I haven't caught a brown on the creek for about 10 years. It was pretty small, bout 11''. I haven't even seen a another since that day. Good luck! They are few.

 

WF

i highly doubt it was a cat fish or bass i have never hooked caught or even see bass where i was fishing

Years ago the creek was planted with browns but for whatever reason they did not survive and reproduce like the rainbows. It is a shame because the creek just screams big brown trout water to me. There are no absolutes in fly fishing but the numbers of browns are very few and far between. The ones that are left must be dinosaurs by now. Between myself fishing and my sports I have not had one caught in the past 4 years of fishing the creek regularly. If there were any left at least I think we would have caught a small juvenile fish by now.

Or the Creek became inhospitable for them. My guess is lack of proper spawning habitat. Plenty of food though. If it were a take issue, I'd guess we wouldn't have ANY trout. Browns are usually the warriest.

ive been reassured by many people that there are still plenty of browns to catch the main thing is they are active at night they dont normally feed during the day. im pretty sure there are plenty of brown in putah still because my family friend catches them all the time. and when it was catch and take home he would bring massive browns over for us to eat. he also reassured me that there is a large number off bass as well when i spoke to him on the phone the other day he said during winter they all move up stream and if you find them you will find a school of about 40 (Bass) and as for browns they are just less skittish in the winter and are moving more about and leave their deep hiding places and i know he know whats hes talking about because he has over 30 years experience on the creek Ive done alot of research as far as browns go and it seems that most "professional" fisherman state that most people that get lucky and catch a brown most often it was just a fluke and they did just so and got lucky. I think alot of people have a misconception on the size and population of trout in our creek as well. i was talking to a gentleman the other day he was a little older and i was telling him about a fish that snapped my line because of my drag being miss set from the last time when i restrung my pole (rookie move not double checking it). but he said " well its not often you will hook a fish big enough to pull out your drag right" and he kinda laughed but then i kindly reassured him that we have an abundance of trout 4lb +. In the last year iv caught one around 8lb 10 or so or so around 4+LB range and at least 20 in 2-3lbs. plus another 20 that were juvenile i caught a nice 5lb 8 ounce bow underneath solano bridge and came back the next day and landed another 4lb pounder. so im conviced that there are massive trout in high numbers in our creek including browns i just feel they are more evasive and out when we cant fish most active from 10pm to 130 am. sorry if it sounds like im bragging about my fish i just want to inform people that there are many monsters lurking in the depths of putah =)

-- Edited by Always-on on Thursday 4th of October 2012 11:23:05 PM

my eyes are bleeding

Always on: I hate to burst your bubble but there is no scientific evidence that there are any browns in Putah Creek; and if there were, they should be considered an endangered species. I have reviewed hundreds of angler survey forms over the past four years and there's not been a single report of a brown trout. I've taken part in two extensive DFG in stream surveys in which hundreds of fish were captured, measured, weighed, and released. Not a single Brown amongst them. PCT and DFG has surveyed spawning fish for two years and there have been no browns amongst them. Lake Solano used to be stocked with large browns, but that stopped in 2005. It appears any planting survivors are either dead or very old. If there were browns reproducing, anglers would be reporting small fish in the surveys. If you are really interested in large browns, I would buy a few crayfish patterns and take them up to the Truckee River where you might not only get a large Brown or two, but maybe a 15 pound Mackinaw as well.

It's true that there are large rainbow trout in Putah Creek. But they are definitely not in large numbers and most the ones that are caught are getting ready to spawn.  These spawning fish are the key to the future of this fishery. And if you have spent any time on this website, you will know there are very strong negative feelings amongst members of this forum about targeting spawning fish.

I will make the initial ssumption that you follow the catch and release regulations on any fish that you catch in the Creek.  However, your exact weight measurements on all these large fish indicate either 1) you are keeping the fish and weighing them at your convenience or 2) you are weighing them Creekside before releasing them and in so doing you are putting a tremendous stress on these fish by keeping them out of the water for more than a few seconds. If you put your fingers or the scale into their gills, you are pretty much giving them a slow-death sentence.  

Thank you for your bragging. It has been quite enlightening. I personally look forward to running into you on the Creek- lets have a serious discussion about conservation and why we have laws to protect those that can't protect themselves.  

-- Edited by SK60 on Friday 5th of October 2012 09:52:13 AM

^^^Agree. I've been lucky enough to catch some awhile ago, so its aggravating to hear people taking browns home to eat when they don't stock these fish and they are such a prize to catch. I'm not trying to burst your bubble but if any of us know where and how to catch these browns they most likely wouldn't be spreading the news for these reasons. I also hope you're realeasing these larger rainbows you're catching out of Solano because its also catch and release only. I say this because it sounds like you take these fish home to eat.

lol see the thing is i do release my fish thank you but before the regs were passed you were able to take them some people do like to eat fish while other times we like to release them the 5.8 ounce was taken from solano before the regs enforced catch and release on lake solano it was a trophy trout that i wanted a picture with to have for many years ahead sadly my camera was at home  or i woulda snapped a picture and let it go. for most of the trout im estimating theyre weight and no i dont believe everything i hear but when i see the proof; pictures and (fish at the table when it was allowed) how can i turn that evidence down and no i dont target spawning fish.. i find it very disheartening to injure hurt or kill spawning fish. i catch these big fish on lures throughout the year you guys can hate on me or what not but im not really trippin fishing brings me happiness and i enjoy catching monsters and watching them swim back off into the deep and when i do smack one of the fat browns ill be very satisfied. Im not saying that there is 1000 10 lbers but if i hook at least a roughly 3 pound fish every time i go out i feel comfortable saying that there numbers are not tiny.

and wormfree im not trying to stir up crap. you dont have to be a dick. but theyre is obviously bass in putah every one says so along with cat fish. and im sure maybe i pushed the number up a little bit but they do school up thick. 

im glad you guys are so active on helping the creek but you guys have only had these regulations passed for what 2 years now not even? .. and how long ago did planting stop? longer then the regs have been in place. When i was seeing these browns in the freezer was a year or so before the regs got passed. Aside from all this if you like having browns in putah or even more bows.. i dono what peoples view is on that then maybe you should think about doing what they did in Arkansas red river and get together with fish and game and help trout reproduction by a nice gadget call a vibert box and plant eggs its not technical stocking its all natural. any ways im done with this post thanks for the positive replies not so much the negative ones really look into the vibert boxes if you guys dont already use them its a great way to supplement fish reproduction with out actually stocking  if your mad at me for ever taking fish out of putah creek sorry its not wrong its just a different choice and since that is no longer allowed i believe we can all agree that  Seeing the monsters swim away after landing them will bring us all joy in the road ahead well guys i wish you all the best of luck in your fly fishing for now ill stick to spinning because it seems to be producing for me at least =)

-- Edited by Always-on on Friday 5th of October 2012 09:14:56 PM

-- Edited by Always-on on Friday 5th of October 2012 09:18:43 PM

Oh snap! 

Always on: thanks for clarifying that you practice catch and release, as now required year aound.

Ok I guess I'll have to chime in... In all the years of fishing Putah (about 30 or so) and because My folks have property right at access #5 , I spent nearly every waking moment fishing the creek year round. Back in the days of planting browns we used to catch quite a few especially around access #5. I have caught a couple of big boys on streamers but as soon as they stopped planting the numbers dropped dramatically. About 8-10 years ago there was still a few big spawners around access 5 in the late fall but between people harassment and otter predation we quit seeing those fish as well. I totally agree with Steve about the e-fishing and survey results, they just arent around anymore and if they are they are far and few between. In all the years of fishing the creek I only caught 1 small mouth bass about 1 mile below Montecello dam (about 3-4 lbs) on a black streamer. I personally never heard of anyone else catching bass in Putah between the dams. Now below diversion dam is another story, there are bass in that section of water all the way to the delta.In fact there used to be big browns below diversion as well but some dumb a-- pretty much fished them all out, he even brought my dad a huge dead brown to our ranch and wanted to trade it to go turkey hunting! I used to see that idiots truck there all the time. Rob (Lightfoot) posted 2 ea pics ,the pic with the 2 big browns were taken in upstate NY and yes those fish were kept to be mounted, they were heading upstream out of the great lakes but were not spawning (lets call it semi ethical???)The other fish is not a brown, its an undisputed world record PILLOW FISH....and I DID release it back to my kids bedroom. thanks for the memories Rob! 

The one and only brown trout I have seen was in 2007 as well, at access #5. It was moving quickly through the oxbow, apparently after a failed otter eat, that formed quite a swell/ruckus on the surface (flows were around 80-100 cfs at the time). The fish was probably in the 3lb-5lb range, maybe 20"-23". I usually only fish access 4 and 5, and have never hooked a brown there, but did run into a an older gentleman who had a camera on him and he had shots of a couple browns he had caught that season. He also said he only targets browns on Putah in October at access 5 and downstream (judging by his rig and photos i believed him).

I can say if the Browns on Putah are anything like the ones in Missouri, or Arkansas, they are meat predators, but less opportunistic than the average bow. Browns are ambush killers, so dusk, and night fishing would be the witching hour.

Got to admit it is cool how anglers have deified these behemoths, as i'm sure it would make a successful hook-up that much sweeter-For any of us!

Damn, last time I called out a guy for stirring the pot I was the enemy.