May Ted Fay Fly Shop Report
Bob Grace
Fishing Report 5/1/26
Upcoming Event: May 1st - 3rd - Dogwood Daze in Dunsmuir: live music, local tours, artisan vendors, kids activities,, and more… Check out the website: https://www.dunsmuir.com/events/dogwood-daze
As of late April, the hatches (March Browns, BWOs, Salmon Flies, Drakes, Termites) are starting to trickle in with some predictability and the dry fly action is starting to pick up. The fish are spread throughout the holes and riffles. If you see dry flies hatching and fish rising, drop the nymphs and switch to dries. When fish are surface feeding, you will likely get more action if you use dry flies rather than keeping your nymphs on. Tip: If you’ve fished over a rising fish for quite some time and haven’t managed to get it to rise, twitch your fly just a smidge and that can often trigger a hesitant fish to strike. Also, if you’ve fished a hole for a bit and the fish have spooked, take a 5 minute break in the shade of an alder, and wait for them to start feeding again.
Side note: If anyone finds a gray Orvis hat with a caddis fly patch, please take it to Ted Fay Fly Shop and I’ll buy you a dozen flies. I stretched too far to get my flies out of an alder branch, slipped, and went for a swim. I loved that hat!
Upper Sac Report
Water Temp: 57 degrees at Soda Creek bridge (4/30)
River Flows at Delta: 1130 CFS and dropping
Local guides have been reporting success for their clients on the Upper Sac lately. The past three evenings I fished the Upper Sac near Dunsmuir and Soda Creek and had success using a size 14 Parachute Adams (brown) in the riffles and faster runs and a size 16-18 Mosquito for the fish that were slurping in the slower moving sections of the pools and tailouts. In one deeper hole, I was bringing an 8 inch rainbow to the shore and a big brown came out of the depth and swiped at it. I tied on a big streamer and tried to coax him back up, but to no avail. They’re in there, they're just not easy to catch. The rising fish love feeding in the foam lines. There are still some midges, but it’s the mayflies, drakes and salmonflies that make springtime anglers want to quit their day job. The Salmon Fly hatch is starting, so a dry dropper with a large salmon fly or chubby chernobyl and a beaded mayfly nymph is a solid choice. If you’re not seeing hatches, Black Stone Nymphs and Mayfly nymphs imitations are the go tos. Purple and reds continue to be effective colors. Remember, barbless hooks only on the Upper Sac.
Nymphs
Tungsten Bead Black Stone
Little Amigos #16-18
Golden Stones
Blowtorch #12-16
Duracells #14-16
Purple Perdigon #16-18
Brush Hog #12
Dries
BWOs #18
Parachute Adams #14-18
March Browns #14-16
Mosquito #16-18
Salmon Flies
Chubby Chernobyls
McCloud River
Water Temp: 47 degrees (4/27)
River Flows: 292 CFS at Ah Di Nah
Recently, I went down to the McCloud near Ash Camp to do some dry fly fishing because I had heard some reports from locals that some good hatches were happening. I’d also heard some reports of decent nymphing. The journey was beautiful as always and when I arrived a sporadic hatch of small mayflies was bringing fish to the surface. The water was running clear and you could easily spot some of the fish that were feeding. A couple locals were fishing dries in a beautiful run with some success. I tried a couple different flies and had limited success until I tied on a size 18 Mosquito. My wife, who generally feels sorry for the fish, saw that I was having so much fun and gave it a try. She brought a couple to the net, apologized to each one, and called it good. May is a great month to be on this river, especially when the stone flies start hatching in good numbers. Remember, barbless hooks only on the McCloud.
Nymphs
Tung Tied Nymphs
S&M Nymphs
Bruised Baetis
Dark Lords #12-16
Little Amigos #16-18
Brush Hogs
Tungsten Bead Black Stone
Dries:
Parachute Adams #12-16
Mosquito #16-18
March Browns
Salmon Flies
BWOs
Lake Siskiyou
Temp: 59 degrees and rising quickly (4/30)
Lake Siskiyou had some big temperature swings during April and it generally fished slow. We’re still waiting for it to turn on and it should happen any day now. If you’re not picky, the hatchery just did a big fish plant at the lake, so it should be easy to catch some dumb fish. As the weather warms, the rainbows, browns and smallies will be slurping ants, termites and midges in the debris lines and near shore. Otherwise, strip the usual streamers in blacks, browns and greens. A bit of red always seems to trigger strikes as well. May is the month when the smallmouth bass move into the shallows for their pre-spawn activity. These next 2 months are the best to tie into some of the hard fighting smallies this lake offers.
A lake-run Upper Sac bow
Lake Siskiyou Smallmouth
A gorgeous Upper Sac bow caught on a Parachute Adams
Salmon Flies are hatching!