THE IRIDEUS - MAY 2021
Fishing The McCloud in May
By Peter Burrows Photos by Dave Harding
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ike so many California fly-fishers, I fell hard for the Nature Conservancy’s McCloud River Preserve the first time I fished it in the mid-1990s. I’ve probably made it back at least once every year since then. When it comes to fishing for world-famous wild rainbows and huge browns in an almost magically beautiful wilderness, you can’t beat it. If you’ve fished here, as most Irideus readers have, I’m sure you know what I mean. The latest proof for me came on a Monday and Tuesday in early May, when my friend and new GPFF member Dave Harding had two of the five reserved spots the Nature Conservancy makes available each day. There are also five tags for
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walk-ons, for a total of ten rods per day, which leaves plenty of room to find solitude on the 3-mile stretch. (I would never plan on getting a walk-on tag, since others are likely thinking the same thing. The good news is that there is plenty of great water to fish outside of the Conservancy section if you don’t get a tag). The hardest part of a trip to “the Conservancy” is always the start. It’s a long drive from my home in Alameda; I can do it in around five or six hours, but it can run to seven if you hit traffic getting out of the Bay Area. And the last 40 minutes or so is on a very rough 8-mile dirt road that has gotten rougher by the year. One acquaintance says only people who are getting
