Thanks Steven!
Thanks Steven!
I just got back from fishing there for the first time. Clarity was good and the catching was good. Fish were taking rubber legs and BWO flies but mostly on the mayfly. I was using an iron lotus that outfished the stonefly. I fished the conservancy for about 8 hours and got maybe 2/3 of the way in before calling it a day. The McCloud feels sorta... overrated? I wish someone told me that brown trout only make less than 5% of the catch rate. I don't know man it's a long drive for me.
Last edited by mattv-mcfly; 10-03-2023 at 01:13 AM.
Keep Calm and Fly Fish
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Agree with most everything you said. Been FF CAL for over 50 years, and it's pretty safe to say, that if it's talked about extensively on the interweb, there's a good chance it's overfished and over rated. The challenge is finding those places that are NOT discussed widely on the interwebs, but those are few and far between but they do still exist.
I'm glad I'm not the only one that shares this opinion. The McCloud was the last of the most popular fly fishing rivers in California that needed to fish. All the pictures of the McCloud are of big brown trout but they are way more elusive out there than advertised. The guides probably know which holes they're in but the average visitor most likely won't find any. I can name a handful of places that will give better odds on big browns. I don't know if this is typical of the McCloud but I found the wading to be equal to the Pit with rocks covered in snot. If I wanted snot rocks I would have just fish the Pit at least it's easier to get to and the fishing is 10x better.
Keep Calm and Fly Fish
https://keepcalmandflyfish.com/
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