Members Login
Username 
 
Password 
    Remember Me  
RETURN to Putah Creek Trout -> Putah Creek Fly Fishing Forum -> Rants and Raves -> Letter to the DFG
Post Info TOPIC: Letter to the DFG
gudawg


Veteran Member

Status: Offline
Posts: 30
Date:
Letter to the DFG
Permalink  
 

 


Dear  Sir, I would like to address the attempts being made by the Putah Creek Trout foundation (P.T.C.) and any affiliated fly fishing groups to make Putah Creek a dedicated, no take, "wild fishery". I would like to start by saying there would, in all likelihood, be no wild trout in Putah Creek if it were not for the stocking program. The "wild trout" are descendants of stock trout that were planted there over the decades . I believe it is disingenious of P.C.T. to say thier only interest is to maintain the fishery as a wild trout fishery. Any time spent on the www.putahcreekflyfishing.com ,which is the impetus behind P.C.T., will show the intent as removing bait fisherman from the fishery. The Owner of that site ( )is a fly fishing guide and stands to profit from the wild trout designation. The 2 businesses that have been there for decades are now sufferining from the no stocking progran as are the thousands of bait fishermen and women who fish there annually. I taught my son, now 17, to stream fish on putah creek and look(ed) forward to teaching my 9 year old daughter and 5 year old son as well. My family follows the rules, buys lisences, fish ethically, pass on the sport to others and report poaching and criminal behavior. I, as well as the majority of anglers in calif learned to fish with bait and still fish that way often and enjoy eating some of my catch. There is no reason that Putah Creek can not sustain a wild trout fishery, as well as a stoking program, as it has for decades. I am not able to build a website and put hundreds if not thousands of hours into a "foundation" to support my cause but I can say I speak for a huge number of fisherman, who fish for trout and would like to see stocking again at Putah Creek this year. I support Native trout fisheries with no take policies and "wild trout" fisheries with limited take, slot limit etc. 
 Thank you very much,  name deleted
 
 
P.S.Fishing on the redds is a waders game, I have never seen a bait fisherman wading Putah Creek in 20 years of fishing there.


__________________
jvento


Senior Member

Status: Offline
Posts: 165
Date:
Permalink  
 

1) Bait fishing is being removed from more and more fisheries every year, and not because of fly fishermen. This due to the high mortalities related to bait fishing and the act of the fish swallowing the hook instead of being hooked in the side of the mouth. Hence the requirement of barbless lure/fly with single hook for catch and release fisheries. The intent is to protect the fish, not get rid of the bait fishermen.

2) Putah creek's  problem with sustaining any population of trout seems to stem from a multitude of issues. These being the spread of Didymo, Lake Solano's immense amount of underwater sludge, NZMS, and of course poachers.

3) Putah Creek historically has been a great fishery (10-20 years ago?). I was not around during this time, however I would be curious to hear how the creek's ecosystem was then versus now in terms of didymo, NZMS,  the stocking program, and the various different fish species around the lake and creek.

4) Fishing on Redds is not a waders game. That is a poacher/uneducated fisherman's game. Fishing to Redds is just as easy from the land as it is from the water. Most Redds are in less than 2ft of water and are very visible from the bank. True to your statement though, most trampled Redds are caused by fly fishermen.

All in all, good letter. Nice to see the other side of the argument from what would appear to be a responsible bait fishermen.

Tight lines,

Jon


__________________
Birds of a feather flock together...
gudawg


Veteran Member

Status: Offline
Posts: 30
Date:
Permalink  
 

Yes, you are right about the cause of the discontinuation of stocking. Snails and frogs being impacted by trout etc. my concern is the push to keep the stocking from starting back up as it has done on other waters. Pushing for a "wild trout" designation on PC will stop any thought of stocking. The survivability of the fishery is consistancy. I fished putah creek 18-19 years ago, it was much the same as now except less wild trout (from what I can remember of my creel contents) I think to take tens of thousands (the number of fish stocked annually)of fish a year from the fishery will ultimately kill it. The apex predators that have come to rely on those easy meals will have only the "wild" trout to sustain them. Given time the number of apex predators will shrink but so will the number of fish and will the current spawn rate support itself ? I think its somewhat selfish and disingenious to cry "protect the wild trout" when in reality none of those that are pushing so hard for wild trout status can say for sure they are not dooming the fishery. The fishery has survived and thrived because of the stocking program and those that want it to survive should be pushing DFG to find a way to continue stocking putah creek ASAP. slot limits for wild trout, education of fishermen/women etc. is more realistic.

-- Edited by gudawg on Friday 18th of March 2011 12:00:59 AM

__________________
Ty


Senior Member

Status: Offline
Posts: 291
Date:
Permalink  
 

I kinda like the idea of stocking during traditional trout season.  Complete closure Nov-April.

__________________
gudawg


Veteran Member

Status: Offline
Posts: 30
Date:
Permalink  
 

Here is the response I recieved

The Inner Gorge Reach of Putah Creek is currently being considered as a designated Wild trout water. And yes we have discontinued planting this reach of Putah Creek as well as Lake Solano. I am sure you are correct that the Department's planting of Putah Creek has helped to sustain a trout fishery in this reach of Putah Creek. However, to say that it is the only reason is most likely not correct. Historically before the building of dams on Putah Creek this stream supported runs of steelhead and chinook salmon. So some of the remnant landlocked rainbow/steelhead may have also helped support this fishery. The Wild trout evaluation has already determined that there is quite a self-sustaining population of rainbow trout by counting the number of redds produced each winter in this reach of Putah Creek. They have also noticed quite a change in the age class structure of rainbow trout since the Department's planting was discontinued. This evaluation is on-going currently and I do not know what the final outcome will be till the Department's Wild Trout program completes its evaluation and makes its recommendation to the Fish and Game Commission. At that time you will also as well as other concerned anglers be able to voice your concerns about this potential designation.

The Department discontinued planting this reach of Putah Creek partly because of this evaluation and also because we were sued by the Center for Biological Diversity for not properly conducting Environmental Reports on the effects of our planting on many ESA (Endangered Species) listed species throughout the state. AS a result, we are now required to conduct surveys for many ESA listed species to ensure that we are not causing further stress to these species. Currently we have not done this for Putah Creek and Lake Solano because of limited staff and funding. In addition, we would have to make sure that Lake Solano does not spill fertile rainbow trout into the lower reach of Putah Creek which still supports a very stressed population of steelhead trout.

We are very aware of the loss of fishing opportunity to anglers in this area and the financial stress it has put on the local park and businesses in the immediate area. It was never the intention of the local fly fishing group to have us discontinue planting in Lake Solano. However, this lake is directly connected to this reach of Putah Creek so we had to discontinue planting Lake Solano as well.

We are currently exploring several ways that we might be able to stock limited numbers of sterile trout into Lake Solano without affecting the Wild Trout evaluation. Though none of these ideas have been approved by management as of yet. So stocking of Putah Creek will have to wait until the Wild Trout evaluation is at least completed. Lake Solano we are still not sure but have hope in the near future we could do some small plants.

Trout stocking of Lake Hennessey was also discontinued because of the lawsuit to the Department because it spills frequently in winter into Conn Creek which supports a very stressed population of ESA listed steelhead. The Department began to start developing sterile trout in 2010 for planting into lakes such as Hennessey which spill into anadromous steelhead waters. These fish are just now becoming available to the Department to be out-planted. However, Hennessey as I stated spills quite frequently and so the concern now is competition between sterile trout and native steelhead in Conn Creek. So our strategy is to plant small numbers of sterile trout this spring and have these plants coincide with Trout tournaments to make sure there is sufficient fishing pressure to reduce there numbers and to not plant trout in late fall before it potentially spills again next winter to reduce the likelihood of sterile trout spilling into Conn Creek.

I am sorry this has resulted in lost fishing opportunities to the public, but we are working hard within our limited means to try and recover some of these lost fishing opportunities for the public as a result of the legal challenges.

If you have more concerns or questions please fell free to call me anytime at the number below.

George Neillands
Senior Fisheries Biologist
Bay-Delta Region
P. O. Box 47
Yountville, CA 94599
7329 Silverado Trail
Office: (707) 944-5525
Fax: (707) 944-5563
cell: (707) 307-3794
gneillands@dfg.ca.gov

__________________
Page 1 of 1  sorted by
Quick Reply

Please log in to post quick replies.
RETURN to Putah Creek Trout -> Putah Creek Fly Fishing Forum -> Rants and Raves -> Letter to the DFG


Create your own FREE Forum
Report Abuse 		Powered by ActiveBoard