With 16 clients, 4 of the best regional guides, on a river 3 times its normal size the Opener treated us to hundreds of fish. Yes Hundreds. Great rainbows to 16″ and a few nice browns to 18″ Despite the hoopla and warnings in the blogosphere about unsuitable fishing on the McCloud due to the damn dam spill, good to excellent fishing was had on opening weekend. Wild Waters Fly Fishing put together the four best guides on the river, John Rickard, Chuck Volckhausen, Ron Hart and Aaron Grabiel to accommodate a big group of 16 fisherman. We specialize in group trips and the McCloud river thus success was eminent, with these high flows we just had to work a bit harder. At 750 cfs the first concern is safety. There were few spots that were fishable. Those that were turned out to be refuge spots and were stacked with fish. Literally hundreds of fish were caught, even a few on dries. We did much better than I thought we would, though I knew if anyone could figure out fishing in these high flows we could. The best time to go fishing is when you can. There is no reason to wait until the perfect flows (250 cfs is my favorite) Trust me its simply time to go fishing. Season is Open!

The deep beautiful pools of the McCloud were the only fishable spots. But they were stacked in there like cord wood.

You got to love the McCloud River Cookie Cutter.

Log roll fly fishing requires agility, balance, a timed smooth cast and some guts.

A Goat Argentinian Style.