Spawners

cooter · Member

Spawners

sbritten · Member

Hi everyone, I was just wondering if anyone knew the answer to this...I have been catching a lot of big fish lately, and i'm not targetting the redds or anything like that; in fact many have been caught by pure chance alone, some in fast water. I just wanted to know if all of these big fish are spawners from Salano? What impact does this have on them? Is there any way to avoid them completely? These are probably redundant questions but I am in a dilema of sorts: I really want to fish; but I don't want to ruin the spawn. Can anyone help me out?

lightfoot · Senior Member

cooter it's putah, not some desolate stream in Montana. The fact that the person was fishing from the opposite side of the bank and not next to you could be looked at as a blessing.

Back in the early 90's there used to be a tailout some distance above the bridge that was perfect for spawning fish. It also drew a LOT of people that targeted those fish I havn't fished up there in years but it seems that people never learn.

I wold venture to say that allll of those big fish are either spawning, have already spawned or are about to. It's about like trying to figure out if that king salmon in the river is there to spawn or not
:weirdface

It's hard to figure out what impact fisherman have on the fishery while hooking fish this time of the year. It seems that the fish would already be stressed due to spawning and the tippet generally used to sucessfully fish Putah dosn't usually lend itself to a quick fight. Like Bono I've fished Putah most of my life though I didn't start flyfishing until 1990. I do know that back in the early 90's it was very common to have 20-40+ fish days. As with most things times have changed. I still have the occassional 20+ fish trips but it is usually the exception.

Some day perhaps F&G might make the creek c&r only and close it for a couple months each winter to protect the fishery but it's way to close to the populous

bono · Master Fly Fishing Guide

I'm really glad to see so much interest in the spawners at Putah,alot of people have been inquiring lately.Roberto Lightfoot a long time Putah creek fishing freak(and good buddy)said it all and I totally agree so I won't repeat it.But one of the questions that was asked was if all the big fish move upstream from Lk Solano.The answer is no,they are just not as accessable but can still be caught all year long.Right now the majority are in the shallower areas for reproductive purposes and in the higher flow months these fish are in the deeper water, generally speaking.The dilemma about fishing for the spawners is a little complex,we all want to catch trophey fish but standing right on top of obvious redds fishing for trout on these redds is a little unsportsman like.On the other hand this time of year it may be impossible not to catch a spawner,I just try to target the fish that may be in the pre-spawn mode and hope for the best,just ask any of my clients.