McCloud River

The McCloud has to be one of the top 5 or so most beautiful trout streams in the world. The color of the water looks unworldly at times.

Very difficult to move around the banks and wading is very tough. I fished the Ash Camp area which has the Pacific Coast Trail bridge crossing it below Lake McCloud. The road is still closed so a ~10 min walk is needed to get down into the canyon along the river. 

Rainbows here are as beautiful as they can be. 

I preferred this stretch of river compared to the area around Ah Di Nah. It seemed less crowded and easier to wade and the drive to Ah Di Nah is very rough, almost requiring 4wd. Upstream from Ah Di Nah there is a series of massive deep pools one after the other that are extremely difficult to fly fish. This section was a pocket nymph fisher's dream.