Bass population

Rossflyguy · Senior Member

Bass population

lightfoot · Senior Member

There used to be a bunch of smallies below the dam after the Glory Hole toped out in the 80's. Trout in the creek seem to be doing fine.

I'm surprised they actually survived the drop through the Glory Hole as it seems everything else that went through had their heads shaved off.

Rossflyguy · Senior Member

Yea I'm surprised too. My buddy has seen a 6+lb smallie cruising around. As far as the trout doing well they were stocking it back in the 80s. My buddy has seen some decent sized parr being taken by the new resident bass. I'll be bonking them.

-- Edited by Rossflyguy on Thursday 17th of August 2017 07:13:30 AM

SK60 · Senior Member

If you bonk them you should eat them or give them away. Otherwise, if seen by law enforcement, you could be cited for wanton waste of a game fish.

Rossflyguy · Senior Member

Yea I know the law.

mudhen · Senior Member

You can give them away to the resident coyotes. Who will then eat them....

Nohackle2 · Veteran Member

I have run into at least a couple of anglers who have said they had either caught a smallie or seen one in the water. I was fishing near the bridge one day several years ago when I looked into the bottom of a pool and saw a dead fish. I took my wading staff and moved it to shore. It was a crappie about 6 inches long. Its body was not chewed up and its body did not look bleached out like it had been dead for a week. So I know that at least one crappie has been in the creek. I don't have any idea how it got there but I could only presume it somehow came from the lake.

Rossflyguy · Senior Member

There are good largemouth down in solano but they're slow and few in numbers. These spots and smallies will thrive in PC.

-- Edited by Rossflyguy on Friday 18th of August 2017 08:47:28 PM

lightfoot · Senior Member

What do you think happen to the smallmouth bass that were in the creek back in the 80's? I'm not saying that they could pose a problem to the trout fishery we have today, but history suggests that would not be the case.

Rossflyguy · Senior Member

I'm bonking them either way.

lightfoot · Senior Member

I could care less if you bonk them or not. I was just asking a question.

PC20 · Veteran Member

I am on the creek 3-days a week and have yet to see any spiny rays... Maybe I will start throwing some streamers and see if I can find them.

Rossflyguy · Senior Member

Just left there. Saw lots of spots above the resort bridge. 4 lb spots but they're super lethargic. This cold water isn't making them aggressive. Gonna have to bring the senko and drop shot rig to harvest these guys.

PC20 · Veteran Member

Rossflyguy wrote:
Just left there. Saw lots of spots above the resort bridge. 4 lb spots but they're super lethargic. This cold water isn't making them aggressive. Gonna have to bring the senko and drop shot rig to harvest these guys.

I wouldn't recommend a drop shot rig in the creek... I've seen the gammie twice in the last 10-days.

On a side note, I don't remember catching a single smallie in the creek in the 80's. I threw a lot of streamers for the browns back then. However, I do remember quite a few largemouth down low in the lake.

Rossflyguy · Senior Member

Yea good point. Don't wanna get ticketed for the drop shot. There's still largemouth in Solano. Just not in quantity.

lightfoot · Senior Member

The bass I caught back in the 80's were right at the base of the dam. We used to jump the fence at the top of the dam and hike the trail to the bottom. It was and probably still is a very easy hike, sans homeland security. That was also the way we used to access the glory hole after we wised up and quit rock climbing from the creek side.

JaimeAstin · Newbie

I cannot believe there is a forum where people are talking about killing the almighty bass. I am all about conservation. I understand this is a fly fishing forum for mostly trout. But I hate to see a fish tossed to the bank. I love all fish. I keep some and release most depending on the laws. I grew up in Arkansas and one of my favorite fish outside of the lowly bluegill is the Alligator gar. A decade ago, Arkansas considered gar "Rough" fish and not game fish. People would kill them and leave them on the bank. I loved gar then... We kept and ate them or we released them. Now, the gar is considered a game fish is protected... They even have a report card.

What I am getting to, we "man" messes up more things than not. The bass are here, leave them. The trout will be ok. The largemouth will still in the slow water. The smallies and spots will creep up to the cold water, but that is fine. Those bass are usually after other food rather than the trout... They all eat each other, trout are predators too :) If I were to argue about fishing and humans doing harm... I would argue that catch and release hurts the fish more than anything else. We do this in the name of "sport". If we were fishing for food and such, maybe there would be no issue. Released fish and stocked fish hurt things... to me. Fish can be conditioned just like anything and everyone. It is nature. These fish learn to live with each other just fine. We "man" has done enough damage.

As a newbie to fly fishing, especially trout, I have been fishing putah creek a few times this past month since I moved to the area. I am mostly a bass fisherman, but I fish for EVERYTHING. I have a youtube channel and would love to meet locals in the area if we can. A lot of people know me in the east bay for my fishing and I fish out of state as well...

lightfoot · Senior Member

Welcome to the board Jaime from another kayak guy. Fall delta stripers are just around the corner.

Rossflyguy · Senior Member

Why do you guys assume I'm going to throw them on the bank? I'm going to harvest them legally. Those bass in PC don't have a lot of forage that won't include trout in this creek. I will be harvesting bass.

mudhen · Senior Member

Hello Jaime, and welcome to the board. ANY type of bass is an invasive species in Putah creek. The trout have really had to deal with a lot of tribulations and bad luck in the last few years, what with the drought and fires, and after the floods this year, competition for food will be high. I can fish for bass anywhere in the Bay Area, but other than Putah, it's a 4 hour drive for most of us.

-- Edited by mudhen on Tuesday 22nd of August 2017 06:11:20 PM

lightfoot · Senior Member

What was in the creek prior to 1953? Out of curiosity, have any bass been collected during the electro shock events in the past? Does the water in Putah warm up enough for smallies to actually spawn successfully?

Rossflyguy · Senior Member

They only electro shocked PC. They only found bows but we all know carp and squaw fish are in there right? I know for a fact there's largemouth lower in solano. Spots spawn at 63 degrees. They probably won't spawn but who knows. Doesn't change the fact they're in there and there's more than there were last year or the year before. I get you don't like that I'm going to harvest them if I catch them but there's a lake above the creek full of them. Anyone who wants to fish for bass has several other options.

mudhen · Senior Member

From what I have read from Cal trout and other places, Putah was an almost seasonal creek that had winter runs of Salmon and Steelhead.Black Bass are NOT native to California. Smallmouths were introduced in 1874, and largemouth around 1890.

Skol Bandit · Senior Member

I don't think you really want to eat anything out of Berryessa anyway...ewww

mudhen · Senior Member

Skol Bandit wrote:
I don't think you really want to eat anything out of Berryessa anyway...ewww

Meth Flavored Bass! put 'em on the grill and watch them explode.

lightfoot · Senior Member

I could care less if you fish for bass in Putah and chuck them in the bushes or throw them at cyclists that hog up the road (not a terrible idea). I'm just engaging conversation. I do know there were smallies in Putah back in the 80's. I'm guessing they can't successfully spawn or there would be a lot more of them. I'm curious how bass get into Putah, because the Glory Hole is a rough ride. Illegal transplants by people fishing Berryessa?

Rossflyguy · Senior Member

I'm sure they're survivors going over the glory hole. The glory hole isn't a straight drop. It starts to elbow like half way through it. I'm curios to know if some landlocked kings or Kokanee came over too.

lightfoot · Senior Member

Shaved heads in the 80's suggested a lack of survivors. Yeah, it's a straight drop with a tight 90. I've been inside it many times.

Tuggernaut · Member

Largies, smallies and spots were all introduced/invasive species to CA. Harvest the F#*% out of them.

Matt R · Senior Member

I'm curious. Has anyone caught a bass in the creek this year?