McCloud and Upper Sac Fly Fishing Report

Riley Renick reports on March 28th, 2025

This weekend we will turn our focus from winter steelhead to the upcoming trout season. 

This winter season was pretty typical of what we’ve come to expect fishing for winter steelhead: working really hard to scrape out occasional opportunities. With so much rain fall this year, cancelling days and cruising 101 looking for clear water felt like the norm. The challenge of winter steelhead fishing is what makes it my favorite thing to do, but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t looking forward to warm days and reaching for the net a little more regularly. 

Looking ahead to spring trout fishing:
Last year on the McCloud was the kind of season you don’t write about until the road's snowed in. A few pics from last year that we’ve been holding back. 

The access road to the McCloud is accessible as of writing, water clarity and flow are ideal right now, but keep an eye on this next storm. Remember that though the McCloud is open to fishing year round, the Nature Conservancy property does not open until the last Saturday of April. You can expect a crowd that “opening weekend”, but outside of that, early spring can be a really pleasant time to be on the McCloud - weather pending. Fishing is generally consistent, and crowds don’t really start building until Memorial Day.