Visiting Fisherman

Psyfisher · Veteran Member

Visiting Fisherman

viking · Veteran Member

Hello visitor! The first bit of advice that any of us will give you is Don't Fish To Spawners!!! Try to give them and their redds as much space as possible.�I haven't�been to Putah in a couple of weeks but I'd found # 16 -18 olive and tan fox's caddis pupa as the delivery fly along with a # 20-24 zebra midge, disco midge, brassie, flashback pt,etc. as a dropper, had worked well. You might also try egg patterns if you can spot some canibals feeding a safe distance below spawners. I would suggest only flourocarbon for anything subsurface, and wouldn't go any lighter than 4x to the delivery fly, and 5x to the dropper. Good luck while you're out. If you're lucky, you may run into one of the veteran members on the water and pick up a tip or two. I sure hope the Vikings can get it together for Sunday at Washington!!!! They won't win if they play like they did against Da Bears. Good Luck, Viking��

shon42073 · Senior Member

I'd consider putah smallish water this time of year with the lower flows. I'd use the chest waders defenitly, The 3 weight will work fine, 7 weight is much to heavey, most use 5 or 6 weights. My personal favorite is a 4 weight. Putah has some fast sections and alot of slow "frog" water, both types of spots do hold fish. Just hit the access area's and do some walking. As for fly's, most people go pretty small, 18's to about 24's is the norm. Midges work well, I'd bring along alot of different midge patterns, ones with some red in them have worked well for me lately. The other fly's used alot are caddis pupah in olive or tan and various sizes. Putah isn't much of a dry fly creek but they do have there moments. Most important thing is, Go with small fly's and 5 or 6x tippets. Good luck and I hope you enjoy�our great little creek called putah. You will also have a chance to see some really nice fish spawning but they are for watching not catching ! One day license yes, Trout stamp no. I forgot to add some other fly's that produce at times and those are your usual fly's i think everyone carrys. pheasant tails, prince nymphs, copper johns, various hares ear's and hares ear emergers.

JT · Senior Member

Psyfisher,
Putah is an awesome little creek.� I usually fish Putah with�9ft 5wt.� Sometimes I'll break out my 7.5ft 3wt for some fun.� That's only during the lower flows, though.� I use a 9-10ft leader, so I can adjust the distance between my fly and indicator.� I change my weight and indicator height frequently to get to the depth of the fish.� I rarely change flies.� I just fish with my personal "go to" patterns.� My personal favorites are the fox poopah (#16-18 in tan or olive), micromay (#18-20 in tan or olive), and various midge patterns�(#20-24 in olive, black, or red).� Eggs are apparently working well right now, also.

I'd go with the chest waders, just in case.� If you want to cross the creek to access a good hole, you may have to wade through a deeper hole to avoid walking on spawning beds.� Spawning beds are usually in the tailouts of pools.� Sometimes you'll see redds at the head of pools as well.� I wouldn't walk through any areas with nice, oxygenated water that is 1-3ft deep with clean rock.�

-- Edited by JT at 10:57, 2007-12-19

SK60 · Senior Member

Flows are also a factor-above 100 cfs-200 cfs are best for this time of year, but they have been going up and down between 45 (today) and 150-changing every 3-4 days. The low flows in particular force the fish to move. This morning a riffle I caught a nice fish out of on Friday was so shallow it was not fishable. So watch the flows on line if you can.

Bugger · Senior Member

Psyfisher, veterans of this forum and the creek already gave excellent advice.�I started flyfishing not long ago and�have�learned a lot from�this board. I love this creek... but �I have to add, don't get discouraged too quickly. Putah fish see a lot of fishermen year-round. As Captain mentioned, it's usually better to walk away from�spots that are too easy to acess. Be ready�for berry bushes and poison oak.�And if you find a nice spot that has to hold trout, fish it hard. Change weight, depth, flies, presentation technique... And if�you happen to be lucky and find yourself�at the right place at the right time, you might also enjoy some dry fly action. Bring a few midge patterns (#20 and smaller), #16-18 elk hair caddis�and E/C caddis and #16-20�mayfly patterns (I like parachutes), just in case...�

Psyfisher · Veteran Member

Thanks everyone for your valuable advice. Alot of the flies are ones already in my box, but its nice to know to concentrate on smaller sizes. You west coast fly fishermen are either more web-savvy than your MN counterparts, or more enthusiastic, It's hard to tell which, but I'm leaning towards the later. In the South East Minnesota fly fishing forums, I'm suprised to see more than one post a day (and thats during the fishing season), here I got five replies immediately. Probably means crowds, but I guess I'll have to learn to deal. On my favorite spring fed creek in the Driftless I can usually count on having a three mile stretch to myself working the Browns, or the native Brooks for hours. I was suprised both the times last season when I saw fishermen (The only way to make one appear was to take a leak in the woods. The minute I got my waders down... funny how that works huh?). Probably wont hear the pop of shotguns either which may make the crowds worth it. I'm talking public land mind you. Unless you've ever suffered through a Minnesota winter, you probably can't imagine how nice it is going to be to just get on the water. Sounds like I may be putting my undefeated streak on the line though (I've never been skunked fly fishing for trout) against your educated rainbows. Anyone have any good spots for smaller stupider fish? Oh yeah, regarding the Vikes, it all depends on which team shows up to play. If its the one from Monday, or earlier in the season, we got problems, otherwise we'll put up a fight at least.

shon42073 · Senior Member

If you fish during the week you may not see anyone else.

SK60 · Senior Member

And bring some streamers and still water nymphal patterns that are not listed here. Sometimes a different "look" fools the fish and breaks a skunk day.