October, 2014 “Hey Jared, the McCloud is ‘Blown'”

And we all know how rivers like to be blown…plus I have a new camera. I have a Nikon 1 AW1. A waterproof, interchangeable lens high tech battle proven beast.

Stayed in the same house in McCloud again, but this time we fished below the lower falls and into the Nature Conservancy property. We were the only people on the McCloud and nobody had been to the Nature Conservancy property in over 3 weeks. The Fly Shop – “The McCloud is Blown”, Ted Fay –  “The McCloud is blown”. Well the McCloud was definitely blown because it was pretty relaxed and congenial when we got there.

On the drive up we stopped and fished the Upper Sacramento. It was around Lunchtime so we scarfed down some chicken legs I grilled the night before and raced each other down to the river. We were armed with our Beualah 5 wt. CZ homebuilts and our 11’7″ “mystery rods”, modified Burk leaders, my sculpin jigs and Bird’s nests, Hare’s Ears and P.T.’s .

Just look at the pics:

Jared, there aren’t any fish there.

 

They’re over here.

Stop fooling around and get over here. We’ll alternate casts, just get over here! Now! Hurry, get the camera, another one!

More of the same….

 

Went back to the stretch above the lower falls of the McCloud where we did really well last trip. The water was skinny and clear. Nothing going on here.

 

Just for the hell of it we scrambled down and forged the river just below the falls. It was sickening. We caught a lot of fish stripping muddler minnows and sculpins jigs.

 

We weren’t alone….

 

It’s hard to see but a bunch of otters were devouring fish under the overhang opposite us. The white specks are fish.

Anyway, the McCloud is “blown” somewhere below here. I thought it would be a great experience for Jared to take him to the Nature Conservancy property on his first trip to the lower McCloud the next morning. Here we are. Nobody is there, because of the blown-ness of the river and the log shows that we are the first anglers there in more than three weeks. That’s crazy. Everybody from everywhere has fished, will fish or has dreamed of fishing this water. I don’t care for it personally. Upstream suits me better. But Jared had a great time, as the pictures will tell. The Beulah 5’s, that’s all I’m saying.

 

 

This is what “blown” looks like. It’s not crystal clear.

 

I got bored with the Nature Conservancy water. No more dinks. On to Rattlesnake Hole, let’s get something going to wake me up.  #14 tan Bird’s Nest on upper dropper. Notice the fish’s girth with respect to my forearm. It’s around 23″ or greater. I carry a tape with me.

So, the Beulah 5 wt. CZ rod emits the proper frequencies under load to attract decent fish.

 

I’m tired of talking, here’s an album:

 

I thought I’d clarify the “mystery rod”. It is a 5 wt. Beulah Spey rod that I built as a single hander. I doubt we’ll put it into production. I wanted you to get a sense of what product development and research for Beulah is like. Think about what would work better than what’s already available, build it, fish it, refine it. Repeat.