Early last week, I made another trip to Putah Creek. I'm giving it another chance because so many people seem to be in love with it. Personally, and although I'd like too, I just don't have the same warm fuzzy feelings. However, I felt it necessary to give it another fighting chance to sway my opinions
Arriving at sunup, I put my rod together, pulled up my waders and walked down to the river. Just below the bridge, I started off in probably the most crowded section of the creek. Lucky for me, only a few people were there at the time. To be honest, I don't even remember what flies I had on. That's what happens when I wait a week to write the report. Sorry about that. Whatever they were, there were two of them and my guess is that I started off with a small soft hackle and winged wet. This is my usual morning setup.
After about 30 minutes of flinging my rod around, I realized that I wasn't very comfortable here. It wasn't crowded at this point, but there were enough people that I couldn't move freely. I felt restricted. I did get a few bites, but didn't actually hook anything. Normally, I'd keep moving, but many people were sitting in a spot and not budging. Not my idea of fun.
I walked downstream only to come across a young kid fishing to a rather large trout that was plainly sitting on a redd. He happily pointed the giant fish out and I tried to encourage him to fish somewhere else and let it do his thing. The kid was still there by the time I left 15 minutes later. Sad.
I walked upstream towards the dam. I wanted to check out some of the water I saw while float tubing here in the Summer. Fished a couple of sections with no results. I did see a few more fish spawning, so I left them alone and went back to my car. By this time, the lot near the bridge was filling up and people were piling out one by one. What a zoo. Good thing I was ready to go.
Prior to leaving the house, I studied a satellite map and printed out the locations that I'd like to fish. This is a great way to figure out where to go. The problem is, you never know what time of year that satellite image was taken and the river could be completely different looking because of the flow. Fortunately, it seemed to be pretty accurate and I found some nice riffles to fish in. And best of all, these locations were less crowded.
I can't even tell you where I was. Other than being somewhere downstream of access #1. Found some decent looking water and got a few hookups. But the fish were able to disconnect by running down river or rubbing the line up against some rocks. It was tough to get them to me.
As more people came down to where I was, I packed up again and went to the next spot marked on my map. More of the same. Eventually, around 1 or 2PM, I went to access #5 and fished the island. The water was very low here. Much lower than last time I visited. I came across more than a few people and those that I spoke with weren't catching anything. Sadly, I started to feel good that I even hooked a few fish.
After leaving #5, I found some nice runs after some exploring. Not my ideal fishing locations, but they worked. I also came up on more people fishing redds. This seemed to be a common theme. I don't know what it is, but a lot of people are trying to pick off spawners here.
Towards the end of the day, I found the best spot. There were only a few people, but it seemed remote enough, and there wasn't the usual amount of garbage laying on the trails that I felt almost as if I were somewhere else. It was a good feeling.
I bushwhacked my way upstream and judging by the lack of trail, I don't think many people fished this spot. There were some nice runs and I finally started catching fish. None of them were huge, but they were decent 15-20 inch fish. Brought five of them to my hand and lost a few more. My large-by-Putah-standards size 8-10 steelhead flies were getting the interest as I swung them down the current.
I don't want to say this will be my last, but it will probably be one of my last Putah trips. I can see myself grabbing the float tube and going again in the Summer. However, for wade fishing, there are so many other rivers in the area that better fit my style. To each their own.
Arriving at sunup, I put my rod together, pulled up my waders and walked down to the river. Just below the bridge, I started off in probably the most crowded section of the creek. Lucky for me, only a few people were there at the time. To be honest, I don't even remember what flies I had on. That's what happens when I wait a week to write the report. Sorry about that. Whatever they were, there were two of them and my guess is that I started off with a small soft hackle and winged wet. This is my usual morning setup.
After about 30 minutes of flinging my rod around, I realized that I wasn't very comfortable here. It wasn't crowded at this point, but there were enough people that I couldn't move freely. I felt restricted. I did get a few bites, but didn't actually hook anything. Normally, I'd keep moving, but many people were sitting in a spot and not budging. Not my idea of fun.
I walked downstream only to come across a young kid fishing to a rather large trout that was plainly sitting on a redd. He happily pointed the giant fish out and I tried to encourage him to fish somewhere else and let it do his thing. The kid was still there by the time I left 15 minutes later. Sad.
I walked upstream towards the dam. I wanted to check out some of the water I saw while float tubing here in the Summer. Fished a couple of sections with no results. I did see a few more fish spawning, so I left them alone and went back to my car. By this time, the lot near the bridge was filling up and people were piling out one by one. What a zoo. Good thing I was ready to go.
Prior to leaving the house, I studied a satellite map and printed out the locations that I'd like to fish. This is a great way to figure out where to go. The problem is, you never know what time of year that satellite image was taken and the river could be completely different looking because of the flow. Fortunately, it seemed to be pretty accurate and I found some nice riffles to fish in. And best of all, these locations were less crowded.
I can't even tell you where I was. Other than being somewhere downstream of access #1. Found some decent looking water and got a few hookups. But the fish were able to disconnect by running down river or rubbing the line up against some rocks. It was tough to get them to me.
As more people came down to where I was, I packed up again and went to the next spot marked on my map. More of the same. Eventually, around 1 or 2PM, I went to access #5 and fished the island. The water was very low here. Much lower than last time I visited. I came across more than a few people and those that I spoke with weren't catching anything. Sadly, I started to feel good that I even hooked a few fish.
After leaving #5, I found some nice runs after some exploring. Not my ideal fishing locations, but they worked. I also came up on more people fishing redds. This seemed to be a common theme. I don't know what it is, but a lot of people are trying to pick off spawners here.
Towards the end of the day, I found the best spot. There were only a few people, but it seemed remote enough, and there wasn't the usual amount of garbage laying on the trails that I felt almost as if I were somewhere else. It was a good feeling.
I bushwhacked my way upstream and judging by the lack of trail, I don't think many people fished this spot. There were some nice runs and I finally started catching fish. None of them were huge, but they were decent 15-20 inch fish. Brought five of them to my hand and lost a few more. My large-by-Putah-standards size 8-10 steelhead flies were getting the interest as I swung them down the current.
I don't want to say this will be my last, but it will probably be one of my last Putah trips. I can see myself grabbing the float tube and going again in the Summer. However, for wade fishing, there are so many other rivers in the area that better fit my style. To each their own.
No comments:
Post a Comment