Putah Creek 05 Nov 2007

[JT]

I got out of lab a lot earlier than expected, so I snuck up to the creek. I brought my 3wt along for some fun. I got there around 4PM, and there weren't very many people there compared to Saturday. There were fish rising all over the place. When I looked at the surface of the water in a big back eddy, I noticed tons of midges and a few mayfly spinners. There were a few caddis fluttering around as well, so I opted for a #16 tan Fox Poopah and a #20 rusty spinner (drowned). The fish were feeding in the mid-depths, so I didn't have to worry about getting very deep. I caught a few small fish fairly quickly then moved to a deeper hole. The rusty spinner wasn't getting much attention here, so I switched to a #24 spent midge (also drowned). I landed a few more smaller fish with this setup. I hooked into two bigger fish (20+") that were able to throw the hook but not until they ran like crazy, taking line and putting a major bend in the 3wt. I usually leave the 3wt home in the faster flows, but it excels when the water is low. I was glad that I brought my headlamp, because I had to cross the creek in the dark to get out of there. It was still a little spooky, though.

[Xnjb707X]

Talk about spooky, last year me and a friend were out on putah till dark, and on the way back to the car we ran into a mountain lion. Scared the s#$@ out of me for a second, but the lion saw us and took off quickly. It all comes with the territory, it's their home and my playground.

- Nic -

[JT]

I've still never seen a mountain lion up there, but I did see a big bobcat a few years ago. A mountain lion would be pretty scary. At least you had a friend with you. That probably eased the nerves a little.

[Paul B.]

I was down there on the evening of the 7th. The only spooky thing I saw was a big brown taking off for who knows where with my fly in his mouth. Thinking about going back with my 8wt and gittin that #$@@&* b-tard. Paul