Just got back from the creek and didn't see anybody out there. Fished early morning to try and serve em breakfast but maybe I wasn't early enough. Fished from low to half way up the creek. Only spent a half hour around the bridge. Lots of little bugs and a few dries. What happened to all the caddis this year? Not that I don't like BWO's but come on already. Last August treated me wayyy better than this year. Lots of really fishy water out there right now so go find it. Sounds like you guys were killin em on Monday. Nice report JL. Nice to meet you Bonefish.
What up Cole, Caddis will come atleast i think. seems like later in the fall when things really get good they're around. I thought I saw a couple down around #5 yesterday late afternoon. The creek got blasted by alot of folks this w/e whether it was rafters, swimmers (dog & people), rock throwers, fisherman after fisherman. Those fish laid down in the pressured areas come monday. Wouldnt be surprised if they're still down for another day.
As a new guy a have a couple of questions for you all. How long to stick with fly before changing it when they arent biting on it. Also how long do you stick with a fishing spot before moving on if they are not biting.
well i am new also, but from experience not only on the creek that i fished once, but from other rivers and streams, dont ever change your fly until you have tried changing your weight and your leader length, that can make a big difference. i do this even when salmon fishing and not with a fly rod, people using 3 oz with 7 ft leaders not catchin anything, i pull out a 4 oz and a 15 ft leader and first cast bam legal beagle right in the choppers, it happens all the time, so adjust your weight and your leader length before changing a fly. if nothing works with the changing of the weight and length then change a fly, as far as going to a different spot, thats up to you. normally if its good in a spot for about 30 mins then it dies, the fish are still there but they know whats going on, give the fish time to calm down, say 30 mins 45 mins, then go back to that spot youll pick up a few more. just my 2 cents on that one
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Fishing isnt about catching fish, its not about who caught the most, or who caught the biggest, its about the experience that you have on the water, and the life long bonds you make with others on the journey to becoming a better person inside.
Cool, I will be at the creek most of the day tomarow #5 if any of you guys see me please say hi.... Im still fumbling my way through all of this. But its funny each time I go I learn a lot.....
well just so you know, i have fished putah once, and learned a great deal that day, i am used to using woolies and flies that look exactly like bugs, from moths to grasshobbers, and ofcourse beaded nymphs but never micro flies, and that day i fished putah meet up with jt, and what was funny is i was reading this site the night before and told myself i might have to say hi to this guy, well that morning i meet him in person, great guy and knows his junk, and so do a lot of other people on this site, just ask, it never hurts, and do a lot of back reading on this site you will learn a few things too. i spend most of my day readin all the old posts, and it is way different fishing this creek than others that i fish out here in cali, and not even close to how i fish creeks back in my home town in new york, ill be up there on thursday, if your there let me know ill be from #1 to the damn
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Fishing isnt about catching fish, its not about who caught the most, or who caught the biggest, its about the experience that you have on the water, and the life long bonds you make with others on the journey to becoming a better person inside.
9ft leader with a 12-24 inches of tippet is more than enough for putah (in my experience). When you add a dropper fly and even more tippet (12-18 inches), that's a lot of line to handle. On a small brushy creek like Putah, more leader than that is very hard to manage. Weight, mending (stack mending) and indicator position are keys for me. If I'm not getting fish, I add MORE weight - almost never less. Start with less and add more til you reach the fish. If you're not cleaning moss regularly, you are NOT deep enough. If you're going to tightline, you need to have enough weight on there to get your flies down quick and establish a connection between you and the flies.
If I'm still not catching fish after adding weight, then I change flies ONCE. Then I see what insects are on the bottom of the river. I have a kick-net and that proves useful. The other day, I found tons of green caddis, tied one on and had an incredibly productive day - almost single handedly on that fly.
Of course, with all the BWOs hatching, it's no secret that small mayfly and mayfly emerger patterns will be working throughout the hatch.
I try not to stay in one spot too long if I'm not catching fish and I've tried a few different things. Also, if you're killing it in a hole, and there are other people around, move on a give the fish a rest and other people a chance to hit the hole you were fishing.
If you read books on fly fishing they will say if you're not catching fish, MOVE - cover more water. The problem with putah is that there aren't many places to go, esp. this time of year with the high flows. So, I like to alter techniques. Try streamers in the big runs with a sinking line if nothing else is working. It's kind of soothing to cast them and strip them in, plus it's a hell of a lot easier than nymphing, and you can watch the river for insect activity, rising fish, other fishermen, etc. I really enjoyed that the other day.
Some would say (and they are the best fisherman on this creek) to use smaller tippet - but 5x is about as small as I go and I catch plenty o fish. If I tie on a really small bug I'll use 6x, but that's only so I can get it through the damn eye of the hook.
Hope that helps, and keep fightin the good fight wyat. (wyat is a cop in san francisco).
One of the best things about fly fishing to me is figuring out a river. You must go several times and maybe get skunked , and learn new skills everytime you go. This forum is great for information and new technics. I like to add weight if the rig is not working, then moving the indicator up or down, then changing fly. I usually fish a spot for 30 mins., if it is not producing with all my rig changes, i move down river. I use a 7.5 foot 5X notless leader and then add a couple feet of 6X. I live in San Francisco as well, i hope Wyat has'nt arrested me before!? J/K
Sorry to thread jack....hopefully my questions are beneficial to everyone!
JL,
Two questions...
1. How do you determine the depth to fish when nymphing? I know the rule of thumb is 2x's the depth of the water, but I can't bring myself to go that deep due to constantly snagging.
2. What type of sink line (e.g., intermediate, Type II, etc.) are you using when pulling streamers?
When nymphing, it depends on the depth and speed of the water. I start with one small shot, and then add more if i'm not bouncing off the bottom.I snag alot of moss too, it's part of fishing. It also depends on where you cast, with moving water it sometimes takes those little flies some time to get to the bottom, so you have to cast far enough up stream to let the flies get to where the fish are. Good luck!
1.) A lot of times you can gauge how deep the water is by looking at it, but it some times takes just making a few drifts and seeing where your flies hit. Bonefish is right about current speed too... in fast water, even if it's shallow, you'll need more weight to get your flies down - and if you cast far up stream, it can be a challenge not to snag in the shallows when trying to hit a drop off. One thing that works pretty well is to cast up stream and sort of drag your flies to just before the drop off and then let them sink - but this is all feel and touch. You can also try a more lofted cast to have the weight / flies hit the water more vertically.
2.) I have no idea what type of sinking line I have. I'm not so much of a technician when it comes to that stuff. I just paid the guy in the shop to load my second spool with a good sinking line. Sorry I can't tell you more about that. I'm sure one of the guys can give you the straight dope on that.
I usually start out with 2 BB-sized split shot and put my indicator a little over 1X the water depth. I make a few drifts, and if I don't get any hits or snag the bottom I know I'm not getting deep enough. Then I put my indicator about 1.5X the water depth. If I still don't get deep enough, I move my indicator higher up the leader. After that, I shorten the leader a little and add more weight. Then lengthen the leader again, and so on. It seems like I'm constantly changing the depth of my indicator, but I don't do too much fly changing. I have a few "go to" flies that I stick with. I retie when I lose my set up or I hook a beast and lose him. If I can still see him, I'll change flies and try again. Note: There is a ton of moss and algae in the creek. If you're deep enough you will be cleaning it off of your flies about very other cast.
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"Nothing makes a fish bigger than almost being caught."
hey jt just saying good bye for now, have fun up in utah, when you get back give me a call so we can go and hook up and try to catch some pigs, ill be up there tomorrow morning, maybe even meet up with flygirl1, she said she might be there, and bringin on of her rods for me to try out. went to american fly fishing on fair oaks blvd and found a really nice 5 wt 5 pc set up combo for under 200, its a reddington which is made by sage, lifetime warranty ofcourse, 100 bucks, and a nice starter ross reel for 50, and with backing and a fly line which ill pay the extra 30 for the good stuff, and then i might get a 12-15 peice fly box with flies for putah with a box for about 25 bucks, so ill be a lil over 200 but from what i have seen on cabelas its pretty close in prices
see ya when oyu get back
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Fishing isnt about catching fish, its not about who caught the most, or who caught the biggest, its about the experience that you have on the water, and the life long bonds you make with others on the journey to becoming a better person inside.
Bonefish I know him well. He is a training officer at the academy now. And you are right it is like the Hatfields and Mcoy's (you S.H. and S.I. guys.....)
Hey Steve...still a newbie myself, but have had a great teacher. He taught me to make my leader 1X the depth in slow current, 1.5X depth in walking speed current, 2X depth in fast current. The problem with that is you can fish all three of those in one day at Putah, so I am constantly adjustling my indicator to make up for that. With the flow as it is now, I usually make my leader about 7 to 8 ft of 3X, with about 10 to 15 inches of 4x to my first fly and about 10 to 15 inches of 5x to my second fly. Have used 6X sometimes when I feel the fish are just too picky. I tend to change my bottom fly more often, usually if I don't get any action after about 10 or 15 minutes and have adjusted my indicator and weight. I only change location after I have changed up everything else and nothing happens... Sounds like I don't use as much weight as JT...he obviously catches more fish than I do, so maybe I need to use more. I also have a few go to flies, but like to experiment and see what happens. JT and Matt are great fisherman and know the creek well. It is nice sometimes just to watch and learn. I don't catch nearly the fish they do...but did catch my first 20 incher last week...so maybe I will be as good as they are someday. It's something to shoot for anyway.
Thanks for the insights on determining fly depth. I especially like flygirl1's approach to water speed. I definitely don't adjust my weight and indicator enough. I usually beat a good looking piece of water then move to the next with out any changes.
I too enjoy watching the more experienced anglers work. Matter of fact, I ran into JL a few Sundays ago. It was odd, but just by watching the smoothness of his indicator's drift and its location in the water I could almost predict with dead accuracy when he would get a take. From that point on, I have been really focusing on improving my line control, perhaps taking some attention away from properly adjusting weight/depth. Time for me tighten up all aspects of fly presentation!
I am planning to beat the water this Friday, provided its not 98-degrees by 9:00 a.m. Hopefully, I will see a few of you on the water.
JL Im trying to figure that out myself, I like going when the fish are biting. Last week I was on the early evening bite but I have a feeling that should will be changing this week. I got a buddy on the creek today that I'll talk to tonight. I'll def. know better than. Atleast I might know when not to go, that's half the battle anyway. I'll try to post later tonight but there's no guarantee on that seeing's how I can hear my flyrod which is in my truck in work parking lot calling me right now...and that means a late evening session tonight.
JL did ok last evening got 6 hookups only 2 to hand, nothing real big. wind was howling down the canyon couldnt get great drifts. Blew out a wading boot need a new pair really bad think I'm doing that this morning, so should be up for another afternoon/evening session. Unless I find 1/2 pounders in the American while I'm up in Sac this morning.
Matt - I fished this morning on Putah - about 12 planters and a few smallish natives to hand - all on black and olive buggers. Those planters like the wooly ones. I hooked a very nice fish nymphing - but like you last night I couldn't get good drifts b/c of the wind. That's why I switched to streamers.
I'm working in winters for the day, and will be back on the creek this evening. What time you going out? Want to meet up?
. Last August treated me wayyy better than this year. Lots of really fishy water out there right now so go find it. Sounds like you guys were killin em on Monday. Nice report JL. Nice to meet you Bonefish.
