Memorial Weekend Guide Notes Update

Upper Sac 5/20

It’s dry fly season on the Upper Sac! Prolific hatches are happening in different areas. You can go to one place and see very few and then go to a new spot and there they are. Currently, it’s mostly mayflies, but the golden stones are just starting to show and some salmon flies are still fluttering about. Some small caddis, midges, termites, flying ants and craneflies are in the mix as well. The fish have really fattened up this month as they have been filling up on a variety of options.  In the evenings, the fish are actively feeding at the surface and if presented right, will often hit aggressively. It’s hard to beat seeing a trout come up from the depths and inhale your fly. Today, I pursued a rising fish and got him to rise to my fly 3 times before I finally got the hook set. The last time was by slightly twitching my Golden Stone style Chubby Chernobyl. Fishing a stimulator or golden chubby chernobyl for a dry and a brush hog, duracell, or perdigon dropper is the way to go right now, or just keep it simple and fish a dry fly when the fish are rising. Great smaller flies (size 12-18) are parachute adams, flying ants, mayfly emergers, and mosquitoes. It’s shaping up to be a beautiful end of May!

May Ted Fay Fly Shop Report

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!

April Ted Fay Fly Shop Report

Ted Fay Fly Shop Fishing Report 4/1/26

Correction from last week: The creek that flows into the McCloud at Ash Camp is called Hawkins Creek, not Ash Creek. (Thanks Steve!)

On the River Stories

A report from a reportedly reputable person said that an Oregonian, from Ashland, came last week and was fishing a small BWO dry somewhere near the Bikini Hole on the Upper Sac and landed a 24 inch Rainbow. He had a picture to prove it. Dang! Well ain’t that somethin’? You might ask, “Where is the bikini hole?”, but that is a different story for a different time and it might just get someone in trouble and I don’t want to reveal his NEW favorite hole. But enough of these musings: here’s the fishing report! 

Upper Sac Report 

Water Temp: 50 degrees in Dunsmuir

Current River Flows at Delta: 800 CFS 

The weather had been in the 70s for the past couple weeks, which is unusual, so the seasonal changes are earlier this year. I have been seeing a march brown here and there, small caddis and small baetis, but not too much yet. There have been lots of midges hovering over the surface on some days. We have a short bit of winter-like weather coming back, but the warm weather returns by this weekend. Fishing reports for the last week of March were good for some, with healthy rainbows brought to the net. On the days that I fished, the fish seemed to be holding more towards the middle and the tails of holes. The majority of the fish I have been catching are on an 8 or 10 Black Tungsten Stonefly (see pic) and a Purple Perdigon in sizes 16 or 18. Corey and Jessica, the new owners at Ted Fay Fly Shop, report that purple and red have been the good colors lately. The Salmon flies are starting to hatch, so if you see them, put on a stimulator and do a dry-dropper set up. The water is clear, so spend a bit of time looking for fish in holes before you start casting. Remember, barbless hooks only on the Upper Sac.

Nymphs 

Tungsten Bead Black Stone 

Golden Stones

Blowtorch #12-16

Duracells #14-16

Purple Perdigon #16-18

Lemurian Soft Hackle PT

Dries

BWOs #18

March Browns #14-16

Caddis #16-18

McCloud River

Water Temp: 47 degrees

Current River Flows at Ah Di Nah: 240 cfs 

According to Ted Fay Fly Shop, the few reports that were coming from the McCloud is that it was fishing decent, so I thought I’d go check it out on March 30th. It was an overcast late afternoon with an air temp of 61 degrees and water temp of 47 degrees. The water was clear. The Indian Rhubarb and dogwoods were starting to bloom. Very few bugs were hatching but I saw a few risers on small caddis and some tiny midges. I used an Elk Hair Caddis with a small baetis dropper underneath. I started to catch or get a grab here and there on the dropper throughout the hole I was fishing, but most of the fish were small (8-10 inches), had little fight in them, and were skinny and silver. This is the second time in a month that I’ve been down there and caught these cookie cutter fish that don’t look like McCloud River fish and I’ve come to the conclusion that these are fish that washed over the McCloud Reservoir dam during recent flooding and are now in the upper reaches of the river.  Another fisherman was down there with a Euro Nymph set up and he had been managing to land a few smaller fish, mostly with a Red Tag nymph. He caught one nice 15 inch brown fishing a tail out. I decided to walk about a half mile down river and try it there. Sure enough, I caught 3 or 4 fish and they all had that distinctive McCloud look and they fought like a vigorous McCloud rainbow ought. The fish were in pocket water and deeper slots. These fish haven’t had the pressure of a whole summer, so as it’s turning on, the fishing will get better, especially when the Golden Stones start hatching. April will be a good bet to get on this river to catch some hungry fish. The road to Ah Di Nah is open, but the campground is still closed. Remember, only barbless hooks may be used.

Nymphs

Brush Hogs

Duracells #14-16

Tungsten Bead Black Stone

Golden Stone Nymphs

Zebra Midges #16-18

Red Tag Nymph #12-14

Lake Siskiyou

Water Temp: mid 50s

As I’m writing this report, Lake Siskiyou is in the process of turning over, where the stratified layers of the lake mix together. The water is a bit murky and there has been very little surface activity, but as long as the Spring-time weather holds, this is about to change. Reports have been mixed, but those who know where the fish are holding are finding success. Stripping wooly buggers, balanced leaches under an indicator and chironomids are the go-tos right now, but callibaetis will start showing soon.

Feisty Upper Sac Bow

This McCloud Bow fell for a baetis dropper

Blooming Indian Rhubarb

-Thank you to Michael Kielich for this report!