McCloud river

[rouleur35]

Headed up to the McCloud river Sat and Sun. got to fowler's around 2 or so. didn't see any fish above the lower falls, a lot of times I've seen them stacked up in the pools above the falls but not saturday. The water level was also a little high. So, we decided to head to ah di na. I had never been down there before, so it was a little bit of an adventure. The river seemed a little high and was moving fast. Rocks were pretty slippery first time I've been in a river and wondered how much better felt soled boots would be. Tons of bugs flying around landing on the water doing there thing, no fish rising. Left that area and bushwacked into another place below the campground. Again tons of bugs, no fish rising. Ended up hooking and losing one later in the evening at the campground off a nymph. A few fish started jumping but couldn't get any interested in my dries. Ran into another guy that said he didn't catch anything, but an older lady caught 2. Next day started at the power station area around 10 and caught 2 pretty quickly off nymphs. Started working my way upstream for a bit. Talked to another guy and he hadn't caught any in 2 days fishing. Left at noon. Went back to the upper area and checked the river from cattle camp to upper falls, water high, didn't see any fish in the river at all.

Is the conservancy area like the area around ah di na or are there access trails along the river?
I imagine once the fish start looking up that place will be going off.

[Siskiyoublues]

Conservancy is downstream from ah di nah, instead of turning off to the campsite you keep going down the road and park at the end. There's a bridge and a trail for about a third of a mile then your in the conservancy You'll know your there when you get to a cabin and there's a place to sign in. More rules apply and sometimes it's real hard to get pass but it's worth getting up early for.
I was there on sunday and had a decent day landing double digit fish.
Still all about nymphs on the McCloud, unless you're one of those dry fly ninja's (which I am not, but working on it)

[Randy B]

Fished the Guide Camp area for a couple hours Saturday. Caught a nice 16" 'bow on a soft hackle under an indicator. The Conservancy was packed with 5 or 6 trucks/SUVs at about 1pm. Guide Camp varied from 2 trucks to 5 trucks in the couple hours we were there.

Some bugs flying and fish were looking up, but not a real consistent dry fly bite. Had a fish roll on a dry when I was talking to my fishing partner and missed it. Beautiful river and weather. Doesn't get much better.

[KJE]

Friday evening was wild in terms of bugs - medium/large caddis, small mayflies, large mayflies and some golden stones. On the other hand, there were so many bugs that I couldn't figure out what they were eating.

Had a nice night with a dry/dropper rig. Dries: deer hair mayfly, elk hair caddis and yellow stimi, with the caddis being most consistent. Droppers: Dark Lord, Bob Grace's soft hackle and homebrew soft hackles.

Saturday evening was much slower, bug-wise. A few caddis, a few mayflies and a few stones, but nowhere near the numbers of Friday.

Ah Di Nah was packed, plus multiple groups were at the other two camping areas. Lotta folks up there right now. Fishing was OK in the AM, slow mid-day, better in the afternoon and nice at dusk. I'd probably wait until the crowds thin out.

[sisyphusmpn]

I had the good fortune to spend the past several days fishing the lower river at Bollibokka. The fishing was phenomenal!! I spent Memorial Day week there last year as well and the difference was unbelievable. Flows look like October in there now whereas last year the river was barely fishable.

March Brown emergers and duns, soft hackles, EC Caddis, sculpin patterns - they all worked. Never even had to think about bobber-cating. And I'm talking substantial fish. We had several 20" fish in our group and I had a 19" brown, 18" rainbow and at least twenty fish in the 15-17" range.

This was the best trout fishing I've experienced in N. CA in several years. Everything was perfect: the weather, the wildflowers, the river, the otters and osprey, and the fish. Definitely the fish...

I worry what the flows might look like this Fall though.

[Siskiyoublues]

Ah Di Nah was packed, plus multiple groups were at the other two camping areas. Lotta folks up there right now. Fishing was OK in the AM, slow mid-day, better in the afternoon and nice at dusk. I'd probably wait until the crowds thin out.

This is how it's been every weekend since the opener. They don't call it the McCrowd for nothing. :p

[KJE]

This is how it's been every weekend since the opener. They don't call it the McCrowd for nothing. :p

True. But by mid-summer it will be deserted, thankfully.