The McCloud River

Northern California's most famous freestone fishery. The McCloud is a classic pool and pocket water river in a magnificently wooded canyon. The McCloud rainbow is highly prized. In the late 1800s, it was the source of rainbow stocks now found around the world. In the autumn, it has a fine run of brown trout from Lake Shasta. Special regulations protect this fishery and it produces trout to 24 inches, typically on nymphs and streamers. The three miles of Nature Conservancy water is zero-kill and limited to ten rods a day. We fish both this water and the six miles of public water above the Conservancy. We also fish the upper river, above the reservoir, where the wading and access are easy and the many small fish quite willing.