Should I Go to Putah?

jgrim · Newbie

Should I Go to Putah?

Emerger · Senior Member

There is plenty of water to fish in NorCal right now. Think big Skwalas on the Yuba right now!

If Putah is your only choice though I would recommend sticking to access 4 + 5 (the backside of the island), and the boulder garden at access 3. Plenty of fish in those areas and you'll be in a part of the creek that didn't see that many spawners.

That being said, please do tread softly. The redds are easy to miss this time of year (lots of silt covering the gravel already) and walking on them will potentially destroy hundreds, if not thousands, of fish that we all could enjoy in the coming years. Avoid all shallow to hip-deep gravel beds and any areas that have been marked with safety orange tape. Stick to walking on large boulders and weed beds and you should be fine.

Also be sure to clean your waders and boots before fishing the creek. Those pesky New Zealand Mud Snails are in the creek and are easy to spread from water to water. There is plenty of info online on how to safely remove them from your gear if you don't know how.

Have fun!

SK60 · Senior Member

Also you can fish Access 1 and 2 but anywhere you come across a run leading to a graveled tailout, followed by a fast run below-don't wade the gravel area. Cross at the very bottom of the tailout, where it breaks over. This will keep you away from most redds which are getting harder to differentiate visually. First of April marks the end of the redd habitation by alevins. They start moving to the edges by then.

jgrim · Newbie

Thank you SK60 and Emerger for the responses.

I think we will go to Putah on the 25th as planned. We will likely end up at #5 and we'll be carful to avoid the redds ,stay away from gravel and anywhere it's marked.

Thanks for the heads up on the mudsnails. A quick web search pulls up may methods for getting these buggers off our gear, but it sounds like Fomula 409 is the consensus.

I'll do a little trip report when we get back and let you know how it goes.

SK60 · Senior Member

The most wader/shoe method is put them in a black plastic garbage bag in full sun for at least 15 minutes. Heat will kill quickly. Can also freeze overnight, if you are allowed to stuff your gear into the freezer. 409 tends to soften rubberized trim on shoes.