McCloud River

On The McCloud

The McCloud River is perhaps the most famous fly fishing river in California. The McCloud is renown for being one of the most magnificent streams in the state as well as being home to the world famous McCloud River strain of rainbow trout. The McCloud’s rainbow trout have been stocked all over the world such as Jurassic Lake and New Zealand where they have been known to grow into monster sizes. I’ve spent several years exploring and fishing many of California’s best fly fishing streams and the McCloud has always been towards the end of my list of places to check out. The Lower McCloud is notoriously known to be difficult to access due to very rough road conditions in addition to being quite literally in the middle of nowhere. After previous plans fell through I decided to finally make my attempt to traverse through the road from hell to fish the most holiest of rivers.

My original plan for my annual fall trip was to bikecamp and fish Kirman Lake. I had been keeping an eye on the weather hoping that it would hold but a few days before my trip there was a forecast of a 20 degree drop within two days and a day later there was a winter weather advisory for the area. I had yet to field test my new sleeping bag, a Nemo Disco 15, and I didn’t want to try in below freezing temperatures. Instead I started looking up north for better weather and settled for the McCloud.

Last year around this time of year the McCloud experienced higher than normal temperatures which led to a glacial melt creating extremely turbid conditions. This year appears to be the opposite with cooler temperatures coming earlier however there was a period in early September where the river blew out for a few weeks. There is a gauge on the Lower McCloud that measures turbidity that can be a helpful tool in determining on whether or not it would be a good place to make a trip to. I’ve read that anything within 1-3 is normal and anything between 5-10 can appear as dirty. There was a cold front that passed through before my trip but thankfully it didn’t raise the turbidity too much. On the day I left I was looking at 2-3 in turbidity and felt confident that this would be a good trip.

On the way to Ah-Di-Na I stopped by The Fly Shop in Redding to get grab some flies and gather some intel. The fishing report was good and I was happy to hear that I would be in for a good time. The dirt road to Ah-Di-Na at the turn off from the McCloud is about four miles. The road for the first mile and a half was in fairly good condition and I was hoping that it would stay the same the rest of the way however once I hit the last three miles I had found what the USFS considered “very rough” road conditions. The very rough road conditions were sections of the road where the road was basically rocks. Some of the rocks looked pretty jaggy so I took it extremely slow in these sections. I didn’t bottom out but I held my breath hoping that I wouldn’t get unlucky and hit anything sharp. I also found out that road to the McCloud River Preserve from Ah-Di-Na doesn’t get any better either. The road to the McCloud River is definitely top contender for being one of the worst roads I’ve ever driven on to do some fishing. I believe the road requires a mini-SUV at minimum. Trucks and full-size SUVs I wouldn’t worry at all about getting down there. It’s a rough road for sure but in all honestly I wouldn’t be surprised if I saw a sedan down there. Take is slow, pay attention, and you’ll most likely be just fine.

I made camp at Ah-Di-Na and started exploring after setting up my sleeping gear. I fished upstream from the campground and finally set foot in what many would consider the most beautiful trout stream in California. The water was a beautiful chalky blue and bank was a mix of various plants in fall colors of yellows, browns, and greens. The umbrella plants that were all over the river stood out the most as the huge leaves grew up and into the river. The McCloud River is truly a beautiful one of a kind river. The only con that I found about the river was that the wading was a challenging due to deep holes and algae covered snot rocks. If I had known this I would have brought my wading staff. My feet and legs got banged up pretty bad and I slipped a couple of times trying to feel my way through the water. It was zero fun trying to get around out there.

The McCloud River is suppose to be a technical fishery where presentation is critical to your success. I found the river fairly easy to fish however it did seem like 90% of the fish were in 10% of the water. The fish were taking a variety of flies but I did my best with a rubberleg stone and a small BWO type nymph on a dropper. The fish were holding in very key parts of the river. On this trip the fish were in deeper runs behind boulders and in the pools above tailouts. A lot of good fishy water didn’t hold any fish for some reason which was sort of disappointing. Most fish were in the 12″ range with a few in the 16-18″ range.

My original plan was to hike upstream to Ash Camp via the PCT and fish along the way however as I made my way upstream to the bend of Ah-Di-Na I saw how steep the river became and opted out on that plan. Instead the following morning I would get up early and fish the McCloud River Preserve.

After a decent nights sleep I made my way to the McCloud River Preserve at around 7:30am and was the first tag of the day. The McCloud River Preserve has five tags that are reserved until 10am which then become first-come first-serve in addition to five more tags that are designated first-come first-serve. There is a log-in sheet that you sign in the front where you can then grab your tag and be free to explore the preserve until dark. I found the Ah-Di-Na section of the river to be a bit gradient which made the fishing a bit tough since the fish weren’t holding in the pools. The McCloud River Preserve and the area just before it was a bit more flat which helped create longer pools where in theory the fish should be. My experience in the McCloud River Preserve was similar to the Ah-Di-Na section. 90% of the fish were stacked in similar water making the fishing a bit boring once you knew what to look for. A lot of beautiful fishy water had to be overlooked because the fish just weren’t there.

A disappointing fact about the McCloud River that I learned while there was that although it is heavily advertised as a big brown trout river in reality brown trout only made up less than 5% of the regular catch. The fly fishing guides that fish the river regularly will probably know the holes were these fish hold but the average angler will most likely never hook a brown trout on the McCloud.

I fished the McCloud River Preserve for about 7 hours and made it about 2/3rds of the way in before calling it a day. I had planned on staying another night but there was nothing on the McCloud to keep me there. Once you’ve seen a section of the river you’ve kind of seen it all. I packed out in the afternoon and had my heart set on Hat Creek for a possible evening hatch.

The road out of Ah-Di-Na is worse getting out than it is in. It took about 45 – 50mins to scramble out of the canyon back onto the turn off. I’ve never been so happy to see a paved road in my life. I probably wore out a few hundred miles on my new tires getting into and out of the McCloud. My overall thoughts on the McCloud River is that is it is overrated. The water and surrounding area is better looking in pictures than in person, the wading is a pain, and the fishing is average. It’s definitely a river that everyone should experience at least once however other than that I can name a handful of places around that area that offer much better easier access and better fishing.

I got to Hat Creek about an hour before sunset and hoped that the overcast that had been looming above would trigger a good hatch all the way up to the evening. It turns out I didn’t get lucky this time and around and only caught a weak and sporadic hatch of PMDs. I set out to Carbon Flat were I proudly rose up a few small trout and swung up what felt like a monster fish that I quickly lost on a caddis emerger. I debated on staying another night but was ultimately fished out and called it a trip.

Yuba River

Road Blocked On The Yuba River

There was never a day where I thought I would see the road that follows the Yuba River below HWY 20 bridge to be gated. Hammonton-Smartsville road has been blocked off to the public due to illegal off-roading and other criminal activities. Here is a link of all the incidents that have occurred which prompted the county to gate the road. Although public access on foot is still allowed this is a sad year for the Yuba River.

The biggest pro to the road being gated is that there will be significantly less pressure on the river. Less pressure from the public is a catalyst to many different positives such as undisturbed habitat, less trash and dumping, and ideally better fishing.

The biggest con is that the only access is by foot, private access above the bridge for launching drift boats, and hand-carried boat. The best method to access the Yuba is by boat as the Yuba in my opinion is one of the worst rivers on foot due to the loose stones that are an absolute pain to walk on. Although the section most people fish between HWY 20 bridge and the takeout at Sycamore Ranch is only about four miles long many of the runs, pools, and holes are spread apart which can quickly wear you down as the Yuba is a cover water type of fishery. Unless you have the ability to put a boat into the river a lot of anglers are going to be second guessing whether or not hitting the Yuba will be worth the effort fishing from here on out.

The record high snow pack this spring rose the Yuba’s flows to a peak 30,000 CFS. Huge and consistent flows have an incredible influence on how the Yuba fishes the rest of the year. In my personal experience I have found that the river doesn’t fish well until the following year. I believe that years of established bug life are washed away during high flow events due to the river being made up of mostly loose stones. This results in skinner fish that are more difficult to find. The structure of the river also changes which can be both exciting and frustrating. Holes and hides that have been productive for years get flatten out and flats that have never held fish turn into new hot spots. It’s a mixed bag that’s worth the exploration but don’t hold your breath on hooking up with your typical Yuba rainbow for a while.

The flows on the Yuba have been lowered for the fall and the river has been sitting at 1000 CFS for a couple of weeks now. I thought I would make a quick trip in the afternoon to check it out. The section below the bridge is looking pretty good as it has deepen a bit near the willows. I have a feeling this area is going to get hammered in the future due to how close it is to the entrance. I know there are a ton of fish that hold in this section but I’ve never had a lot of good luck unless there’s a good hatch happening. After throwing my flies around a bit I inflated by packraft and made way down the river.

I hadn’t plan on fishing very long so I didn’t go too far past the first bend. I hooked and landed a small rainbow and beat the skunk but the rest of my time was spent fishless. I fished familiar holes that looked super fishy but didn’t get a single bump. The stubwing stones are out as usual this time of year but I didn’t get any grabs on my rubberleg stone. Usually this time of year there’s a decent caddis hatch in the evening so I decided to wait until sunset to see if the magic hour would produce. As I waited I watched as hundreds of dragonflies gathered above the river. Usually when there are this many dragonflies around the fish can’t help but try and chase them but I didn’t a single rise or jump. As the light of the sun started to fade I had a gut feeling that the bugs weren’t going to show up. The Yuba typically fishes much better in the morning to afternoon but I guess you go fishing when you can go fishing. I hopped in my raft, crossed the river, packed my stuff, and started the hike back to the car. It took about 15-20mins from the first bend to get back to the car.

I plan on experimenting and figuring out the most effective way of getting around the Yuba in the future. Bikerafting the river to hit the holes further down is on the very top of the list. For those that are interested in fishing the Yuba at this time my recommendation is to go fish a different river. Whatever the Yuba has in store this year is not worth the effort now that the road is gated.

1 2 3 165