Fly Fishing the Upper McCloud: Fins, Fun, and Dry Flies

It’s temping to say I’ve fished “enough” over the last couple weeks, but in truth, it’s rare that I get to fish nearly as much I’d like.

Even if I won the lottery I’d probably still bitch about the demands of managing my vast wealth and how it kept me from fishing.

Still, I’d like to try it and see. Send any winning lottery tickets to: Tom Chandler, C/O Trout Underground.

Fishing Again

Barely unpacked from my Tennessee trip, I was dieing to get out and see what spring had brought to “my” local fisheries (you guys can fish them when I’m not using them).

Local guide Steven Bertrand called me early in the week, so I called back, we confabbed (we’re a hip crowd at the Underground), and we headed to the Upper McCloud.

Steven Bertrand below Middle Falls. He’s got the Upper McCloud wired.

I admit to a checkered past with the Upper McCloud. It’s pretty, it’s reliable, and it’s thin enough that dry flies are pretty much an everyday occurrence, yet I haven’t fished it in years.

My last couple trips were marred by rubber trout, crowds of vacationers and an encounter with a pair of surly fishermen, so I’d largely ignored the thing.

It’s possible I’ve mellowed a bit over the years, deciding that it’s not the river’s fault it’s jammed with pellethead trout and a couple of morons.

I’m glad I came to my senses.

Brown-a-licious

On the way to the river I told Bertrand I liked the potential for surprise on Tennessee’s streams; you never know if you’re going to find a brown, rainbow or brookie attached to your fly.

It’s the kind of statement that can pretty quickly make you look foolish — a point driven home when my first seven casts netted me three nice brown trout.

A beauty brown trout from the Upper McCloud.

In fact, most of our trout were browns — even in the water you’d normally find rainbows. I fished an 8.5′ 4wt Diamondglass rod and found it the perfect match for the fish (if not always the gusty wind), and most of the fishing was the usual small stream sort; slack line casts in a few places, highsticking in others.

It’s always tempting to claim brilliance in the form of absolutely perfect fly selection — and if I had to pick one fly, the vaunted Beetle Bug was the day’s most consistent producer — but I don’t think the fish were all that selective.

The Beetle Bug Parachute. Don’t Leave Home Without ‘em.

They did seem to prefer to the dry to the nymph, and frankly, fish with that level of refinement and obvious good taste deserve more than a little respect.

Helping the favorable fishing results along was Steve’s facility with the river; he’s guided there a lot, and knows every slot, cut and hole.

More than once he actually called the strike, and though it was pretty tiring, we ran all over the river, hitting the high spots and largely avoiding the crowds.

When Bertrand calls the strikes, you know he’s been there before.

Along the way, we ran into Wayne Eng and a pair of his clients, who’d had a pretty good day too.

My take on the Upper McCloud is that it’s more of a spring fishery than a summer one, though I’m sure plenty of folks would take issue with that, and I’ve pretty much abdicated any hope of “expert” status on the place.

Next week, the L&T Nancy’s heading out on a weeklong business trip and my workload is lightening, and you all know that means.

Slaw dogs and fishing trips (with a little work thrown in). You’ll hear it here first.

Technorati Tags: mccloud, upper mccloud, brown trout, fly fishing, fishing, fishing report