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. 

Riley Rennick of Wildwaters Flyfishing reports on Nov 12th, 2024

Klamath 

The Klamath continues to move sediment that was trapped behind Iron Gate dam. Turbidity is improving and beginning to approach what I would consider fishable. The banks and boat launches have significant amounts of mud, which will limit access. It’s hard to say when exactly the Klamath will be fishable again, but I am still hopefully that I will catch a 2024 Klamath steelhead. Though water clarity has limited our ability to fish this river, the fish are moving through with no problem. Salmon numbers in Klamath tribs are decent this year, and fish have already made it past the former dam site.

McCloud

It’s no secret that the McCloud is having a strong year. There have been plenty of October Caddis around, and the tail end of October and into November is when the fish really key into them. The river has been fairly crowded, but as per usual if you are willing to hike you can find some solitude. The usual Mccloud setups are still producing: dry dropper and indicator rigs with chubbys, rubber legs, and size 14 or 16 mayfly and caddis nymphs. The Nature conservancy shuts down on November 15^th, though the rest of the river is now open to fishing year-round. During the winter, the road is not plowed past the reservoir boat launch. A storm is predicted to drop 3-7 inches of snow at 4,000 feet on 11/13; with more precip in the 10-day forecast. 

Rogue

With the Klamath out thus far this season, we have been venturing north more often than usual. The Rogue is having a fairly thin year, but both indicator fishing and swinging has produced some quality fish. For the indicator – just your typical fall time setup: stonefly and a 8mm or 10mm bead. For swinging, light sink tips with classic flys or small intruder style flys. The coming storm could stir things up and get fish going again.

The Coast

Rumor has it the salmon guys have been getting into them out on the coast. With last years nonstop rain and high water, we are even more excited than usual to get out and start chasing winter steelhead. We will start poking around in about a month – and be full steam ahead by the new year, check back for more.