Hello to all of you who have shared your experiences and insight on this web page! I've been Flyfishing for a lot of years, first in the Catskills of New York and for the last fifteen years, here in Northern California. I've fished Putah a couple of times since I moved to California and have never done well. In fact ,the last time I made it out, I hooked 3 and landed 1. The best I've done so far. Of all the places I've fished, I find Putah the most challenging. Wnen I read your entries of long days on the water with no fish to hand I feel vindicated. When I read of twenty fish days with some pigs mixed in I am inspired. My hat is off to all of you who have had epic days on the Creek.I hope to put in the time to one day join your ranks. Thank you for sharing your knowledge! See you on The Creek, Viking.
Welcome aboard, viking. I've been lucky enough to have had a few good days on the creek, but we've all had our bad days. Actually, can you call a day of fishing a "bad day"? Maybe I should say "difficult days".
Anyway, I had one of those "difficult days" yesterday (12 Nov 2007). I worked all day around the house getting ready for a new baby and snuck out of the house for about an hour of fishing in the evening. I saw tons of cars along the creek, then remembered it was a holiday. What was I thinking? I don't know how I managed to find nobody in one of my favorite low flow holes. It was total luck. Fish were rising all around me. I was thinking, "This is going to be awesome." For the next hour or so I watched as my rig drifted perfectly through pods of feeding fish. I didn't get a single hit! The majority of the fish were in the mid-depths, so I tried different depths. I tried different amounts of weight. I tried different flies: nymphs, emergers, spents. Nothing! I left there at dark, laughing at myself. It was just one of those days. I'm still trying to find a way to get the smell of skunk off of me.
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"Nothing makes a fish bigger than almost being caught."
Well JT, if you can get skunked, that gives hope to the rest of us. I was fishing with Concord Bob the other day and remarked that I probably have been skunked about half of the times I have fished Putah during the last 3 years. But then there are those great days every once in a while that make it all worthwhile.
I don't know where I read this, but I remember that Putah is THE MOST FISHED creek west of the Mississippi. What that means is that if you come in the evening or fish on the weekend from midday on, every hole has been pounded by some guys from San Francisco carrying $5,000 of equipment and maybe a fish finder. Obviously, any day you can fish is a good time to fish, but IMO it's best to avoid Sat, Sun and Mon at Putah. It's a lot harder.
I agree with JT and multi. I was out on the same day, JT do you have a new car, I didn't see yours. For JT to come away fishless means it was tough. It took me six full and long hours to get my fish on monday. The fish wasn't the biggest one I have caught there but after a long day a gorgeous native that sags in your hand is well worth it. Keep fishing it, you'll learn things.
Best days to fish are tuesday, wendsday, and thursday, In my opinion. Pretty amazing how great putah can be considering how much pressure it gets. Also a good idea to get away from the resort area. The fishing is always good, It's that dam catching thing thats tough.
Viking, I think you are correct about Putah being challenging. I have been flyfishing for over 30 years and have focused on Putah the last 8 or 9 years. I really believe it is a difficult stream to learn how to fish. However, it is this difficulty that preserves the quality of the fishing. I feel that most of the time I feel like I know what I am doing and do pretty well on the stream. However, there are still those days when I go home scratching my head wondering what went wrong.
From my perspective, putah is not for the faint of heart. My first day on the creek I actually had a phenomenal day, despite a broken rod as I strung it up! I fished near the bridge (this was about 5 years ago) and I just happened to have the right fly. I caught about 16 fish in a few hours and no one else was catching anything.
Then the next few times I went, NADA. Lost about 7 million flies, 8 tons of split shot, 42 leaders, and rolled a few fly rods up in the window, breaking them as I drove from spot to spot trying to A.) get away from the hordes and B.) find likely spots that i could get to that weren't choked off by brambles, poison oak, and tick-filled bushes.
I also forgot my reel twice, boots a few times, and other stuff. I was one of those guys driving up from San Fran, so forgetting stuff was a real pain.
Anyway, after 5 years, I finally feel like I'll catch fish whenever I go. Then JT (probably one of the best fishermen on the creek) goes out and gets skunked. This river is TOUGH.
But, she holds big, strong, acrobatic, beautiful trout, and if you can climb over the bait-slingers and wade your way to untapped waters, you can have some epic days.
completely agree jl, i have been fly fishing for about a yr now, not really knowing what to do and how to fly fish when i first started, i tought myself. i fly fished up in the tahoe area and that was it, then august i found this site and putah creek. first day out, my tummy wasnt feeling great at all, you know what them meant, didnt even get fishing before i had to run (if you know what i mean). well at that time i had a telephone pole for a rod (9wt) with 5 wt line, ya dont ask, again i tought myself and didnt know adam from eve went it came to fly fishing. that day meet up with the best person that a newbie could ever meet JT. he gave me a few stupidly small flies, asked him what am i gonna do with these, ( i am us to fishing 12-16s up on the carson and surrounding rivers and streams) he showed me the set up and how to fish it. i watched him for several minutes. and i tried it. i wasnt gettin squat. so then went to a wooly bugger black. most people know that i have slayed them with my black wooly. and it worked well that day to. first time using a wooly, first time on putah and i did catch a few planters. well gettin tired of that spot moved upstream, saw jt in this one spot and him and his buddy get into a few fish. they left and i moved in, within about 5 cast bam fish on,(was using the small flies that he gave me which was a 18 bwo and 22 jt's minute midge, you cant beat this setup for putah at all) the fish wasnt big but it was native and fought like i couldnt believe. i am used to all planted fish not natives. well losted that fish. then hooked into another one. and same thing. this went on for about 30 minutes. then it died down for about 20 then i told my self last cast and i will move, and thats when i got hooked on putah. i thought i was stuck on the bottom until it jumped out of the air and ran straight downstream, i didnt know what to do, at the time my reel didnt have a drag so was using my palm, it was great to feel the raw power of this fish. i had the fish on for a good 10 minutes, and the people across the river are like "WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO KNOW" sh-t i didnt know. i had no net, no drag, nothing, he finally got off, but i was addicted, and since then i fish putah with decent results everytime i go out, for the most part, i have had my skunk dasy with 1 or 2 fish, but then i have had my 50+ day fish which eric and shaun know all about that. its rare on putah for a newbie to land a hog which i did 3 months exactly after the first day i fished putah.the fisrt day i fished putah was aug 5th and I caught my hog on oct 5th and it was a 24" 5+ lb rainbow. now i am by no means and expert, far from it, but i do know a thing or two, but still tryin to learn these low flows (very hard to fish) and about the hatches, but all i can say is practice practice practice, which means FISH IT FISH IT, AND WHEN YOU ARE SICK OF FISHING (if that is even possible) FISH IT SOME MORE. there are many people on this site that i have fished with and whom i havent that know putah very well, and they will all say the same thing, you have to go and fish it to learn it. we can tell you everthing we know on here, but without fishing it you wont learn a thing.
patience is knowledge when it comes to putah. trust me. but you will learn to love it and charish it for ever. i know i have.
one more suggestion, get out there on saturday for the clean up, talk to the fellow fisherman, pick their brains, and ask them if they mind if you tag along for some fishing, i know from personal experience if you fish with someone you learn a great deal alot faster than by yourself. THANKS JT. and i dont think anyone will mind if you tag along either.
SORRY SO LONG EVERYONE, just adding my 2 cents, or should i say 2 dollars,
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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 JL, I busted a gut reading your post, it's a familiar story. I've had my share of pain and suffering from fishing expeditions over the years, I think it says a lot about the people that get into this sport, you really have to be willing to put in a lot of work,have a lot of patience, determination, curiosity, flexibility, and humility to reap the rewards, but when you do its pretty magical. Whenever I take out someone new I'm wondering if they're going to decide they enjoy it or that they'd rather sit at home and drill a hole in their head.
Hey Brian, when are you going to get those pics posted?!?
i am hoping in the next week. so sorry guys, i know you all really want to see the fish that i caught that day. especially the hog.
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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 really beleive that most poeple give up on flyfishing within a short time. I had a good jump start at putah since i had been bait fishing it for many years, I already new were fish were and most of the good spots. That made my putah learning curve a little easier. But it is a very diffucult river to tame. I new this fly fishing was gonne be tough, I told myself, Well Shaun be prepared to not catch any fish for a long time. But i will say it has become the most rewarding, challenging, and relaxing thing i have ever been a part of. I once read something that said there are 4 phases a fly fisherman goes through, #1 you will say, I hope i catch A fish today, #2 I hope I catch alot of fish today, #3 I hope i catch A BIG fish today, And finally #4 I hope i catch alot of big fish today. I think I agree with that. Oh and JL, your posts always make me laugh, In a good way man, Your fish morality post was a crackin me up
i like to go with the i hope i catch fish today, so know matter what the size is and how many i catch i will alway s be happy. unless i dont catch any, then i hope that i alteast get get some hook ups
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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.
Obviously, any day you can fish is a good time to fish, but IMO it's best to avoid Sat, Sun and Mon at Putah. It's a lot harder.
