Yes, the spelling error was intentional, as I was referring to folks fishing with bait, not actual insects. Concord Bob and I met up Friday morning, as we do every couple of weeks, and decided to fish the bridge area for a change. With the low flows, I switched to using a caddis dry as an indicator with a micromayfly as a dropper. There were a lot of rising fish and we could see them in the water. We caught 30 or 40 between us, mostly planters, but with a few wild fish in the mix. I caught all of mine on the mayfly and Bob mostly using a woolly bugger. It was a very nice morning, mild and almost no wind. It was tough to leave for work and let Bob have all of the fun. There were several others fishing in the area, but not extremely crowded.
I decided to head out early today for a couple of hours since the fishing had been so good. That's when the baitus hatch began. I arrived before dawn and already found two folks there before me. As the morning wore on, there were people fishing everywhere. I guess word had gotten around, because I have never seen that many fishermen and women in one place except up by Nimbus dam looking for salmon. As far as I could tell, I was the only one using fly gear today, with around 25 others fishing a 200 yard stretch of the creek.
Fishing had definitely slowed today. Many fewer rises and no fish spotted in the water. I suspect the biggest problem was the family of otters that swam by me at around 7:30 and took up residence 50 yards downstream. That would certainly explain the decrease in fish sightings. I did manage 10-12 fish landed, with one wild, but nothing of any size. Most caught today took an olive bugger or olive Fox's poopah on the swing. Just one on the mayfly.
I talked to some of the campers today and they commented that fishing had been very good yesterday as well, so either the otters or heavy pressure had put the fish down. I'm not much for crowds, so I think I'll head back downstream until the regular fishing season ends.
thats why i cant wait to get out there on tuesday, one its my day off, and two ill finally be able to get my boss and a one of my salesman out there with me. they will have to fight over one fly rod and one spinning rod, i have 2 fly fishing set ups, but shot i have to fish too. hahaha. so thats why they will fight over one fly rod and one spinning rod. fishing should be good and not to crowded since its a tuesday. we shall see. and ofcourse ill be bringin the woolly buggers. hahaha
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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.
Hey Chemdoc, Myself and lilwhippersnapper fished all day on saturday and there was a huge baitus hatch in the afternoon, I too don't think i have ever seen so many people up near the bridge, I gues thats why i usually fish other spots. It was crazy how many bait fishers there were. I can't beleive some of the crap that comes outta there mouths, This one moron was bragging how he gets to keep 20 fish cuz he had 3 kids with him, Who were not fishing, Same jerk starts in saying how "those fly guys" like to catch and release. Basically a white trash typicall bait dunker. In the past i have beleived that just because someone dosen'y use a flyrod that they too deserve the right to fish, But some of these guys are just complete idiots. Oh and then I"m at my car changing and this same guy comes walkin up to end the day and whats he do, Tosses a beer can in the bushes, Real peice of work this guy was. I guess its just something I've come to expect at putah, Gonna be a long winter, I'm already feenin for a sierra trip.
small stream junkies: If the weather stays like this through the weekend why don't we get up to the sierras for a day or so. There should be something poppin on the silver fork or somewhere else that still has good flows. Once we get above the dirtbag line the air is too thin for bait zombies to survive!! chuck
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"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
man i need to look into becoming a DFG officer. i would have so much fun with it, either at putah or at nimbus, i would dress up like myself with the badge under what ever i am wearing and write tickets all day long. i think i might start lookin into it. they dont get paid all that well, but they make the fishing and hunting world a better place.
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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.
After this saturday at putah I am heading up to the sierra's this weekend, Anyone that wants to come is more then welcome. Not sure were but I'm feenin. Chuck, I too have found that a slight increase in elevation tends to keep the fish zombies away. The train is leavin very early saturday mornin and will arrive back in the bay area sunday evening. Fishin in the mountains, some good food, plenty of beer, what else could you possibly want ?
i would actually suggest hittin up the carson, chuck knows where it is at, if he doesnt go pm me and ill give you directions on how to get there. its at 45, but still very fishable and fun too. there are 2 sections. the trophy section and the not. let me know if you need directions.
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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.
as of right now, way way unavailable to make it on the weekends. even though it is stupid slow here on the weekends you never know. i am in the process of lookin for a different job. so either i get a different job that i get weekends off or start sellin the crap out of cars, or for now i just get tuesdays and fridays one week, and thursdays and fridays the next. trust me the sierras i love dearly, thats where i first started fly fishing. wish i could go. but for now, i will have to stay on the american which is close. MY BACK YARD.
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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.
I used to get so mad about people like that Captain but nothing surprises me anymore at Putah. That's the unfortunate part of it. I used to get all fired up and sometimes about things on this website. I am trying to learn to relax a little more and I am still a little opinionated about things, but that's no apology. I'm sorry to say I rarely pick up trash anymore cuz I aint the damn garbage man. Putah is a sweet fishery and hopefully some things will change. The most expensive spinning setup I have seen at Putah went for maybe 100 bucks. I just dropped 600 on my steelie setup and I bought the rod that was second on my list. We are in fact seperated by class from bait guys no matter how you slice it. Not all bait dudes are like that, it's a generalization. Some make wayyy more money than me, but I'm talking about the dude you saw do that.
Once I saw an idiot throw some crap out of their window in the parking lot. I walked over, picked it up, and dropped it back on their lap. I'm not very big, so I could have gotten my butt kicked. That kind of stuff seriously sets me off, so I really didn't care at the time. Thankfully, nothing happened. They just ended up apologizing.
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"Nothing makes a fish bigger than almost being caught."
Hey Captain, was the guy that threw the beer can the same fat ass that was fishing next to us. That guy was an idiot... I'm happy that guy told him the minimum size limit was 8 inches...haha what a dumb ass, he believed him. He threw away a few that he woulda kept. If I remember right those guys next to him let a fish slip out of their hands back into the water, and that guy said "those fly guys loved that, they catch and release, I catch one I'm gonna keep it, I'm a carnivore" Then something like, "I'm gonna keep everything I catch, I don't give a sh*t if you have a badge." As he talked, when he said MAN, he would try to use a Tony Montana accent. Complete dumb ass. I hope he reads this board.
good thing i wasnt there eric i probably would have opened a can of old fashion military can of whoop ass with a lil bit of new york flava to it. a--holes.
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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.
Glad you got a laugh Shark Diver. Sometimes an unintentional play on words can be equally entertaining. The thread on "Fish Morality" a couple of weeks ago had me chuckling. I was expecting a discussion of the religious and philosophical views of rainbow trout.
Lilwhippersnapper, That guys was the biggest idiot i have ever seen or heard while fishing. Someone like that has not a clue about what fishing is all about. He needed a lesson in fishing ethics. I'd say he probably needs to sit down and read some classic fly fishing literature, but i am sure he could not read. I'm just happy that these guys dont usually catch wild fish.
There are some ethical bait fisherman. I trout fished for many years with bait and I released most fish, always cutoof the hook in em when they swallowed it. But overall we'd be better off without em.
Captain, there was also that other guy who threw out some bait right beside me and stuck his pole in the rocks while the current put his line right in front of me. He was an idiot... Everytime someone caught a fish and said it was a nice one, he would say that's a minnow, like he catches fish any bigger than those other bait fishers. Another typical bait fisherman... The funny thing is I never saw him catch a fish.
!!
