Hey from vacaville and just started fly fishing ,i was wonder can anyone tell me; -Best time to fish the creek or lake solano?day or night? -Equipment,flies,rods,lines>? -Where is a good place,map location? -Any other speceies?
I know this is alot but i want to fish there its a lovely place!
A good general trout rod would be 9 ft 5 weight. You'll want a reel that can accommodate a good deal of backing. This will help when you hook into a monster but also keeps your fly line from being wound around the reel's arbor in tiny loops. The reel I use on my 5 wt holds about 100 yards of backing.
I've posted these in another thread, but these flies will catch fish on Putah and just about anywhere that you can catch trout: 1. Pheasant Tail nymph #16-20 2. Zebra Midge (black, red, olive) #18-22 3. Fox Poopah (tan, olive) #14-16 4. Micro Mayfly #16-20 5. Wooly Bugger (olive, black) #10-12 6. Damselfly nymph (olive) #12-14 7. Hare's Ear nymph (tan, olive) #16-20
Lake Solano is best accessed by boat. You can only use non-motorized watercraft here so a float tube, pontoon boat, canoe, or kayak will work. In the summer when the flows are higher, the slower sections of the creek are most easily fished by some sort of watercraft. Most areas are wadable. You can wear waders or just wet wade. In the summer I wet wade on the hotter days unless I'm fishing from my float tube. Outside of summer I always wear waders. The water is just too COLD.
As far as species go in the lake and creek, rainbow trout and brown trout are the creek's main inhabitants with some sculpins (small baitfish), squawfish, smallmouth and largemouth bass, and carp. I guess there could be catfish, crappie, and bluegill here as well. Fish are known to have gone over the gloryhole from Berryessa. I've never heard of them being caught in the creek between the two lakes, but I have heard of them being caught below Lake Solano.
I have fished the creek in the morning, afternoon, and evening, but I usually fish late morning to midafternoon. The prime locations on the creek are near the upper bridge and the access points (#1-5) above Lake Solano.
I hope this helps.
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"Nothing makes a fish bigger than almost being caught."
As another newbie to the creek, thanks for the comprehensive fly list. So far, I've been just been operating off the various postings of what people have tried or had success with.
Another newbie question: What's the length of the productive season for fly fishing on the creek? I gather it starts in Dec time frame, but as we approach spring or summer, when does it taper off? Or, is it soley a function of managable flow levels? Do the Cutthroat ever leave and return to the lake?
The productive length of the fishing season depends on your ability to adapt to the varying conditions of the creek. The middle of winter might suck for some, but they might catch tons of fish in the middle of summer. For others, it's the other way around. Then again, others like Otter can catch fish consistently year round. Some fish return to the lake, but some remain in the creek. Most of the big fish hang out in the slower deeper sections of the creek when the weather starts to warm up. The fishing can seem more difficult then with a lot of hatchery fish being caught. The bigger fish are still there and are still caught regularly by those who are willing to work for them.
__________________
"Nothing makes a fish bigger than almost being caught."
Everyone has there own flow preffernce, I like around 200 to 300. There are plenty of fish in the creek year round. There are no secret putah fly's, i like hares ear's, pheasant tail's, midges, serendipity's, wd-40's, san juan worm, and plenty of things I dont even remeber what they are called. best advice to give someone new to putah is do alot of exploring and become familar with all the access area's. And as JT said, you must adapt, adapt, adapt, dont get stuck trying the same ol thing over and over if it isn't working. good luck.
one of the best things I can recommend is make sure you have the right depth. There are varying depths in putah creek that has taken me the better part of 2 years to get used to. Split shot, bead heads will all do the trick. If you're not ticking the ground every once in a while you're too high. if you get snagged every cast or so, you're too heavy. also cover lots of water. No bites on your 2 fly presentation in 10 or so casts, try another hole or likely trout cover. Fly list is great. the top3 flies will catch you 90% of your fish on putah IMO.
Also practice casting at home. One lowsy cast on the water will put fish off to your presentation. Usually if I screw up and get tangled in a tree, splash the water or something funky, I give it another 5 casts then move on. Most of the time if you are sloppy the trout will be aware of your presence. Stealth here is critical. Most of my fish are on the first 3 casts in any hole/holding area. The fish are still unaware of your presence if your approach is good. Putah can be challenging because some of the banks are unfriendly and is hard to approach the water. Its good to approach the water from a distance and try to read the water before wading in. This technique alone will double your takes.
Good luck! Putah is a hard creek to learn, but once you do it is a treasure!!
Thanks again for the great advice. I love this forum, the sense of comradrie, and everyone's willingness to share. My brother in law and I will hit the creak early Sunday (tomorrow) AM and put in another 8 hrs or so. Not a lot of luck so far since my 24 incher on my first visit in Dec. On what I call the "Bud lite" crowd who insist on fouling the stream and bank with their trash, I plan to fish with a plastic trash bag tucked into my belt and do what I can to pick up after the slobs. Some flymen do this on the lower American, another mess due to the easy access...Eric
