I've fished Putah Creek many times, and usually it's too crowded for my tastes, but I rarely see anyone out on the lake. I'd like to get to know the fishing seasons on Lake Solano. I've heard that there are some real bruisers in there, and I'd like a shot at 'em. I have a pontoon boat and a belly boat, and I know how to use them. I work in Winters and I can be on the water, most days, by 4 PM. Any takers?
Lake Solano is pretty good if you are patient and use your imagination. You usually want to fish it like you would any lake, with a large pattern fly (usually a bugger, or minnow patern. Leaches work, but they are hit and miss) Go deep, and remember that these fish didn't get so big by bitting anything that passes by. Afternoons are good. Best of luck.
A friend and I frequently fish Solano Lake from my canoe. We normally strip olive woolly buggers with good success. This time of year we get mostly stocked fish, but my friend did catch a nice 24 inch brown in May. It can be a lot of fun and some days you can catch quite a few fish. I'm hoping for one of those big browns one of these days as well.
If you fish the side of Upper Lake Solano opposite the park/boat rental area, and downstream, that is where the big fish are. You will usually have to wait until the last hour of light, and use small midge nymphs. There is a small creek inlet about halfway down the skinny section before it widens that fish tend to hang out around. Also if you carry your float tube just below the Berryessa dam by the private campground resort area you can catch very large rainbows in the late evening. The fish are stacked up in the weed beds on the campground side of the "creek", it looks like a lake in this area, and is manageable in a pontoon boat with flippers or oars. You will see a metal cable across the wide area. The big fish are usually above this cable, up and into the skinny section 200 feet below the base of the dam.
Decided to float the slow water from the bottom of the split to Solono. Striped buggars nymphed, dries had 1 nice fish to hand (Friends fish) 15' or so. he caught it on a brown size 16 midge with copper bead and wire. We had two good takes on sz 16 EH Caddis and nothing oin the streamers. We got on the water about 8am flows were about 600.
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I've never fished Lake Solano, but I was wondering if anyone has tried damselfly nymphs. I use them on a little lake near my house for crappie, bluegill, and bass. I used them once on the creek in a slow deep section and hooked fish. I'm pretty sure they would work in Lake Solano as well. I tie them in #12 olive. For eyes use two links of a small bead key chain. The abdomen is really thin, the thorax is pretty fat, and for the tail, I use marabou. For panfish, a krystal flash ribbing seems to work better than wire or mono. I've seen lots of damsels in the creek and I'm sure there's a lot in the lake, too.
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