Putah Creek Late August Early September 2023 Fishing Report
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- Опубліковано 18 вер 2024
- Here's your fishing report for Putah Creek based on my experience fly fishing it late August and mid September 2023. (Not sure if it's happening for everyone, but my playback is a bit blurry for a few seconds, but then clears up.). As always, I hope you enjoy it and find it helpful. Please feel free to hit me up in the comments if you have any questions, comments, or concerns (please note that I'll be off the grid 9/26/23-10/8/23, so I won't be able to respond until after that--but I will do so as soon as I can). Thanks so much!
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Headed to Putah for my Birthday today. 53 today. Love your videos.
Happy Birthday!! Have a great day out there and please let me know how it goes.
Beautiful place and beautiful fish , thanks for sharing.
thank you for sharing your trip. i am looking to start fly fishing around that area, and would like to know when the best time of year is to trout fish? Also are there any other creeks around that you would recommend?
If you want to fish Putah, the best time of year is now. It tends to correspond nicely with football season (I am not joking).
On the other question, it depends on what you mean by "around." Putah is the only fishable trout stream between the Bay Area and Sacramento. Once you hit Sacramento you have the American and the Sac, but you don't really get into any creeks (at least not that I know of) until you hit the foothills of the Sierras like Placer county where you get streams running into those rivers. You keep going northeast and you get to the Feather and the Yuba and the associated streams (I am woefully ignorant there too), but I can tell you in a number of places, like around Downieville, the North Fork Yuba fishes like a stream, as does the Middle Fork Feather around Graegle. Alternatively, you can go east from the Bay Area and you'd it the Calaveras, the Stan, and the Moke, all of which also fish like streams and probably have streams running into them (though I haven't figured many of those out yet).
Great video! Thanks for sharing
Nice bramble ramble!!
THERE. IS. A. NAME. FOR. IT!!! I had no idea! This right here proves all the bad things ever said about social media are false. Or at least it validates maybe a wee little bit of social media's value since knowledge flows both ways. One of those anyway. Thanks so much for that--I am going to reduce, reuse, and recycle the crap out of it.
@@abushinthewoods I thought it fitted ! Even a blind squirrel finds a nut sometimes
Love your reports. Feel the same way about the creek these past few months. Drop in temp the other week helped. Always good to fish it when you're under the 80s.
For sure. When I wet wade there in the Summer the upper half of my body is scalding and the lower half is freezing. Kinda a metaphor for the whole love-hate thing with the Creek.
@@abushinthewoods haven't wet waded there yet because of all the bramble. Shorts at the creek just mean bloody legs haha
@@Gentlemanscholarsignssf It really does. You are apparently way smarter than I am.
nah, I've just been with people who wear shorts out there. It's not pretty haha... it's just not possible to be comfortable on the creek at 2 in the afternoon. It's like cooking a half frozen chicken @@abushinthewoods
Hi I really enjoyed your video and was wondering if you could possibly help me with doing one at Putah sometime
If I can, I will. Drop me an email at abushinthewoods@gmail.com and we can try to set something up.
Great report. August is too tough with all the flows. Fall is where it's at. And yes, those brambles will F you up real good. I've fallen down a hill full body into one of those bushes - was picking out thorns for the next week and the ones that broke off under the skin get infected. Yea, no fun.
I may or may not have taken a big ol' header on one of these days. I admit nothing. Except that I should buy stock in Tecnu--that stuff is great for the oak.
I ruined a pair of waders taking a faceplant into some blackberries a few weeks ago 😆good times...
@@dogphoe yea, totally can see that happening, especially with the lighter summer fabrics compared to neoprene.
@@dogphoe Please know that you are not alone!
Hey Bushy. Putah's been pretty stingy lately - last week only one and I didn't see anyone else hook up at all. I'm hoping to get back there a couple more times this season; love to meet up with you sometime. Also hoping to head to Hat Creek this coming weekend - any news on that front? Thanks as always.
Hey! I haven't heard much about Hat recently, but my guess is it's fishing pretty well. Most things seem to be, except Putah. If I were you, I'd call the Ted Fey shop and ask them--they have never done me wrong. I'm heading out of the country for a couple weeks, but will be back on the Creek when I get back. Hope to run into you (but, you know, not, like, with my car. That would be bad.). Good luck out there!
Safe travels. Will keep an eye out for a bush in the woods . . @@abushinthewoods
@@abushinthewoods Hey Bushy. Hope all is well with you wherever you are! Any suggestions as to what I should throw at Putah here in October? I'm always tying on small bugs, but not sure what the October choices should be. Thanks in advance!
Hey, sorry for the late response, been digging out from being away. Last October they ate pretty much whatever I gave them. The year before that it was a whiteish tag nymph with a florescent purple collar and tag and, oddly, no soft hackle collar. I often put tag nymphs (with or without a CDC collar but nearly always with a florescent thread collar) on as my point fly and let them swing. If they don't take them on the drift, they will often pick them up the swing or the hangdown/dongle. (I tried to upload a photo to this comment to show you, but it won't let me. Bummer.). Good luck, please let me know how it goes and hope to see you out there!
@@abushinthewoods Thanks for the info Bushy. Was out there last weekend and hooked two (or maybe the same one twice?!) and I could have sworn it/they were steelhead - largish (maybe 18"), super silvery and strong. Both times jumped hard within 5 seconds and shook me off.
That's the stuff that keeps you coming back for more!
How’s Putah fish now may/june
I haven't been out there recently, so can say anything for sure about this year, but historically, in my experience, it really depends, particularly on flows and if we get any rain. I prefer flows to be under 450 cfs. Looking at them right now, they are a little high (about 475 cfs as I type this), so I would expect the fishing to be pretty mid. But flows tend to fluctuate in the spring so you may catch them on a day when they are closer to 300 cfs, which makes it better (they were around 390 cfs last weekend). That said, a drop in flows can sometimes put the fish off the bite. But if we get some random rain showers I'd expect the fishing to pick up around that event. I tend to avoid Putah more and more as we move into the summer months. It's just miserable in my view. The flows bump up and you can have sustained flows of well over 500 cfs, which I don't enjoy. Add to that the poison oak, rattlers, ticks, and heat and...it's just awful. It can still be fished--they will still take a fly--but it's not as fun. I'd rather drive an extra hour and go to the Yuba, American, Feather, or even the Truckee.
9/23/23...lots of salad 360flows... more salad ..a few berries ...2 eats..missed hook sets...fkn PUTAH!..lol
Classic Putah! You moved some fish tho, so that’s something! And, hey, free berries!
Glad to see the fishing is picking up (sort of). Hopefully this is the year I actually land a fish at Putah as opposed to breaking fish off.
I really try to go no lighter than 4x at the Creek for that reason. There's so much they can rub on it really, really helps to have thicker tippet. I know people will tell you that you need 6x, and maybe I'd do better if I used it, but I'd rather have a chance at landing a fish after I put in all that work to hook it.
I get what you are saying, but it’s hard to get a natural drift using 4x with a size 20 midge larva. It could work with perdigons and beadheads but I’ve been trying to use unweighted flies to set myself apart from the crowd. Or maybe it’s the fact that I suck at indicator nymphing and I wouldn’t have to go down to size 20-22 if I knew how. @@abushinthewoods
@@thecalfisher Interesting, I never thought of that. My guess (and this is just a guess) is that the indicator is going to affect the drift more than a thicker tippet. I much prefer using an indicator in general, but honestly my success rate at Putah went way up when I started tight lining. Not sure if that's a horrifying idea or not, but it's always an option. Good luck out there!
I do tightline at Putah when i fishing too close or the run is too fast for indicator. I keep the indicator from affecting the drift by mending upstream and flipping the bobber upstream a bit. This gives the weight time to reach the bottom. An indicator with a toothpick or flag sort of thing helps. You can see if you take a small, unweighted fly how better it moves on lighter tippet just by tying it on and hanging it from your fingers. I just think it’s better for the current to move the fly than for the current to move the tippet which moves the fly.
Bwaaahaa sounds like summer! And the best clusters of berries are almost always towards the center of the thicket evil plants😅. And rattlesnakes like to hide in that shit too
Right?! And the biggest fish is ALWAYS on the opposite bank, and you know I'm wading out just that much too far to try to get to it...
What flies do you usually use in the fall? What size leader and how long? Any split shot or just a fly? I am new to the area so haven't been yet but hoping to check it out in the next couple of weeks
Perdigons are always good--black or dark green with a little bling on them. I really like a blowtorch or any tag nymph year round. Thread frenchies are also good, tan with a green collar, peeking caddis. Really, if you get a good drift, anything in the size 12-18 should work, but I know lots of people use even smaller flies successfully. I really try to avoid split shot, but use really heavy flies to make up for it (like, 3 mm to 5.5 mm beads). I tend to tightline at Putah and use about 4'-6' of tippet between my sighter and my anchor fly and about 12"-18" between my flies (I use between 1 and 3 flies, depending on conditions). Not sure if this helps or makes it even more overwhelming, but I hope it helps. Please let me know if you have any more questions. Good luck!
thanks for the info it helps a lot. What size tippet do you use for the 4-6 feet and then the 12-18 foot sections? For places along the river do you stick to right around the lake or more north? thanks!
@@abushinthewoods
@@owenglasman4018 To be clear, it's 4-6 feet of tippet, with the flies spaced about 12-18 inches apart within that 4-6 feet. I usually go straight 4x. Not sure if you mean the reservoir or Lake Solano, but I fish the entire span between the dam and Lake Solano. All the lots offer good access--just follow the trails (or bring a sharp machete and make your own--just be sure to cover up completely or you will have a wicked case of poison oak--and don't forget your eye pro!).