I missed my weekly Friday morning at Putah to get an early start toward Dunsmuir. We hit some rain south of Redding and it continued until around noon, when it fortunately stopped for the rest of the weekend. My friend and I hit our favorite spot on the Upper Sac for the afternoon and evening and had excellent success. We caught a lot of fish, mostly on streamers, but also some on nymphs and a few on dries. I wore out my trusty Putah olive woolly bugger and bummed another from my buddy. The most popular nymph was the prince nymph and for dries, small BWO, PMD, and parachute Adams.
On Saturday we headed over to the McCloud, mainly for some sightseeing. The falls on the upper river are beautiful and it was a pleasant autumn day. In the afternoon we decided to hit some spots we hadn't fished before and caught several each, then went back to our Friday spot for a few more. In the evening we headed up to Cantara Loop to join the crowd. There were a lot of fish rising but it was difficult to hook them. I had probably two dozen strikes (or refusals) and managed one 6 incher. Oh well, at least it wasn't a total skunk.
We hit LaMoine on the way home Sunday morning and caught nada. Nothing on nymphs or streamers, but there were a number of fish rising. My buddy had a lot of strikes and a few hookups, but no fish landed. But we couldn't complain. It was a great trip and plenty of fish were caught. I actually landed the same fish on Friday and Saturday. It had two deep puncture wounds, which my friend guessed were from an egret or heron. It could also have been from the sandhill crane we saw standing beside the river.
We didn't catch any large fish, although we each hooked one that took off downstream and eventually broke off. Overall, I would say that the fishing was not as great as when we went in June. Perhaps the fish have been caught too many times, or it may be the lower flows now. Still, it is a beautifu area and I look forward to heading back up next June (unless we have an epic winter).
Nice report. Are the falls you referred to just outside of the Town of McCloud? I fished the McCloud a long time ago focusing on the area below the Lake McCloud Dam. I remember driving past some signs identifying a falls area. The area was packed with swimmers and fisherman, so passed on it. I am wondering what type of fishing pressure you encountered in this area.
You are correct Steve. The three falls on the McCloud are just a few miles east of the town of McCloud. There were no other fishermen there that day, but we didn't try it for long. It does get a lot of pressure and we mainly went to see the scenery. The river below the lake is a good area to fish, but we decided not to make the drive, instead going back to the Upper Sac. The Captain had fished near the falls the previous week, so we decided to check the area out, and it is beautiful.
Sure is a bueatiful area huh phil. that first pic looks like lower falls on the mccloud. I hammered um in the little pocket to the left. I tried to shake most fish loose instead of pulling em up. It's gonna be my first trip next spring, I'm starting a tradition for myself, start and end every trout season on the upper mccloud and sac. Mt shasta is an amazing sight isn't it. The geology is so different from the near by sierra's, the mount. shasta area actually the southern portion of the cascade range. LOL thats bigfoot country !
I caught most of my fish along the right edge. I climbed down the cliff and waded across the tailout. I didn't have waders, but it was just too inviting.
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"Nothing makes a fish bigger than almost being caught."
J.T that is very funny cause thats exactly what I was thinkin that day, But the day i fished that pool it was hailing pretty good and I wasn't sure how long i could hold out, I figured if i went over there weather may worsen and the effort would have been futile. But i new I could have got a better drift over there. The middle falls is were i really did good.
I wasn't prepared for the weather either. It rained on me for about an hour before I gave up. I was wearing Dickies and a hooded sweatshirt, so I was soaked. If I had only had my waders and wading jacket. I did well at Middle Falls as well. Most of the fish I caught up there were brookies. Again, I got them on the edges of the rocks in the back eddies.
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"Nothing makes a fish bigger than almost being caught."
