Cole, what a silly question? Of course we went to Dunsmuir Brewing, which after an extensive sampling of gtheir crafted beer selection, left no time and little interest for Ted Fay. Besides the owner of Dunsmuir Brewing,  Aaron, is a former guide and gave us the no BS skinny on what was happening in the area.
There were quite a few Salmonflies on the McCloud, and they were huge. I didn't get much action on them, I guess my patterns weren't close enough. I had these Montana Salmonfly patterns called a Cat Puke that I think would have been great, but didn't bring them with me. According to the regulars, the flow was high?
With the place in Truckee, I just never would go up there. Just up on the LT and BT mostly, it was all so easy. Sadly, we just did not get up there enough and sold it in April.
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Oh, and most importantly . . . I took a 2 liter magnum of your 2005 Cabernet up to Bend, Oregon for our 24 man golf outing. We had a dinner one night where everyone brought a nice bottle, and some were very nice. One of the big hits of the evening was the Davis Family Cabernet, alot of rave reviews from learned wine drinkers. I think a tasting room visit with some of these guys is on the radar during harvest!!!!
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-- Edited by ONEWEIGHT on Friday 6th of July 2012 08:28:52 PM
Went up to the McCloud area for 5 day fishing spree over the extended July 4th weekend. We rented this outstanding pad in McCloud that was absolutely awesome. I had never fished the McCloud, so I was really looking forward to it. We even secured Conservancy passes for July 1st.
We all survived a few total dunkings in the McCloud none the worse for wear. We fished Ash Camp area on Day 1 and ended up working all the way down to Ah Di Nah. This made for a very athletic hike home back up to Ash Camp at the end of the day. Fishing was OK on this day. Lots of smaller fish. Day 2 in the Cinservancy was neat. It was like a rainforest the first few hours, raining pretty hard, then warming up into a fog on the river after the rain stopped. Again, good numbers of smaller fish with a breakoff from a large one. What a beautiful piece of river, pictured below Once again, fly fishing proved to be a small world as we ran into Brian on the way out of the Conservancy and we got briefly caught up after hearing stories, but no pictures, of the 21" and 22" Browns that he caught that day.
 Day 3 fished the section between Ash Camp and the dam. Again, nuimbers of smaller fish with some medium ones as well. The McCloud has a real variety of water for sure.
We moved upriver to fish the Upper McCloud on Day 4. I pulled out the TXL 1 weight for this baby. Lots of smaller fish along with some Brook trout. I did hook one very large fish which absolutely abused the 1 weight rod. My guess is looked around 17" ish.  Any video footage would have been a great comedy film. Â
On the way out, fished the Upper Sac. Fishing was just off the hook. Many large fish hooked and landed on the dries. It was amazing fishing for about 3 1/2 hours in the morning, all on dries. Hot fly was a Purple Haze. It s one of the best days in a long time. One of the fish I caught, pictured below was about 15" andf healthy, but had all of these sores all over it. Anyone know what it is? Must be some parasite.
Ayhow, great trip, mostly great fishing and great times.
Great trip Bob. Your 1st trip to the McCloud will not be your last. I recognize the rock in your second picture. Normally when I am there I can't stand that far out in the run. I wonder what the flows are right now?? I took my brother up the the Sac in early June and we also had some pretty amazing dry fly action. The salmon flies and goldens were blanket hatching in the evenings and where also some of the largest I have ever seen. Matter of fact the goldens were as big as the salmon flies I normally see and the salmon flies were absolute dinosaurs. By the end of day 2 we stuck with dries because the best fish were looking up. Glad you had fun. Did you hit Ted Fay's fly shop, or the brewery across the street?
Wow the check I am sending you is big right now Bob. Thanks for the drop and glad to hear it was good. Come over anytime and have some more. Maybe that isn't the same rock I remember sometimes things fade....You should buy a place up north maybe??? There's more steelhead close.
If it isn’t a small world, then I don’t know what to call it. Of all the places to fish, go figure. It was nice seeing you again. Maybe we can plan another trip towards the fall.
I’ve been hitting the McCloud quite a bit this yr, one to take a few days rest between guided trips, but also to scout it out and get dialed on it fishing habits as I am in the process of getting my permit to guide it. Hopefully all works out and the paperwork will be done before the summer ends. Pretty stoked about that.
Fishing has been pretty stellar up there this yr. Lots of rainbows in all shapes and sizes, even a few in the upper teens and lower 20s. But on this trip I was set on fishing for browns, hoping for one over 20", and the Mccloud didn’t disappoint. Lost 1 below blow hole that was all of 30" but it popped 5x like a pimple. Many browns in the 12-18" range throughout the river, even managed a few in the 18-24" range. Funny thing was all of them that were hooked, landed or lost all came on the same exact fly, a good ol trusty faithful for big browns, which was pretty crazy.
All in all it was a great trip, lots of beer and fish to make the trip a epic. Cant wait for the next one.
Here are a few pics from the trip
-- Edited by brian clemens on Sunday 8th of July 2012 01:50:01 PM
Fishing isnt about catching fish, its not about who caught the most, or who caught the biggest, its about the experience that you have on the water, and the life long bonds you make with others on the journey to becoming a better person inside.
Bob, Looks like you are going to have to sign-up for a day with Brian!!By the way both sets of pics make me very sad i never got to fish the area much.... just a couple of days on the upper sac and that is all I have to say for myself up there!!! Keep the reports coming though .... I can try and live vicariously through you guys!!!
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"Three-fourths of the Earth's surface is water, and one-fourth is land. It is quite clear that the good Lord intended us to spend triple the amount of time fishing as taking care of the lawn." - Anon.
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 Keep the reports coming though .... I can try and live vicariously through you guys!!!