Northern California Fishing Guide Trip Reports: McCloud, USac, LSac, Pit, Fall Rivers

What a week! The weather in Mt. Shasta has turned gorgeous and the fishing has been superb! Several of our guests enjoyed some of the finest fishing of their lives. Three additional anglers landed trophy Rainbows this week that were their best ever! Consider this your complimentary notice to get here now and enjoy the bounty for yourself.

Flows on the McCloud River are at a summer time low and the fishing this week was superb. Hatches continue to run late with some Stoneflies still hanging around and prolific small Mayfly hatches along with the summer Caddis that are getting started. Glacial melt has reduced clarity which has the fish less wary and grabby all day. The turbidity on Thursday increased a bit too much and slowed the bite but returned to four to six feet of visibility which is very near ideal, turbidity is back up a bit again this morning. The evening hatch has been phenomenal, starting early and ending late, a couple guests this week opted to fish mayfly dries and caught fish all day. Their fish were more numerous than anglers who swung streamers or nymphed Goldenstones with Mayfly and Caddis droppers, but they were not as large on average. A few more exceptional fish this week came to dries at last light.

The evening Hexagenia Mayfly hatch on the Fall River is in full swing and several guests have enjoyed the sunset on this beautiful spring creek as the bugs pop and the biggest fish in the river come to the surface to feed on these enormous bugs. Earlier in the day the small mayfly hatch, mostly Pale Morning Duns with a few Blue Wing Olives still mixed in, provide some dry fly fishing as well. Before and after the hatches, nymphing has been productive as has swinging streamers on sinking and intermediate lines.

The Lower Sacramento River continues to amaze us. We are enjoying one of our most successful and enjoyable seasons ever. Prolific midday Pale Morning Dun hatches with Blue Wing Olives mixed in have fish grabbing late morning through early evening followed by the summer caddis that is building daily. Flows are clear and fluctuating slightly at the summer norm. Two locals who fish the river regularly, the President and Vice President of the Shasta Trinity Fly Fishing Club in Redding, enjoyed their finest day ever this week!

Flows on the Upper Sacramento River have dropped dramatically this week, nearly 100 cfs per day and are below 1000 cfs for the first time all season. Flows continue to drop and more water is accessible every day leaving many fish yet to see their first fly of the season. The evening hatch has been terrific, sometimes lasting a couple hours, other evenings more compressed with fish rising in a frenzy just before dark. Bring a headlamp!

The Pit River flows continue steady but a bit higher than recent seasons leaving less productive pocket water to fish than we have enjoyed in the past. Guests have enjoyed productive days nymphing with small bugs from streamside edges and larger runs that offer wading opportunities. They have also enjoyed relative solitude. Cal Trout is hosting a meeting at the Clearwater House in Cassel to discuss the new Pit River flows on July 14th which we will be attending. Visit their website for details, we hope you can join us.

For a complete report including pics check out our website. Do drop us a line if you are headed our way, we would enjoy sharing all we can about current conditions. We hope to see you soon!