin: it describes the river at one point, and the reach you stand in may be doing something else.
Species · derived
4 plausible here
Derived from water class (spring creek) and Pacific range — not a stocking record. Confirm species, seasons and any closures with California Department of Fish and Wildlife.
Rainbow trout
52–64°F published preference · handling becomes a conservation problem at 68°F
Cutthroat trout
48–62°F published preference · handling becomes a conservation problem at 66°F
Brown trout
54–67°F published preference · handling becomes a conservation problem at 68°F
Steelhead
46–61°F published preference · handling becomes a conservation problem at 70°F