OK, I will answer both posts here:
Harry:
Yes the Mac always turns color in the mid-late summer. That is not what I am talking about. I am talking about mocha, as in pretty much unfishable. Understand I have not run over and taken a look at it, so I am basing this estimate on second hand reports and what I have seen in the past, But I would expect visibility to be a few inches not a few feet.
Of course, rivers like the Crooked in Oregon are always off-color and it fishs just fine, so maybe the Mac would still fish with this color in it, Wading it would be pretty grim though, you can not see where you are going so all the big rocks come as a complete surprise when you trip over them
Also I prefer clear water to murky water, so I always just fish the Upper Sac with the Mac goes out like this.
Gitt:
As to why the off-color, I am not sure. It is not unusual for the Mac to 'blow out' in the sense of turning off color in the late summer. It usually only lasts a few days to a week, although I recently heard that one of the other guides up here has seen it last for 6 weeks.
The usual reason we ascribe to this situation is heavy run-off from Mud Creek, a stream that carries ash and glacial deposits from a old slide on the east side of Mt Shasta and empties into McCloud Reservoir. However, we expect that to happen when it is very hot and it stays hot (or at least warm) over-night, so that a lot of snow melts off the mountain.
That is not the case right now, night time temps have been down right cold (snow level 5500), so this time the exact reasons for the off-colored-ness (is that a word?) is a mystery.
Here is a interesting site that discussed the big 1924 mud flow:
http://www...asta/env/glacial/mud.htm
and a USGS site that discussed debris flows off Shasta:
http://ca....orts/shasta/factors.html
We (the locals) are always trying to blame this on PG&E, in that we suspect it has something to do with the way they operate the dam, but we have never found any evidence to support this. A few years ago this happened, and DFG over-flew the area in a helicopter and pronounced it a natural event.
I will hear fairly quickly when it clears up. This happened a few weeks ago and the river was only off-color for a few days, but as I said it can sometimes last much longer.
See posts on old board from 08/30
http://www...7021&expand=1#377021
As far as a “better” source: What am I, chopped liver?
but if it would make you feel "better" you can call Bob at the Ted Fay Fly Shop (530) 235-2969.
Motel in town for non-campers: what town? McCloud? Mt Shasta? Big Bend?
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