Anyone who's ever fished the McCloud likely became a lifelong fan of the river the minute they saw it.

Don't fall in love. We dare you. (Image Keith Brauneis) 

It does everything an iconic, blue-ribbon trout river should do. It's impossibly beautiful, challenging to fish, holds plenty of good-sized trout (which are also beautiful), and each trip there simply lingers in the memory.

It also faces a lot of threats (flooding due to dam raising, a FERC relicensing of flows and the threat of upstream water diversions).

CalTrout takes those threats very seriously, which is why they helped create Enough is Enough -- a short documentary video by Keith Brauneis.

This isn't pointless fish porn, but a gorgeous documentary about a river that shouldn't be facing threats, but is. Unfortunately, you can't watch the whole video unless you find yourself at one of the Fly Fishing Film Tour's California showings.

The good news? You can watch the trailer right here:



Enough Is Enough Trailer from Keith Brauneis on Vimeo.

If you're intrigued, you can read a pretty good interview with the filmmaker here. (How do I know it's good? I did the interview...)

Here's an excerpt:

So you've been a fly fisherman a long time; what's your relationship with the McCloud?
I've been there a handful of times; like anybody, the first time I saw the McCloud it was more a feeling than a sight. There's so much history -- it's hard not to feel the spirit of the place.

People's reactions to the McCloud are often more visceral than verbal.
Yeah. You feel that river. You just feel it. There's something going on there.

Watch the video. Read the interview. Then sink into a world-class depression because you can't fish the McCloud until the end of April.

(At the Underground, the helping never stops...)

See you watching video, Tom Chandler.