Lake McCumber is one of our favorite dry fly Stillwater fly fisheries in the late winter and early spring.

Current Lake Conditions: Good fishing at McCumber. Damsel flies and Callibaetis hatches produce action packed fishing tempo. The bite dies off around 3:00 PM. But not for those fishing the deep water, retrieving #16 PT Nymphs.

The Fly Shop's ? Tips: Stripping a #14 Pheasant Tail Nymph on a floating line connected to a 9' 5X tapered leader in the mornings has been working great! A variation of this technique calls for a Damsel fly nymph, like one of Zack's leech patterns found in the Streamers/Leeches section on the right.

Using a float tube or a pontoon boat, paddle out into the lake and look along the edges for cruising rainbows and browns. RIOs Aqualux Intermediate Sink Tip is a perfect line for retrieving and stripping leeches, damsel nymphs and streamers. Use a floating line and leader tapered to 4x with a bead head PT with a very, very, very slow retrieve. Fish will find your nymph and take it, but don't set the hook! Just lift and let line out until you can bend the rod without first breaking the fish off.

Lake Fact: When PG&E placed a dam across the N. Fork of Battle Creek, they created a lake that offers great fly fishing for rainbow trout and brown trout. Nestled amongst Ponderosa and Jeffery Pines, bald eagles and osprey can be observed cruising the lakes surface, vigilantly hunting for fish. Although no gas-engines are allowed on the lake, boats with trolling motors are. Anglers can easily fish from float-tubes and pontoon boats as well. McCumber is a quiet and personal location. A classic mountain lake.

Suggested Fly Patterns:

Dry Flies:
• Scum Dun - Callibaetis #14
• D&D Cripple - Callibaetis #16
• Parachute Adams - #16-18

Nymphs/Wet Flies:
• Skip Nymph
• BK Laser Midge - #18-16
• Mercer's Midgeling - #18
• Zallibaetis
• PT Nymph - #16-18
• Hogan's S&M - Brown #16-18
• GB Half-Flashback PT #16-20
• Fox's Callibeeotis - #14

Streamers/Leeches:
• Freshwater Clouser - Olive/White #6
• Zonkers - #4
• Burk's Sierra Damsel - Olive #12
• Zack Attack Damsel - #14
• Zack's Zugger - Yellow/Brown

Fly Fishing Gear:
• Outcast ? Fish Cat 9-IR
• Outcast ? Fish Cat 4 LCS
• Redington ? Crosswater Breathable Waders
• TFS H2O & L2a Rod/Reel/Line
• The Fly Shop's ? Tapered Nylon Leaders
• The Fly Shop's ? Tough Nylon Tippet