We rented a house and stayed up in McCloud over the 4th of July holiday. It was a very warm weekend up there. We fished the Upper Sac on the way in, and the lower sections of the river were heating up by 10:30 am in the morning. Unfortunately, what was heating up were water temps, not the fishing. Fishing low shut down early, and in order to save the fish, so did fishing. Early, early morning fishing was decent.

The McCloud was awesome, the river was producing most of the day. Very good nymphing and dry fly action. The fish were really slamming this new fly,a split wing Purple Haze that we picked up at Ted Fay on the way in. Parachute Adams worked well also. The rise was really happening early morning, and after 3 pm in the afternoon. Traffic on the river was pretty light.

I am sad to report that the McCloud River Lodge, and it's great restaurant and watering hole, Jason's, has just closed down. There are only 2 spots in town serving dinner, the Tasty Freeze, and the joint in the McCloud Hotel, which closes at 8:00. So plan on dong some cooking at home if you head up there.

Apparenttly it was a very tough winter in town economically, as the Shasta Ski Bowl was unable to open even one day this year due to a lack of snow .Little by little McCloud is shrinking . . . the bank has closed, the hardware store has closed, the lodge has closed. Hopefully things get better for the town of McCloud.