While I was out looking around for the sign issue today, I fished for a couple of hours. It was pretty cold and rainy. Some midges started coming off the water about 10AM. I hooked 3 fish, landing 2. I really had to work for those fish, though. They were obviously eating something a couple of feet below the surface, but I couldn't figure out what. One of the fish landed was a 23" rainbow. It took a #18 Poxyback Baetis. It was pretty skinny and didn't have much fight. It just shook its head from the moment it was hooked all the way to the net. I landed the fish in about a minute with my 3 wt. The other fish landed took a #16 olive caddis pupa. The one that got away was about 18" and took a #22 Zebra Midge-like fly. That fish was not very amused having a hook in the corner of his mouth. He took off like a rocket when hooked and put up a decent fight. I had him pretty close when he took off again and spit the hook.
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"Nothing makes a fish bigger than almost being caught."
I almost forgot. When I was fishing the creek yesterday, I saw 4 bass: two appeared to be spotted bass and two of them were largemouths. I saw one on Saturday as well. They were cruising the edges in some slower water. I'd imagine they are having a field day on all those new trout fry. I know the diving birds are.
BTW, the flows are above 200 CFS right now and the lake is at about 93% of capacity as of 20 Mar 2007.
-- Edited by JT at 10:59, 2007-03-21
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"Nothing makes a fish bigger than almost being caught."
Taking the comments by JT regarding the types of flies used on Putah Creek into consideration, does anyone have advice/recommendations for a first-timer to PC? I have mainly fished the Eastern Sierra area (around Mono Lake), up near Tahoe, and a little on the Russian River and other Sonoma Areas. Any advice on access, times of the day, spots to avoid, or spots to be sure and hit, would be greatly appreciated. I am considering a Saturday afternoon outing (the morning is taken).
JT wrote: I almost forgot. When I was fishing the creek yesterday, I saw 4 bass: two appeared to be spotted bass and two of them were largemouths. I saw one on Saturday as well. They were cruising the edges in some slower water. I'd imagine they are having a field day on all those new trout fry. I know the diving birds are.
BTW, the flows are above 200 CFS right now and the lake is at about 93% of capacity as of 20 Mar 2007.
-- Edited by JT at 10:59, 2007-03-21
JT are you positive you saw bass in the upper part of putah creek? That water is much to cold for them to thrive, I dont even think it gets warm enough for a bass to spawn in upper putah, I recently read an article about how solano lake back in the 90's had a decent population of smallmouth but that population has drastically diminished. I also recall a post here a while back that said someone caught a catfish in putah, I'm skeptical about that. Back before putah was dammed, the putah river was the first spot in all of california that smallmouth were planted, So I guess It would be possible for smallmouth to live in upper putah, But I would rather not have a non native species of fish competing with the wild trout, I assume thats why dfg no longer plants browns in there. Any ways looks like the flows are what i consider perfect right now so i hope to have a good report after this weekend, I'm gonna hit it hard for three staright days starting friday afternoon.
I've heard that sometimes bass are in the section below the dam after the glory hole has been flowing. Personaly I have never seen a bass in this section.
thecaptain wrote:JT are you positive you saw bass in the upper part of putah creek?
Captain, I'm positive the fish were bass. The water is super clear right now and they were cruising the shoreline. They weren't hanging very deep. One of them actually stopped and watched me for a little bit until I moved. Then he just swam off slowly. I was able to get a good look at all of them. The shape of the body, fins, coloration was easy to see. They were definitely bass. I was surprised to see them as active as they were. The water made my legs and feet numb.
Drhays, I've also heard of bass up there after the glory hole has spilled over. It hasn't spilled over this year, though. I wonder if this is normal for this time of year, glory hole or not.
Does anyone else know anything about this?
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"Nothing makes a fish bigger than almost being caught."
I suspect bass surviving the trip through the Glory Hole could survive in the creek for multiple years. Looking around on the web suggest the fish would start to have problems with water temperatures below 40 deg. F. Other members of the resort have told me they have actually caught bass.
Last year I was fishing around the bridge when I looked into the water. In a large backeddy I noticed a dead, bleached out fish in the water. I used my wading staff to lift the fish off of the bottom. It was a bluegill about 7 or 8 inches long. It was pretty apparent that the fish had come through the glory hole so it seems very plausible to me that bass could pass through, as well.
My son and I have caught several bass just below the dam while in float tubes. They were largemouth bass and some were pretty good sized. We were using nymphs for trout and caught some bass during the hunt.
I saw five bass again on the creek today. I actually put on a streamer (#10 olive Slumpbuster) to see if they would hit it. I had two of them take a look but neither of them were all that interested.
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"Nothing makes a fish bigger than almost being caught."
