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Lower McCloud River Transformed From Fly Fishing Hot Spot Into Brownliner Heaven?

By Tom Chandler 6/6/2010

Alert Underground Reader Bill
sent us this muddy nugget of McCloud River fly fishing news:

There's a horrible muddy spill below the Res! The entire stretch from the dam to Shasta Lake is blown. No visibilty whatsoever. Happened about noon today. Not the creek either. Starts at the dam. Did you know?

Once Mud Creek begins running with water colored by its namesake, the river turns muddy in a hurry.

With a whole reservoir between the Lower McCloud and Mud Creek, it's a counter-intuitive event, but Curtis Knight of CalTrout once explained it to me.

Essentially, once Mud Creek starts flowing with runoff, the muddy water stays more or less in a coherent stream through the reservoir and right to the dam.

Put like that, it sounds like a bad thing, but as Curtis explained it, it's probably better than muddying up the whole reservoir, which would then take a long, long time to clear.

More on the Mighty Mac is it flows into the Underground (Undergrounder comments encouraged).

UPDATE - This from PG&E:

"However, in response to increasing inflows of melting snow as air temperatures continue to increase there is still a possibility that PG&E will need to bypass an additional 400 cfs of water from McCloud Dam within the next 40 hours."
AuthorPicture

Tom Chandler

As the author of the decade leading fly fishing blog Trout Underground, Tom believes that fishing is not about measuring the experience but instead of about having fun. As a staunch environmentalist, he brings to the Yobi Community thought leadership on environmental and access issues facing us today.

14 comments
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Nick, you are wrong in that the current of mud creek is strong during seasonal run off and flows directly through the Res. and out of the secondary spill at the base of the dam. I've talked to hydrologists about this very thing. Kind of like currents in the ocean you know?
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Fellow McCloud Fishers: I have plans to fish the Conservancy section of the McCloud the 22nd through the 24th and would appreciate any information on flows and clarity that you have prior to my planned exit from the Bay Area in the afternoon of the 21st. Any information would be much apprciated.
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Haven't heard. I know the reservoir is clearing (just a bit), but I haven't talked to anyone whose fished the Lower McCloud lately. Sadly, I'm not sure if fishing lower on the river in the hopes incoming flows will clear the water is evidence of a rich fantasy life or a really good idea. I have heard good things about the Pit...
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Hi Tom, Any update on the McCloud? I notice the Ah-Di-Nah flows are still low. Could the creeks' inflow be enough to make it fishable in the Conservancy? Thanks.
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PG&E's study showed a surprising coherence to Mud Creek's flows at certain flow levels - and an impressive ability of the mud plume to arrive at the valves on the dam in pretty compact shape.In any case, Fred Gordon watched the plume work its way to the dam in response to a rapid increase in Mud Creek flows - the result of relatively warm rains and (finally) 70+ degree temps.I think the *real* runoff ... more begins this weekend, when we get our first 80 degree day of the year.
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Mud Creek doesn't flow intermittently; it's persistent and persistently muddy. It originates at a debris flow on the southeast flank of Mt. Shasta and carries glacial till year round. Like most glacial streams, its flow and silt loads increase in response to hot weather when snow melts faster. In summer the color of McCloud Reservoir changes frequently in response to Mud Creek flow changes. I'm sceptical ... more that the current blow out is due to increased Mud Creek flows because it's been so cool, and also (as alluded to in the article) becaise the reservoir usually buffers fluctuations in Mud Creek sediment load from reaching the lower McCloud. I suspect it's because high reservoir inflows have shifted the river channel through the reservoir, mobilizing sediments stored in the lake bed. Not that Curtis doesn't know his stuff, just that I don't think that's the cause in this case.
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According to local guide Craig Nielson, Fred Gordon was on McCloud Reservoir, and witnessed the progress of the Mud Creek mud plume as it made its way to the dam. Bet that was a little spooky...
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Got a couple out of the Upper Sac in a short session yesterday... that river is as high as I can recall ever seeing it at this time of year. That's a LOT of water.
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Thanks for the info Tom. Keep us posted if you hear anymore.
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Liar. As I've said repeatedly, there are NO fishable small streams in this area. None. The Undergrounders shouldn't even bother looking, or checking maps, or Google Earth, or any of it.
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It looked just like mud creek yesterday, definitely not fishable. We turned around yesterday as soon as we saw it in disbelief. Went and fished a small stream for some minnows. Andy
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PG&E just announced a probable increase in Lower McCloud flows of about 400 cfs over the next 40 ours. Runoff's starting, campers...It odd that - in the face of all this - the Klamath's starved for water...
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[...] See the article here: Lower McCloud River Transformed From Fly Fishing Hot Spot Into … [...]
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I guess it depends if it is milky or actually brown... I've never had a bad time fishing in the milky water... but brown in a whole different ball game. I'm heading up to Dunsmuir tomorrow morning... Upper Sac sounds almost unfishable and now this on the McCloud... great.
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