One of my favorite winter fly-fishing sites is Lake McSwain in Merced County. As a year round trout fishery, it boasts some pretty impressive numbers along with one of the more popular trout derby's in California. While most people enjoy putting around the narrow little lake in their johnboats with little trolling motors, I really enjoy the wide open banks and shallow waters for casting flies.
I prefer to use a 10 or 12 wooly bugger on the end of a 4x or 5x tippet with moderate sinking line and then tie another either spruce or dark brown Matuka off the hook with 4x or 3x tippet about 18-24 inches behind the wooly bugger. The matuka's light weight compared to the bead head wooly bugger makes it cast nicely and snags very little, even though the lake is covered with sharp snaggy shale.
I also recommend using muddler minnows if you happen to find yourself at the lake when it's high enough to have a shady spot. Muddlers attract big bottom feeders when the water is warm, especially in the shady areas. Unfortunately, right now, the level is down, but according to the ranger, since the feeder dam at Lake McClure should be repaired soon, the level will be coming up. This is good news for bank fisherman who otherwise need to have a heck of a double hall cast to reach the deep cold waters.
Speaking of big casts... my arm felt like it was nearly going to fall off after casting my 6 wt 9' fast action rod 40+ feet all morning. If you are considering a trip, bring some anti-inflammatories with you.
