Ten essential flies for putah creek

mudhen · Senior Member

Ten essential flies for putah creek

Ty · Senior Member

Only 10 flies? I use maybe 3 or 4 at Putah. I'll give up the pattern, you'll have to figure out size and color. zebra midge, caddis pupa, baetis nymph and a WD40.

-Taylor

DrDan · Administrator

Small, small, small, small 😉

rubio505 · Member

If it looks buggy... use it!

Rossflyguy · Senior Member

Anything buggy. Just has to be the right size.

booly wugger · Newbie

This time of year I would start early morning with an egg very small in chartreuse or cheese color I've seen fish literally shark on these dropper would be tan or brown Caddis pupa #18. By ten am midge and calabaetis start moving around all colors #18 and up and even dries will work. At 1pm wd40 and rs2 all colors. Toward dusk I go back to the egg and pupa combo. All bugs this time of year 18 and up switch up a ton and clean your rig often 5x to 7x

mudhen · Senior Member

I have seen fish rise to what I assume are bugs that fall from a limb, yet the creek is not known for any sort of dry fly fishing . Does anyone ever go out to only fish a dry fly?

Rossflyguy · Senior Member

They eat ants and caddis during the summer. You can catch them on bwo dries

lairdbaird · Veteran Member

I've never fished dries exclusively at Putah, but have caught more than a few 8-12 inch trout on Griffiths gnats, smaller elk hair/olive caddis, bivisibles and small black gnats, while switching to dries during rises. Mostly in late August and September, though the only bugs i've ever noticed on the creek are BWO's, midges and what looks like a really, really small sedge wing caddis.
Not trying to stir things up, but I have wondered if dry fly fishing, targeting the smaller fish that i usually see surface-feeding year round (though I have also seen a few big fish roll like steelhead), would pose a threat to spawners this time of year? In deeper areas like maybe by the dam? I realize that the threat of trampling eggs while carelessly wading through spawning habitat still exists, and that spawning fish can be anywhere in the river, not just near the redds, but it seems that only an actively feeding fish would rise to a dry, and that it would be hard to foul hook a spawner dry-flying, at least compared to fishing sub-surface. i could see a large spawning fish perhaps attacking a large steelhead dry like a polly wog or a popper drifted into it's territory out of aggression, but an #18 griffith's gnat seems unlikely. sorry if this is off topic a bit, but any input would be appreciated. Haven't fished the last two winters and am not trying to get into an argument with anyone about winter closures, etc.
Thanks

SK60 · Senior Member

Right now, if you are going to fish, keep wading, even away from redd areas, to a minimum. We are midspawn and alevins will be hatching from eggs over the next several weeks. They will be developing in the gravel in the main channel until approximately April 1 and susceptible to being crushed by boots. Once they reach fingerling stage, they will move out and also are able to avoid your boots. I personally don't fish from December to end of February. After that, in March, I am extremely careful about when and where I enter the creek and stay around the edges in rocky or cobble bottom areas only. Its true that most fish caught on dry dries in Putah are not adult fish-any time of year. You have the information you need to make an informed decision about the risks to the fishery-its up to you.

mudhen · Senior Member

Easy there slick. We are talking about post spawn. By the way, there is an EXCELLENT chapter on catch and release in Ken Shultz's Encyclopedia of fishing. It's a monster sized book and English in its orientation, but it is a really good read on whether or not to let 'em go.
And anyways, I agree with Al McClain and Lefty Kreh about staying out of the water.

lairdbaird · Veteran Member

Thank you both for your responses. Mudhen, will check out that chapter in Schulz's book on C &R; Ive always practiced It on putah and elsewhere, and It would be good to make sure my fish handling causes the least amount of damage. To reiterate, I have not fished the past two years from nov thru march, largely thanks to this website (have lurked for a few years, but have relatively little to contribute to the conversation experience wise), and I also dont expect a warm reception to my playing the devils advocate by posing such a question.
In regards to your original question, mudhen, I would also add that I have done well with small brassies on putah, 20-22. Small copper midges havent worked so well for me, however, compared to similar brassies. I also like swinging soft hackles though with marginal success; ive had the best luck with a #18 pheasant tail soft hackle, swung or dead drifted under indicator with a smaller fly and split shot underneath.

lairdbaird · Veteran Member

*I meant small copper johns*