Putah's Rising trout

Marylander · Newbie

Putah's Rising trout

paul · Veteran Member

Hi Neil,
�� Sebastopol is about an hour from the creek. From what I understand the trout do eat the snails but the n.m.snails just pass through and mostly survive. I haven't heard of anyone using snail flies on Putah yet.
�� Browns and rainbows in the creek�will rise to the caddis at times but they are hard to find. Most folks use subsurface flies.�
��The creek will be high but should be fishable in June. The best way to learn the ropes is to hire Greg Bonovich to show you around. Cheers,�Paul

Marylander · Newbie

Thanks for responding Paul,

� Only an hour away, thats good!

�� Yes, the snails. I thought I would ask because there are places I've read about in Ireland where native browns feed almost exclusivley on a diet of snails; and are very�difficult to catch, but for a few fleeding moments a year(drake). Ofcourse this kind of feeding behavoir would take the sting out of your invassive problem a little bit. However, As you stated before"what does a snail fly look like. If I were to make such a fly I would use a hook with a rounded shank, coated with lead. And then I would proceed to tie in multiple knots of antron. Call it a snail cluster. If those trout are filling their bellys with snails I bet this pattern could work in the right hands. The Putah reminds me of many�tail waters�back east. True�blessings each and every one of them.�Their not perfect�but man you sure are glad�to have them around.

Thanks again,
-Neil�

Marylander · Newbie

I have already contacted Bono and am waiting until I get out there to call. He responded quickly and seems eager to please. I'll set some thing up with him when I arrive. A good guide can hyper jump your learning curve, big time.

� Ok, on the drys...I'll keep a look out for rises..

Thanks

paul · Veteran Member

Keep in touch�Neil,�
��You will have a great day with Greg.
�� Maybe someone will�come up with�pictures of a snail pattern.

�� Cheers, Paul��

��

The Sultan of Sod · Member

Marylander-

The drive will be at least 1.5 hrs. closer to 2 from Sebastopol.

Good luck.

SK60 · Senior Member

I would recommend raising your questions about patterns, hatches, etc.,�directly with Greg by email or phone. June flows are such that you really do need a guide to hit the best water, and Greg grew up on the creek. Its a good 1.5 hrs from Sebastopol, mainly due to traffic and having to do a significant amount of surface street driving thru Santa Rosa and�Sonoma and the lack of good shortcuts over the hills.

Marylander · Newbie

Thanks,

Any thing under two hours is a day trip. I'll most likely hit the Putah a few times while I'm out there. Although, the closest water that will feel like home for me is your Hot creek. I plan on taking multi-day trips here and will be avoiding weekends as much as possible.

bono · Master Fly Fishing Guide

Thanks for all the props guys (checks in the mail!).From what I have learned from Ken Davis about the mud snail is they cannot be eaten by our trout because these snail have a periculum or a trap door that shuts as soon as they feel threatened they then travel through the digestive tract unharmed untill they are s--t out! Some fish in New Zealand can actually chew these snails. I have sampled the stomach of Putah trout but have yet to find any mud snails.� Greg

Mac Harvey · Member

bono wrote:

Thanks for all the props guys (checks in the mail!).From what I have learned from Ken Davis about the mud snail is they cannot be eaten by our trout because these snail have a periculum or a trap door that shuts as soon as they feel threatened they then travel through the digestive tract unharmed untill they are s--t out! Some fish in New Zealand can actually chew these snails. I have sampled the stomach of Putah trout but have yet to find any mud snails.� Greg

Interesting, I was with my dad kayaking up the creek earlier this fall and we found a dead trout in the shallows. No scratches, bites, nothing to show it had been attacked , so we opened its stomach and found its stomach jam packed with only mud snails.

�

vince · Senior Member

Were they New Zealand mud snails Mac Harvey (5-6 spirals on shell, hard to crush with finger)? My understanding was the trout would avoid eating them. Maybe this is natural selection in action

Mac Harvey · Member

Yes, we were sure they were New Zealand mud snails. We were quite surprised as well because read that they are not eaten by the fish ( and not much else either)and that is in part why they are multiplying so fast.

The fish was also fairly stiff( may be from the cold), but as I said it was in prime condition, had it been alive it would have looked like a healthy fish...

bono · Master Fly Fishing Guide

Mac: That is very interesting,I'm going to keep that info in my memory banks. Next time I see a dead fish on Putah I would like to see if it has been eating mud snails.

SK60 · Senior Member

The trout may eat the snails but they are typically neither digested or killed-they pass on thru alive.

-- Edited by SK60 on Tuesday 21st of April 2009 08:45:08 AM

mx19 · Senior Member

every time I eat food out of a taco truck it goes in dead and comes out alive...

SK60 · Senior Member

OK Steven, you are "King of the Trash" (talk)

Here's a nice photo (courtesy of Garrick Chang) of our friends as taco filling

Notice the missing "greens" (algae) on the rocks

Hey MX19, I now have more posts-you better get busy!

-- Edited by SK60 on Tuesday 21st of April 2009 12:58:57 PM

-- Edited by SK60 on Tuesday 21st of April 2009 01:01:30 PM

-- Edited by SK60 on Tuesday 21st of April 2009 01:02:52 PM

mx19 · Senior Member

one