3-4 fish were observed spawning over redds on this middle reaches of the creek today. Very early for this, but might be due to the strangely low hydrograph for this time of year. Regardless, please be aware of areas of "clean" gravel and fish laying out in the open -- please give them some room.
I fished Putah creek today and it is in fact true that some of the Putah creek trout are making reds down around the shallow gravel at access 3 ( which ever is the middle access). Now I stopped in here after a successful day of fishing up by the bridge. I saw more like 3 pairs of fish that were staged together. Two of them that I saw appeared together and the male was chasing of other smaller fish that were trying to move in. Another pair were actually making their red by slapping their tails against the ground.
Now did DFG put up the caution spawning tape last year? Because it seems that now may be a great time to start advising people to be cautious of spawning activity.
The hope is to install some more "permanent" signage this fall, but it won't be for awhile yet.
These fish are spawning very early and are probably just a function of variation within the population. This behavior may be a strategy to hedge against limited spawning habitat, but that's pure speculation. I expect we will still see most of the fish spawn from Late-Nov through early-Feb.
Mostly, I see these early spawners as a sign of a growing, wild population.