McCloud River Field Notes

Last weekend I took off for an afternoon on the McCloud which was my first adventure down there this season. I was eager for the trip because I recently got a 9' 5wt Jefferson Rod Co rod and had yet to fish it. I lined up the rod with a 5wt Rio Gold Line, which has been my favorite all around trout line for the past six or seven seasons.

I headed toward Ash Camp, wanting to venture further to Ah-Di-Na but being shy of popping a tire. After scrambling down the steep hillside, I was along the river at it looked as beautiful as I've ever seen it.

I started off with a nymph rig - a rubberlegs and pheasant tail- and ended up landing a few fish on the dropper. But after loosing a couple flies and getting frustrated from snagging up, I switched to the dry. There was nothing hatching so I threw on a size 12 Chubby Chernobyl just to see what would happen. On the first cast a nice fish came to the surface but missed it.

From then I proceeded to land around six small trout on the Chubby, which is just such fun fishing to do. It's interesting fishing, because the size of the average fish would be best fished on a 3wt rod.. But the long casts those longer pools require really made it a joy to fish with the 5wt.

A bit on the rod - it's what I'd call a medium fast action which makes it really versatile in our region. It feels to me to be somewhere right in because the buttery smoothness of a Winston and the fast action performance of a Sage - offering some of the benefits of each. The thing I love about the rod though is the aesthetics, making it a rod that is truly as beautiful as the places it was designed to be fished in.

As always if you want any more current information about fishing conditions, tactics, or access, don't hesitate to give us a call at  (541) 488-6454 or email at info@ashlandflyshop.com

AFS Staffer, Marcus Mattioli