McCloud River (Nature Conservancy)

[MrBig]

I'm heading up there in the morning. Anyone been there this week

[jhaquett]

Feel free to give an extensive report I am headed there tomorrow

[MrBig]

It was really fun but we didn't catch many fish. We didn't even see very many either. The ones we caught we kind of small (<12"). Had a really big one on right by the cabin/Ladybug Creek area but lost it. We tried everything, swinging, nymphs, etc. Hooked the big one on a BH Prince, directly under some brush that was hanging over the stream. Nice place to go even if you don't catch anything. Thanx to the jerk-off that ran over my hub-cap too.

[jhaquett]

My report is identical. Gorgeous place....2 fish in 3.5 hours . I would say the neatest part of the trip was seeing a nice fresh pile of bear dung right in the middle of the trail at one point , I love bear, one of my favorites. The weather was very strange, windy, overcast and cold (never got above 65 degrees). I think the fish reacted negatively toward this.

[bigtj]

The McCloud is a tough nut to crack, that is for sure! Log some time up there, you'll figure it out soon. Hint....in the summer the fish move out of the pools. Think pocket water, and early/late fishing.

I was walking down the bike path here in Reno on Saturday and came across three really fresh piles of bear poop. I live on the west side of town almost to Mogul and it's crazy how many critters we have here - Osprey, Eagles, Beaver, Mink, Mule Deer, Coyotes, Bear, Mountain Lions. It's a shame to see the way urbanization is encroaching on the habitat but encouraging there are places like the McCloud that are protected forever.

-John

[jhaquett]

Hey John thanks for the tip about fish moving out of pools. Makes a hell of a lot of sense considering I caught both of my fish high-sticking small eddies! I continued to fish mostly the huge pools all day though, they were so pretty....