Please report spawning activity locations

Grahler2018 · Member

Please report spawning activity locations

Grahler2018 · Member

Also I do not advocate any efforts to provide more bank access.

Rossflyguy · Senior Member

Grahler, DFW seems to disagree with you about the numbers of fish over 20” after the electro shock numbers. I think you assume this fishery is no good or the people you talk to are not doing well at PC. If the internet was giving up areas and fish pics then why are you not seeing pics of large fish? The pressure you claim and the lack of large fish reports don’t add up. If there’s no large the fishing pressure would be far less than you claim. In reality most people fish less than a handful of spots on PC. Most of the creek is unfished. Most people don’t post any reports of large fish being caught at PC. It’s just known.

As far as stockers, they’re no good for the gene pool. If you want to fish stockers berryessa has a bunch. PC is a designated trophy fishery. I think you need to research this water a little more.

-- Edited by Rossflyguy on Sunday 28th of January 2018 12:03:25 PM

SK60 · Senior Member

The early "glory days" are over because 1) lot more people are fishing PC 2) drought and fire have accelerated the degradation of habitat and stream bed quality through excessive siltation. Unfortunately "cleansing" of critical substrates for spawning habitat and habitat to promote increased insect populations is no longer a reliable every 5th year event. And the scouring and silt removal last winter had unpredicted downsides of widening and deepening the channel-this dropped the water depth at all flows. This caused many spawning areas to be too shallow and in some cases go dry at the usual winter flows. A side channel we opened up to provide year round flows for young of year protective habitat again went dry because of the main channel's lower surface elevation. Just increase the winter flows? Not going to happen because winter is when the lake refills and the water managers have to protect against the effects of continued drought by lowering flows.

Stocked fish...are very aggressive, displace wild fish from their territories, may or may not dilute gene pools if they survive, and tend to taste like their hatchery food source (or so I'm told), etc. Easy to catch is their major value (IMO). I would add that the amount of trash of all kinds littering the creek side trails has plummeted since stocking stopped and C/R was put in place.

Many of your comments seem to be related to how easy the spread of information by the internet has increased pressure. I agree with you that, since 2004/2005 when this forum "took off" interest in PC did also. But even before then you had FF backed up, waiting for someone to leave a hot spot so they could step in.

We have 4.5 miles of creek, 80% of the Yolo side (almost all of it public property) has blocked bank access due to overgrowth of Himalayan Blackberry. Some of the Solano side is privately owned, but public access areas there have the same problem. In those stretches where if the public had increased access by removing a highly invasive non native plant and replacing it with native grasses or shrubs or trees, wouldn't it improve the experience of FF and gear fishers and the growing numbers of non fishing users that hike, picnic or otherwise enjoy the creek? And spread out the pressure? I don't see the downside there because the pressure on the resource is not going to abate.

I will repeat what I believe: this is a unique and rare local natural resource that can support a healthy trophy wild trout fishery in the face of heavy fishing pressure derived from the current 7-10 million people living within 2 hours drive, and in the face of often daunting negative environmental impacts. It has survived for 60 years under all kinds of pressure. It deserves to be treated well and protected for those that come after us. That's what people of good will do.

-- Edited by SK60 on Sunday 28th of January 2018 01:17:20 PM

mudhen · Senior Member

I just tell the tourists to use 3x tippit and #8 golden stones with a #6 red Copper John for a trailer.

mudhen · Senior Member

I just tell the tourists to use 3x tippit and #8 golden stones with a #6 red Copper John for a trailer.😉

Grahler2018 · Member

Good points on the lack of every five year high velocities flushing Sk. Obviously Mother Nature cannot be controlled.
I am no biologist, but I would question whether hatchery fish always displace wild fish from prime lies. Maybe that point could be argued. My experience at Putah was in certain areas the hatchery guys were almost nonexistent. Even in prime pools I have often weeded out five or six then hooked a nice big native. I am not qualified as a fisheries biologist but my experience has not been that in a spot where you get the hatcheries there’s no natives on the creek.
I liked your comment on genetics of hatchery fish.
I think certain areas being difficult to acces is like having a closed to hunting zone in your hunting club. Game can go there and be left alone. However the point you make is logically consistent as well; the creeks pressure ain’t goin away anytime soon. I haven’t really been over there much so can’t comment on how thick blackberries are in there currently. I guess I could recant my position on that. If you can’t beat em enable em!
I like your closing as well.
I’m just cranky about free flow of information on the internet by people who had no forethought as to the effects or whose primary concern was making a few bucks. I’ve had spots I used to go basically anytime for specific outdoor recreation basically totally overrun to the point I have trouble even parking when in the past often you could have time there with just a few folks. Stupid people publicizing good things have ruined certain aspects of my life. I used to have a weather radio and a book with data I used for determining recreation quality. Now you just go on a website and look. People don’t appreciate that. Combine that with mlpa areas and family fishing tradition of over half a century has been shutdown by the politicos. Waaah yes I am crying.
Going forward you guys have the right idea about protecting and rehabilitating what’s left of Putah and yes on the trash thing. Can’t argue with your last point at all. If we simply assume it’s too late to ever prevent pressure which is true then it is what it is.

Haha mudhen! Good call!

SK60 · Senior Member

Good dialogue Steve. Tuned me up for the 3 permits I have to write so we can repair the bank situation at FA 3.

mudhen · Senior Member

Are you referring to the collapsing bank at the lower parking lot? That needs to be addressed or it could dump tons of mud into the creek. It's a safety hazard as well.