After reading someone's report and all the negative responses about keeping quiet about the big fish being caught, I decided to fish Putah for the first time in a couple years... It is true, positive reports will bring more people to fish the creek just like myself... The creek really has seemed to take a dive since I've fished it last. I remember going out there for evenings after school hooking up with all kinds of fish, now there seems to be nothing... The only action I saw was some fish moving around on a spawning bed... So that was a very positive sight to see... Unfortunately two people were standing almost directly in the middle of this active red, casting to the spawning fish... So I yelled "Those spawners put up a good fight for ya?" He instantly began to throw his casts below the visible spawners, then he claimed he was fishing for the 12 fish or so that weren't spawning right below the bed... I sarcastically (for the record) recommended using treble hook to snag them on the side, and he was silent...

This **** pisses me off so much, I haven't fished the creek in a few years, and this is what I find when I do decide to come back... How is wading and fishing the reds still legal? Common sense tells me there should be laws against this especially considering the decline in the fishery... I'll admit it, I have fished the spawning beds before when I was young, ignorant, and didn't know any better years ago... I saw older people doing it, so I figured it was fine, and wouldn't damage the fishery as long as I released them. But now there are even signs to educate people about this stuff (which is awesome btw, props to whoever was behind that) yet people are still walking on top of the bed... For all you locals, you know the area I’m talking about, if its not the biggest bed in putah, its damn close… Fishing putah today was downright depressing, no grabs or anything... The wild trout left are obviously hurting... The posts about raking the moss and putting more gravel in the beds are great ideas in my opinion... I even agree with the idea of shutting the creek down to all fishing during the spawning months... Another idea I would like to add would be to possibly hammer metal steaks into the gravel beds to make drifting through there nearly impossible... This would screw up the entire natural look of the spawning areas, and even worse yet it would label the spawning areas, but I would much rather see that than people further stressing out already stressed fish...

Right before I moved out of Vacaville about 3 years back, I really noticed putah declining, I figured it was just a phase and would pick back up eventually, but it really doesn't seem like it has... I find it pretty depressing to know that a few years back, I would have been hammering fish left and right in the same spots I find fishless now... I know people have been working on fixing putah, and I want to thank those people for their time and energy… You guys are the only glimmer of hope the creek seems to have anymore... Unfortunately it seems the fishery will have to hit rock bottom before any drastic changes will be made...