Public opinion needed..

[Amador]

I am taking a friend of mine out this weekend to teach him how to Fly Fish. I am thinking of either the Truckee area or the Upper Sac area. I am also open for other suggestions if you have any. Where do you think is a good river to teach someone how to fish? I am located in the Bay Area.

Thanks for your suggestions.

[OregonSalmon]

Amador,

Putah Creek is close. A very good choice this time of year.

[Adam Grace]

The American River is also close, it has much more unobstructive back casting area compared to Putah Creek. If you want your friend to catch fish, Putah might be better but you'll be nymphing almost the whole time, unless you get really lucky and can fish to rising trout.

When teaching begginers I think that ample amount of spaces, void of line catching trees and bushes, makes the experience much easier. The first fishig trip out on the water generally morphs into one big casting and line management lesson anyways. A beginner must learn how to properly manage their line and make it go where they want before they really start "fishing."

Have fun, and thanks for growing the sport.

[brun0]

Putah is a tough stream to learn. It can be very frustrating for a beginner. Like Adam wrote, there isn't a lot of room to back cast and you'll be slinging shot, which makes casting difficult.
Mike

[gryhackl]

Consider the North Fork of the Yuba between Sierra City and Downieville.
There's good access lots of open casting lanes and fish should be moving up in there right now.

[JT]

There have been quite a few risers on Putah lately. Many are using dry/dropper rigs to get fish in the low flows. Caddis and BWOs (and of course midges) have been hatching fairly consistently. If you do fish Putah, disinfect your gear. New Zealand Mud Snails are everywhere.