McCloud River, Non-Yak

Hey all, my brother and I split from our family that was camping in Redding and camped overnight at Ash Camp on the lower McCloud river this past Thursday with the hopes of catching some beautiful redband rainbow trout.  The scenery was simply incredible and the fishing was definitely good-although we happened to be there at a time of high water release courtesy of PG&E.  Fished at the river spot directly in front of our campsite on the first night with no luck, although fish were striking the surface everywhere.  I was fishing using a conventional setup, throwing spoons and spinners while my brother busted out the fly-rod and threw some dry-flies.  Despite our efforts and the hungry fish all around us, we had no luck the first night 

Second day we got a late start and explored some new fishing spots off of the less-traveled trails that split off towards the river from the nearby Pacific Crest Trail.  During the late morning through afternoon we did not catch any trout, although we did see a dozen or so 10" fish swimming around in one of the big pools about a quarter mile downriver at a spot known as the "Otter Hole."  We realized that this should be a good spot due to its direct downstream location from a roaring section of rapids.  Our guess was that these fish were accustomed to the ever-changing flows on the river and that they were either wise enough to wait in the slow moving current of the big pools before carrying on upstream or they were simply unable to get past this particular section of rapids-either way, there were definitely fish holding here.  After a bunch of casts with only one unenthusiastic bite from a small trout, we decided to come back in the evening when the fishing should pick up. On the way back to our campsite for dinner we heard a good size rattlesnake rattling away, giving us a fair warning not to get too close (despite the warning, I still managed to get close enough to snap a good picture).  And if that wasn't enough rattlesnake action, I spotted a little 12" rattler within throwing distance of our tent once we were back at camp.  A little unnerving to say the least. 

Once 5 o'clock came around I decided to check out the Otter Hole once more while my brother chose to fish in the little riffles directly next to our campsite.  We agreed that if both of us caught at least one fish that we could consider it a successful fishing excursion and leave the campground that night.  If we did not end up each catching a fish, we would stay another day until we both accomplished this goal.  After about 10 minutes of throwing my trusty gold kastmaster in the Otter Hole I hooked into a beeauuttiifuull 13-14" redband trout and managed to land him fairly quickly (see pictures below).  Shortly after catching, and releasing, this trout I felt content and began to worry about my younger brother wading upstream in the high-flows alone.  After several more casts I decided it was time to pack up and leave, but just as I was getting ready to go I look up the trail and see my brother and my dad with his girlfriend coming down to join me in the fishing.  I found out from him that he also caught a redband and was as stoked off of it as I was.  It was my first wild rainbow and it was truly a great experience.  We continued fishing on the otter hole, I got another bite and lost my lure on the hookset  , felt pretty guilty about that one.  Lend my rod/reel to my Dad's girlfriend who managed to snag my only other kastmaster in a few casts.  Spoonless, and disappointed in the effectiveness of my spinners, I left the fishing up to my brother who ended up catching two good-size redbands on a dry-fly.  We kept one of my brother's fish to eat the next morning and released the rest.  It is a natural fishery and, although it is not a mandatory catch-and-release river, fishermen and strongly encouraged to do so.  Next time we visit I do not plan on keeping any trout...although it did taste very good. 

Everyone should take a trip out to this river, especially if you fly fish.  The river is emerald green in the deep pools and has unmatched water clarity  .  No room for kayak fishing though, but if you can bare the five to six hour drive from the bay area the scenery is worth it alone.  Camping is free and it will not be a trip you will regret.  Season is from April to November, rainbows being caught all of the time and occasionally the big brown trout on its way upriver from Lake Shasta can also be hooked.  I am definitely up for planning another trip, and carpooling, if anyone else is interested let me know and check out the pics below!  Thanks for reading.

Beautiful report H-o-F!  Glorious fish and water for sure.  I might have to do some exploring of new water.

That is my favorite type of fishing (although I can do without the rattlers) and I'm leaving Thursday for 4 nights of it.  I won't be up in that neck of the woods, but it looks very similar.  In fact, I'm concerned about the flows where I'm going because they're 7X higher than they normally are.

Great story and photos!

Those gem waters can be tough to fish but it is worth it to catch just one. Natural beauties.

Great report/pics.,those are some beautiful trout up there.

great report HoF, i love that area, except for the damn rattle snakes, have done alot of fishing there, used to camp at ah-di-na alot, especially in late october for the october caddis hatch and the brown trout run, have hooked some big browns there on sinking lines and large caddis larvae flies, there used to be a group of guys i would see there every year when i would camp around halloween that would get dressed up and go trick or treating for beers or flies, lot of good memories in that canyon, thanks for bringing them back, and congrats on your first wild fish, cameron

Great report and grats on the beautiful fish.  That's one of the most beautiful and pristine stretches of river in norcal. I was at the Nature Conservancy stretch a few weeks ago and did really well on dries, what a blast. Skip the large fly shop in Redding and check in at the Ted Fay Fly Shop in Dunsmuir if you want the hot flies.

Awesome report and pictures bro. Thanks for sharing.

Jedmo

Very nice, thanks for sharing.  With all this snow melt I think flows will be high for at least another month. 

Thanks for all of the compliments, and yes I did check out the Ted Fay Fly Shop...Bob is a super cool guy! It's funny, the only reason we decided to take the additional hour and a half drive up to the McCloud is because the Upper Sac was blown out due to a big snow melt on account of the hot weather they have been having lately.  If the water conditions had been more favorable on the Upper Sac we would have just fished all along that area, but I am glad we found out about this semi-remote spot.  Definitely need to visit this spot again.

Thanks for the report. Makes me want to get back up there.
Jarod

yes I did check out the Ted Fay Fly Shop...Bob is a super cool guy!

Bob is the man, I stop in and buy a few flies even though I tie my own just to support the shop. I'll be seeing him Friday, got a call from a guide friend, flows down on Pit#1 and he gave me first shot at getting in there...amazing what a couple of Ling fillets can do! If you can ever do it, grab a fly rod and get on Pit#1 with one of the 3 guides that have permits, you will be amazed. In Norcal Size/strength of fish only rivaled by the Keno Stretch of the Klamath, IMO. I'm F-ing psyched.