I fished the creek today with a friend. I was hoping to get him into some nice fish. He managed to hook one--a big, beefy rainbow--on a #16 olive caddis pupa. It got around a rock and got off. Those fish are true escape artists. I hooked two, landing one--a fat 17"er. He took a #20 mayfly nymph that I tie. There was no major activity today. Needless to say, the fishing was really slow. There were midges in the air as always but not many caddis and no mayflies. I forgot what it was like to have to fish the weight and long leaders that are necessary with the higher flows. I guess that's why a lot of people only fish Putah in the winter.
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"Nothing makes a fish bigger than almost being caught."
With the increased flows comes a change in tactics and gear. What are your recomendations on leader size and length. I have pretty much stuck with a 9' 6x and moved the indicator towards the butt.
looks like its time to put away the 4 weight rod and brush the dust of the 6 weight with these high flows, gonna need some shot. I am by no means an expert on putah but i find that the only time a 6x tippet is needed is with dries. I fished putah alot during high summer flows last year and found that the fish alot of times tend to hold closer to the banks then one might think, I also like to fish back eddy's with higher flows, I look for spots were foam gathers, because thats also were the food will also tend to gather. Also with high flows I find myself concentrating on smaller area's then I would with low flows. As I said I aint no expert, just thought I'd give my 2 cents worth. I think I'll let the creek and the fish settle a little before I try putah again, after all It's bass time.
I'm planning on heading up there tomorrow though the increase in flows looks troublesome, I was thinking of using the float tube/kick boat up by the dam or any of the flat water sections. Any thoughts or suggestions on whether this would be productive?
With the increased flows it was time to put away the 3 wt. I broke my 5 wt out again. It is so much easier to cast and mend the line with it, especially in the wind. It also helps when fighting the fish in the stronger current.
For a leader, I have a 5 ft butt section from an old leader that I add tippet to. I'm cheap and I figure that when nymphing I don't need a $4 leader. The fish don't seem to mind. When using a dry, I switch over to a nice tapered leader, though. This is pretty rare for me.
I add/remove weight often and constantly change the depth of my indicator to get down in the fish's faces. Lately, they've been hunkered down on the bottom. You pretty much have to hit them on the nose.
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"Nothing makes a fish bigger than almost being caught."
