fished yesterday, very slow, hooked 3 and lost them all, first time ive been skunked at putah for a long time. Also extremely crowded it was by far the most crowded I have ever seen it, I think a lot of people are on vacation. I found a spot that had some nice fish in it but they were paired up and spawning so I left them alone but as I was walking out of there a guy with a tackle box and spinning reel was heading right for that area, hopefully he didnt get em. Lot of spinfisherman out also yesterday but thankfully none were dunking bait!! I think im taking a break from putah for a while.
I also fished yesterday. Don't usually fish Putah this time of year and now I know why. It was unbelievably crowded and I was totally frustrated and disgusted watching fly fisherman targeting actively spawning fish on the redds. I started the day at a spot downstream from a very large redd which was marked with at least 8 pink flags in the gravel. This is the same spot that Ken Davis filmed spawning fish last year. I heard a noise, looked around the corner, and there was a man standing in the redd casting to the fish holding there. I wasn't sure what to say. I asked him if he fishes the creek often, thinking that maybe he was a newbie and didn't know where he was standing. He replied that he had been fishing the creek for 27 years. I was shocked at his reply and frustrated watching him fish that spot. But I bit my tongue and just made small talk.
Later in the day I came across two men and a young boy raking a redd below the bridge. I walked up behind them and could see the pink flags in the mud at the edge of the water. I couldn't help myself and asked them if they realized the pink flags were supposed to be in the gravel to mark a spawning bed. "Oh yeah", one of the men turned and said, "they got snagged and came out." No kidding. What bothered me the most was that these guys had a kid with them and were teaching by example that standing in the same spot for hours targeting fish on a spawning bed was ok.
I totally support closing Putah from November to February. I think it would be a huge benefit to both the fish and the landscape.
I found the same thing with a guy I approached that was hammering the redds along with at least 2 others. He said he had been fishing Putah for 26 years, seems long enough to know better. Most of the spin fishermen I've seen have at least been standing on the bank, but just about every fly fisherman is in the water with waders on and the majority of those seem to be crunching through the redds or very close to them. I don't think it makes any difference whether or not it's a newbie or an old timer, people just can't help themselves once they get in there.
I was out yesterday morning for about 4 hours as well. Brought a couple of small bows to hand, nothing to brag about. I was fishing an area I don't usually fish. I ran across what I believe to be a redd that was about 200 yards long. It wasn't a typical redd that you might see by the bridge. There were a lot of large rocks with gaps between them which looked 2' to 3' wide. The spaces between the rocks appeared to be covered in gravel/sand (as best as I could tell because I was watching from the bank). And there were a lot of large fish that were just holding along this entire length of water. Every so often I could see one fish go after another as if they were protecting an area where eggs had been laid. I must have spent about an hour all together just watching all the fish moving in this area. The water appeared to be about 3' deep or so. I spoke with more fishermen out yesterday than I had during the last 2 months at the creek, so it really was crowded. I spoke with a couple of guys that were moving towards the redd and they said they would be sure to cut it a wide berth. When I was walking back down towards my truck, I swung by the redd on the way out and saw a young guy getting ready to walk into the water there. I spoke with him about leaving spawning fish alone while on the redd. He said he had never heard of that but was glad someone let him know, and that he would pass on the knowledge if he runs across someone fishing there as well. While I was at the truck getting ready to leave, a spin fisherman stopped by to see if I had any luck. He wasn't aware that it was C/R, artificial lures w/barbless hooks. I took a few minutes and showed him how to change his treble to a single, and how to remove the barb. He seemed interested in what I had to say and thanked me for taking the time to explain it to him. Hopefully, he practiced what I preached.
