Got out to the creek again (baby is due any minute - may be the last time for a long time) and Putah didn't disappoint.
Got about 10-12 fish on a dark rusty fox poopah both on a nymph rig and under a caddis dry as a dropper late in the evening.
Got a couple rises on the caddis dry, but man were they hammering the fox poopah.
Got a 16-17 Inch fatty on the poopah right at dark. Had seem him rise about 4 times in some fast water and was able to pick him up. I'll post a pic after I upload my photos.
Also, at dark on the way back to my car, there were lots of fish rising in a slow moving pool. I made a few last minute casts (with no visibility) and got a rise, but the only thing I caught was a bat. Hooked him right on the wing. He was an ugly little guy. I felt bad though, becase I sure as hell wasn't going to touch him, so I just cut him loose with the fly in his wing. I hope the little insect eater makes it.
On the McCloud, the bats come out while it's not quite dark. In the evening there PEDs and PMDs (light colored mayflies) are what you often use, so you can see them pretty well on the water. The bats however, are like little shadows flying around the corners of your vision - you can't really see them, you just catch their movements. Anyway, when your fly hits the water, it will just disappear and land again like 5 feet away cuz a bat grabbed it off the surface, flew with it, realized it wasn't an insect and set it down again. That is a very cool phenomenon. Those bats are smart.
I think I may have hooked this guy in the air at Putah.
I went out Saturday am and fished using a 3 wt with a micromay but was getting zip when I started getting buzzed by a full blast PMD hatch and saw a trout rise. All I had that was close was a BWO parachute with ginger hackle, tied it on. I threw it about 3 feet above him and watched it explode on the first cast. Great fun. I also discovered that they fixed the toll recepticle at #5 and got a parking ticket. I think you can get an annual permit. I'll let you know. Mike
On the McCloud, the bats come out while it's not quite dark. In the evening there PEDs and PMDs (light colored mayflies) are what you often use, so you can see them pretty well on the water. The bats however, are like little shadows flying around the corners of your vision - you can't really see them, you just catch their movements. Anyway, when your fly hits the water, it will just disappear and land again like 5 feet away cuz a bat grabbed it off the surface, flew with it, realized it wasn't an insect and set it down again. That is a very cool phenomenon. Those bats are smart.
Very funny, I had the same phenomena happen to me on Lake Trumbull the other night. I was using a mosquito imitation.
When I was little a friend and I cut the hooks off some dry flies and started false casting around some bats in tahoe. Every once and a while one would come grab our fly right out of the air and tug on it for a while before letting it go. It was pretty funny at the time.
__________________
"when you put your hand into a flowing stream you touch the last that has come before and the first of what is still to come" -DaVinci
