mccloud river

Local Photographer, Fly Fishing Guide Kickstarts McCloud River Photo Book

May 22, 2012, by Tom Chandler 3 comments

Local photographer and guide John Rickard just launched a Kickstarter project in an attempt to fund his fine art photo book on the McCloud River, and because we’re a sucker for a nice old-school B&W print, I thought I’d pass it along to the Undergrounders.

If you’re not familiar with Kickstarter, it’s a crowdfunding site, and in this case, Rickard’s essentially pre-selling copies of book to support the production of the book.

Rickards' Kickstarter page

If his project is not fully funded (he’s set a goal of raising $25,000 in 60 days), then the whole deal is called off, and those who pledged money aren’t charged.

If he does reach his funding goal, then his benefactors pay up, then receive the premium they paid for (book, prints, etc).

It’s a fast-growing service that takes an innovative “funding first” approach to projects, one of which included funding for an Olive The Wooly Bugger App by fly fishing blogger and children’s book author Kirk Werner (now closed).

Below is the project video created by Rickard.

See you on the McCloud, Tom Chandler.

Image from Rickard Book

It's not all river porn...

Countdown To The Opener: The Upper Sacramento & McCloud Rivers

April 23, 2012, by Tom Chandler 4 comments

The countdown to California’s General Trout Season Opener is underway (it’s this Saturday, 4/28 for those of you who lack a sense of drama), and unlike some people I’m not about to go all postal on my co-workers. But I am willing to say I’m planning to bypass the places where the popular kids hang out in favor of something more remote.

In fact, I’m cooking up an improbable plan to access one stream (with a fallback stream in mind if I can’t) which one friend described as “hair brained.”

I’m tempted to agree with him, but fly fishing’s history is riddled with hair-brained ideas (Fly a light plane to fish undiscovered waters? Fish fulltime and write about it for a living??).

One more can’t hurt.

For those of you looking for bigger waters, here’s the wholly unguaranteed skinny on the local flows:

A couple of 80-degree days means the runoff has started, though cooler temps for this week (50s and 60s) might knock the flows back just a little bit.

The Upper Sacramento is running around 4,000cfs, but with temperatures in the 50s and 60s forecast for the week (a lot cooler than the 80 degree temps of the last couple days), it will likely fall some, though I doubt it’s what an effete dry fly snob would consider prime.

The Lower McCloud River is more regulated, and at this moment, the flows at Ah-Di-Nah are below 420 cfs. Not great, but not bad. The dam is releasing 165 cfs, so Hawkins Creek is pushing out a couple hundred CFS.

Steve Bertrand fishes the Upper McCloud, which I'd guess is running kinda high for the opener

Interestingly, we now see a flow gage for the McCloud “near the town of McCloud” — which is interesting given the river never really gets that close to the town.

As near as I can tell, this is a flow gage for the Upper McCloud below Big Springs but above the lake, and I haven’t experienced it enough to know how to translate it back to the Upper McCloud, though a simple extrapolation (subtract 800 cfs for Big Springs) suggests the Upper McCloud is rolling awfully high.

Hey, I’m not Carnac or anything.

More as it happens from your Leading Opening Day News Source (“We Report, You Go Somewhere Else.”), Tom Chandler

The Weather, Work Hotting Up at the Underground…

June 20, 2011, by Tom Chandler 3 comments

The heat’s turning on up here this week, and not just in the work sense.

We’ve been treated to surprisingly stable flows on the Upper Sacramento and (especially) the McCloud, and local guide Craig Nielsen suggests the dry fly fishing on the McCloud’s been stellar.

That might be coming to an end:

Warming up....

As always, see you on the river, Tom Chandler.

Now It’s The McCloud’s Turn (Spill Notice from PG&E)

June 10, 2011, by Tom Chandler No comments yet

The McCloud River’s ramping up as we speak. From PG&E:

Lower McCloud River Interested Parties,

As you may be aware, McCloud Dam has been spilling approximately 150 to 300 cubic feet per second (cfs) for past several weeks. PG&E has been taking careful steps to manage the spill flow and increasing inflow into McCloud Reservoir by monitoring the reservoir level, maintaining the water surface elevation in Iron Canyon and McCloud Reservoirs, and diverting water through James B. Black Powerhouse to maintain the maximum amount of storage capacity.

Based on the current snowpack condition, increasing air temperature, and increasing inflow conditions into McCloud Reservoir, PG&E anticipates that the spill magnitude at McCloud Dam will continue to increase steadily over the next several days, and possibly weeks depending on the long term weather trend.

Click here for the most current flow conditions in the Lower McCloud River below the dam.

Click here or the most current flow conditions in the Lower McCloud River at Ah-Di-Na.

Run (Don’t Walk) To The McCloud River

June 3, 2011, by Tom Chandler 6 comments

The weather hasn’t cooperated with California’s fly fishermen, but that doesn’t mean the rivers haven’t been fishing well.

In fact, fans of the McCloud River should have noticed the flows are a basically fishable 370 cfs at Ah-Di-Nah, and the Upper Sacramento River is hanging in there around the 2000 cfs mark (high, but not impossible).

Once the weather warms (hint: that’s not happening this weekend), those numbers will become a distant memory.

If you decide to ditch the responsible adult portion of your life and fish the McCloud this weekend, keep two things in mind:

Flows could change at any minute
A cold, wet storm is coming, so better bring the warm clothing

Special Bonus Rumor

It’s possible someone — perhaps even an eyewitness — told me multiple mayflies were hatching on the McCloud, and that the fish were on them.

Then again, he also told me it was happening in a specific section, which suggests hiring a guide if you want the real skinny.

Go fish, Tom Chandler.

More On The McCloud Dam Relicensing: Five Minutes of Data (and Peace of Mind)

May 25, 2011, by Tom Chandler No comments yet

Because the Underground believes in whipping dead horses, burying them, then unburying them again so they can be whipped some more, I’m posting an informative five-minute screencast by CalTrout’s ~~often tongue-tied~~ Conservation Director Curtis Knight, who explains the nuances of the proposed McCloud flow regime using actual data in the form of hydrographs.

CalTrout already posted an article about the McCloud’s proposed flows — and this is clearly biology tech of the pocket protector, taped glasses type — but it’s also fairly clear and succinct, and when it’s over, you’ll realize the McCloud’s future is looking pretty good.

There are still emails flying out there predicting as much as 4x increases in spring flows and a river that’s wholly unfishable well into July, and it’s rubbish.

See for yourself.

Want to Fly Fish the Upper Sacramento and McCloud Rivers? It’s Better Now Than It Will Be Later…

May 18, 2011, by Tom Chandler No comments yet

The Upper Sacramento — which should be damned well unfishable right now — has fallen below 1800 cfs, and the McCloud at Ah-Di-Nah is below 500 cfs.

Neither is exactly ideal for wading, but both are wholly fishable flows (if you don’t mind walking a bit).

They’ll probably remain that way through the weekend, and if you’re thinking of heading north for a little cannonball-split-shot combat fly fishing, that’s the good news — especially if you stumble onto one of the few spots with trout rising to March Browns.

The bad news?

With our springtime weather apparently still on a train north from Cancun (the weather forecast suggests a 70+ degree day isn’t even on the horizon), you may not see those Ideal-For-Fly-Fishing-Normally-Late-Spring Flows until the middle of July (if then).

See, the real runoff event hasn’t yet begun, and in fact, we’ve added to the snowpack the last couple days.

I could write about the horrific effects that three days of mid-May snow have on a writer’s delicate psyche (and advocate heavily for some kind of federal creative disaster relief), but in a rare display of courage, I’m going to stop sniffling and hope the Underground’s California readers are taking advantage of this rare pre-runoff bonanza.

We’ll pay for it later in the form of some serious runoff, and when it happens, I sincerely doubt that the word “courageous” will be used to describe those posts.

See you hiding the tears on the river, Tom Chandler.

UPDATE: You can find the snowpack/waterpack figures here, which will tell you the high snowpack and cold spring mean the Northern Sierras are at… 253% of normal for this time of the year.

Proposed McCloud River Flows Look Good For Fly Fishermen (Despite All Rumors To The Contrary)

May 5, 2011, by Tom Chandler 6 comments

The McCloud River might be California’s most-loved river, and despite a contentious licensing process and a lot of misinformation to the contrary, the dam relicensing process is probably going to result in flows that look pretty good for fish and fly fishermen.

We just posted an article at the CalTrout site (“The Facts About the McCloud Dam Relicensing Process’ explaining the final Environmental Impact Report’s recommended flows — including hydrographs graphically displaying the differences between the old flow regime and the proposed new one.

The highlights?

Winter/early spring flows have been modified to better protect the McCloud’s spawning fish and newly hatched fry from the severe swings often seen under the old plan
In the vast majority of years, fishermen will not experience any difference in the “fishability” of the river (wet years are out of control anyway, and dry years don’t present a problem to fishermen as much as spawning fish)
Higher base flows in winter (when fishing is illegal) not only protect spawning trout, they also reduce the likelihood of uncontrolled spills in the spring (which do shut down the fishing)
Contrary to all the rumors, there were few concessions made to whitewater folks (no pulse flows, extended spring flows, etc)

The Bad News

Outside of high water events (which suck equally under both flow regimes), the worst case scenario for fly fishermen involves a “normal” year with a late spike in flows; protecting spawning trout and fry requires a more gradual downward ramp than has been seen in the past, so flows will take a bit longer to settle out.

In fact, more gradual ramps and higher winter base flows (reducing the amplitude of the spikes in flows which strand fry and expose redds) are really at the heart of the modified flows, and because the above scenario only happens a few times a decade, it’s a pretty small price to pay for an enhanced trout fishery.

To see the actual data, I urge you to visit the CalTrout article and see the hydrographs for yourself.

After all, a few facts go a lot farther than a lot of misinformation.

See you being a water geek, Tom Chandler.

A Couple Notes for the McCloud, Upper Sac Fiends Among You

April 29, 2011, by Tom Chandler 1 comment

If you’re coming up this weekend (from a warmer climate), dress warm. It’s hailing right now.

And not that warm, summer hail. It’s basically snowing.

Also, I’ve posted links to all the new McCloud River flow gauges on my links page.

Handy buggers, especially now that we’ve got sensors at Ah-Di-Nah, the Dam, Lake Shasta and at McCloud.

See you at the flow gauges, Tom Chandler.

Where Are The Undergrounders Fishing on California’s Opening Day? (or, McCloud’s Fishable…. Barely)

April 29, 2011, by Tom Chandler 22 comments

As the only website not commenting on the Royal Wedding, I’m simply here to suggest California’s season opener doesn’t hold the same impact it used to, but it’s still a milestone — one that seems to arrive faster and faster each year.

With fishing commencing on the McCloud River tomorrow a.m., local guide Wayne Eng told me the McCloud is very high… but fishable (at least the mile above Hawkins Creek).

Below Hawkins flows are edging above 750 cfs. Those are the same flows I fished with Uber-fly angler Frank Smethurst on a fall trip, and while he managed to pound out just enough fish to save the day (a video day), I don’t think either of us would have said it was pleasant.

Sadly, the McCloud’s already crowded; Wayne said every square foot of real estate at Ash Camp was staked out by campers (yesterday), so a solitary experience it won’t be.

Frankly, in the interest of adding a badly needed element of entertainment to fly fishing, I’m proposing a WWF-style “Ring of Doom” where two anglers enter the fish cage to challenge each other for good water on the Upper McCloud — but only one leaves.

Once again, I’ve got fly fishing’s best interests at heart, yet the industry — predictably — will fail to recognize my genius.

Me? I just got off the phone with Wayne, and we’re still unsure where we’re heading.

I’ve got a couple spots in mind on the Upper Sacramento — good high water stuff — and may just show up and drown a nymph.

(Don’t forget Joe Kimsey’s 3pm Memorial at Dunsmuir City Park.)

Where Are The Undergrounders Fishing?

I realize tomorrow isn’t opening day for the majority of my readers, but in the interest of at least appearing concerned, I’m asking where everybody’s weekend plans are taking them.

Hopefully someplace where work isn’t an option; I’m thinking of declaring Work Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Protection, where you tell your clients you’re filing for protection, and they’re now legally obligated to wait while you reorganize your workload.

And go fly fishing.

See you on the opener, Tom Chandler.