Cool video.  What's funny is that while i was looking at yours, I noticed this one.  What a D-Bag....  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kw58c1Acbaw&feature=related

Notice at about the 34 second mark the "milk" that fish releases.

We talked about that video a couple years back on here.  He got heavily dissed, one post and he was out.  40 minutes????

Dude should be held under the water for as long as he held the fish out of water.  I'm guessing he's not going to be easily educated. 

Nic's right about the lake, its a great time to catch trout with a fly rod up there. Gotta find the bait and the trout are on them and near the surface. Hard to cover alot of water in the tube but if ya got a boat with a motor it opens up a whole new ball game.

-- Edited by Matt R on Friday 16th of December 2011 08:53:48 AM

FYI: Otter is putting together a Redds 101 class for early January. He will have details up soon. Also, plans for a PCT sponsored spawning bed cleanout next year are under consideration.

IMO, the targeting is less, thanks to all of you who are expressing your concern and helping to educate others.

I guess all we can do is try and educate.  People target the spawners, thats just the way it is. 

Anyone ever been to the Orvis store in Roseville?  They used to have a picture up with a dude holding a huge buck, the pictures was titled "Putah Creek" and you could see the ribbons marking the redds in the water behind him.  The last time I was in the store, they cropped out the background.  Which leads me to ask, how come we don't mark out the redds like that anymore?  (Maybe because it obviously didn't stop people from fishing them?)

 

 

This may or may not be correct as there could be two Sean Wallentine's but a quick google search of "Sean Wallentine" who submitted that fishing report shows that he was on the California State Senate and is now on the California Board of Equalization. Here's a link:


http://www.blogger.com/profile/17403470543154811919

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sean_Wallentine


http://totalcapitol.com/?people_id=8802

I would assume that since he states he "guided" his friend he'd know better than to fish to active spawners.

Pretty sad.

Ty-those red tape ribbons were part of the SCWA spawning study in 2008-2009, marking IDed redds. Many of them were hooked and pulled out and thrown up on the bank, screwing up the study area transects. Also there were a number of lead weighted marker poles that were stolen, presumably to sell the lead.

I don't think marking redds is worth it anymore.

Revisiting closure: maybe closing part of the creek from the top to deer sign in Dec-Jan could get some traction. What do people think?

 

-- Edited by SK60 on Friday 16th of December 2011 02:13:17 PM

If you want to make sure Mr. Wallentine hears what you have to say.......

Sean.Wallentine@boe.ca.gov

 

Flame on.

And Mr. Wallentine doesn't have a Calif guide license. Another criminal in government. Give him a call (949) 832-0959.

He was on the board of equalization for three days, holding it for his boss Senator George Runner.

-- Edited by Black Cloud on Friday 16th of December 2011 07:17:41 PM

I agree the creek should be closed, I rather it not, but I'm willing to sacrifice. More has to be done to improve our fishery AND to get the HACKS(our seasonal putah fisherfolk) off the creek. That being said I also believe YOU can fish the creek without disturbing the spawning fish and I will while I can.

Well, hello all. I figured I might as well take my lumps on your turf guys. I'm THAT "the guy" in the video. I hear your concerns, and actually appreciate them. I would indeed appreciate them more if they were delivered a little more kindly.

Greg, I appreciate you reaching out to me in a diplomatic way. The old honey vs. vinegar analogy comes to mind.

Let me address a few things. First, I don't have a "guide service." Among other things, I'm not a good enough fly-fisher. Additionally, I don't have enough time, the proper license/insurance to guide people. I have never accepted a dime for taking someone fishing. If I take a friend fishing, it's just to teach them whatever I know and hopefully catch some fish on a fly.

Second, I am growing in my understanding of Putah Creek as a fishery. As you can see, I have things to learn. Greg will certainly add to my knowledge once he and I connect via telephone.

Third, I tend to fish Putah Creek in the winter (only one day this year; and only for 5 hours at that) mostly because I feel safer wading at Putah in the winter. When it's raging it gets pretty sketchy. I had the water rise real quick on me once at Putah Creek. It gave me some pause. And, admittedly, it's easier to catch fish when the water is low (winter time).

Fourth, about the big fish in the video. I didn't want to fight it for 40 minutes! I wasn't dancing a jig about how long it took. I know that stresses a fish out. I actually tried to break the fish off on a couple of occasions (believe it or not). My tippet was pretty heavy, but my rod weight was lighter than ideal for a fish that size. Yank, yank, yank and I couldn't break it. That bugger hook was big, too. Anyway, I never, ever thought I'd actually land the fish. To my own surprise I did. I was literally in awe of its size. I was amazed. In that amazement, I kept it out of the water too long, you are all correct about that. I was excited and caught up in the moment with that fish. Kind of lost my head and didn't make good decisions. Fortunately, I revived the fish and it swam away just fine. Very active "take off." In fact, I saw the fish later in the day (without question it was the same fish) upstream a few hundred yards. As far as I could tell it was doing fine and I was relieved to see it in good shape.

Fifth, I do work for the state. I'm no slacker, as one of you suggested. I've worked on legislation in the State Senate related to fisheries and with DFG on various things over the years. I am very glad Putah Creek is strictly barbless and no take in the winter these days. I am very supportive of that. I fish with barbless hooks and all my friends scratch their heads when they find out I release all the fish I catch. I NEVER take fish...well, unless I'm on a stocked lake or pond helping my 6 year old toss a marshmallow or salmon egg. Even then, I'd rather eat something else anyway.

Sixth, I have fished near and around redds in the past. As I've learned where those redds are, I've sought to avoid them. I have seen the yellow ribbons in the past (or maybe they were orange, can't remember). Those were helpful. I did not see them on the day I was out. But, again, I HAVE given in to the temptation to fish where there are a lot of fish (around redds), but I've never sought to snag a fish! That's just wrong. I get that, guys. And so you know, my buddy Don's 23 inch rainbow (we went out on December 8th) was caught in the deeper section of the run below the bridge. The fish was not visible to either of us and it was released safely after a quick picture.

Seventh (okay this is getting long, sorry), I am not internet savvy, but when people are putting profanity on my You Tube page I feel obligated to remove it, and block the person who put it there so it doesn't happen again. I don't mind a direct message or something (as Greg did) but getting cussed out? I'm not going to let that sit on my You Tube page for my 11 or 9 year old to see and read.

By the way, the flyguides.net website my brother and I started (he operates it) is a place anyone can post their fly-fishing reports and teach each others (virtually) about fly-fishing. Trust me, if we could find some way to make a dime on the website we probably would...but we don't. It's a "just for fun" deal.

Finally, I am sorry guys for not following the proper etiquette at all times on Putah Creek. It has not been out of intentional desire to harm fish or the fishery...or to piss you all off. I will be a better steward into the future.

Again, accept my apologies and have a good holiday season.

Sean Wallentine

Well I'll give credit when credit is due. Thanks Wally7 for taking the time to join and express your understanding of our concerns, it would have been much easier to tune us out, and thanks to Bono for reaching out. Had it not been for this forum I'd be out there fishing the redd's in complete ignorance. I certainly have much more to learn about Putah and fly fishing in general so I'm glad this resource is available to us all.

Sean,

Thanks for the post and the responses.  It is amazing how much better things are when people do not resort to flaming and actually communicate.

I would also like to add that even though you think that fish was fine, it could easily have died later that day or the next.  There was a fish biologist on the Russian River this year doing a shad study and he told me that the die off for shad after catch and release is around 50% due to the buildup of lactic acid in their bodies (acidosis).  Furthermore, most of them die a day or two later.  Even with perfect release technique he said the survival rate goes up to around 80%.

Trout aren't the same as shad, however, if they do get "acidosis" during a long fight they will die within a few days guaranteed.  If you fight them for 40 minutes and further stress them out by holding them out of the water for several minutes, you might as well break out the frying pan.  Just saying...

Thanks again for the post and thanks for Bono for being a gentleman and a good communicator.

 

-- Edited by iamamultitasker on Sunday 18th of December 2011 08:20:15 AM