McCloud groupies will want to break out the crying towels – local guide Steve Bertrand just called with bad news. A friend drove to the McCloud, but returned without fishing, saying it was too off-color to fish.
Mud Creek, it seems, strikes again.
Will it clear before the season’s end? I’m not holding my breath.
If you were headed up this weekend, I’d give it a look – but be prepared to fish the Upper Sac, Pit, Fall River or Baum instead.
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{ 9 comments… read them below or add one }
yes…but WHO TOOK THE PICTURE? I think we can safely assume that there’s enough dishonesty involved for us to discount the fish as a fraud. Not because we’re jealous, and it’s snowing in Minnesota. Nope.
d Dave(Quote)
You’re in the wrong place (I assume you’re talking about the big salmon). I think it’s real, and what’s more, it’s a reminder of what could be if we’d give the damn things a chance. Tom Chandler(Quote)
Yip. I guessed it was too far gone given the NTU from the downstream gauge. Although whenever I hear Mud Creek, I think to myself what a great way to reduce the numbers of anglers. The Mud Creek excuse makes it sounds like Mud Creek is the only creek feeding the Lower McCloud.
IMHO the McCloud fishes very well when its a bit “Muddy” or the glacier green is present. Wait. Actually come to think of it, it fishes terrible whenever its in the slightest bit cloudy… It could be fine with a couple of days of cold temps and/or lack of rain, but that is probably wishful thinking. Loon(Quote)
I expect plenty of folks will find out how it fishes this weekend — good or bad. It’s always dicey when I pass along third-party fishing information, but this guy fishes the McCloud a lot, and I presumed he wouldn’t be put off by the usual green water.
Also, there have been some questions raised about how PG&E is flushing water through the lake the last couple years (I frankly don’t understand it) that might be contributing to the issue. Tom Chandler(Quote)
Tom:
I was over at Ash Camp this afternoon for a KRCR television show on PG&E’s dam(n) management. Fishing (and catching) can be good on the McCloud when visibility is pretty low. Present conditions are pretty grim, the river is grey with visibility measured in inches, when knee deep I couldn’t see my laces.
The Lake is low and recent heavy rains along with the bare shoreline, particularly a problem in the Mud Creek delta has clouded the lake. This is compounded by releases taken from the bottom of the lake rather than higher in the water column where there is less silt.
Hopefully we’ll get some relief but it doesn’t look very promising between now and the end of the season. It’s been a rough year for the McCloud’s fabled fish. I’ll likely be guiding on the Klamath, Upper Sac and Lower Sac hoping that she clears enough to say goodbye for the season on a happier note. Craig Nielsen(Quote)
Psssssssst: The Mac is coming back into shape… it looks like if things continue to improve as they have been then it might be in good shape to fish as early as tomorrow. Loon(Quote)
Loon: I’m going to wait on some eyewitness reports, and yes, and because I’ve learned the hard way, I’ll forward all the angry emails from fly fishermen who went somewhere on your recommendation and didn’t catch anything (for whatever reason). Just saying is all. Tom Chandler(Quote)
Tom: LoL. I guess I better add a disclaimer next time… but (master of the obvious) if someone is going down to the McCloud just to “Catch” then they’re koo-koo anyways. Loon(Quote)
Looks like it could be fishing well after all. As for all the stuff we said prior, uhh… NeverMind. Tom Chandler(Quote)