Putah Creek and Lake Solano.........

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

...........near Winters, California is getting lots of help now.

It is now "catch-n-release", artificial lures and barbless hooks year round now which is starting to have a positive effect.

Yesterday one of the volunteers who helps Roger Bloom and the CA DF&G wild trout program do work on the creek said there are lots of fat small wild trout in there now along with some very large older fish.

Planting has stopped and the trout are pretty much wild now.

I think it is mostly Rainbow trout and some Brown trout.

They are doing lots of studing of the fishery and are going to work on rehabing the spawning areas by adding some of the right size gravel for the trout to spawn in.


Local Putah Creek guide Greg Bonovich is very involved in this work on Putah Creek:

http://www.putahcreekflyfishing.com/


The Putah Creek Counsil is another group working on the entire creek:

http://www.putahcreekcouncil.org/


**They are also working on helping the salmon that run in up lower Putah Creek to the base of the dam on Lake Solano to spawn by pulsing the flows and working on the creek.

.

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

Here is a link to an online fishing survey that you can fill out after fishing Putah Creek:

http://www.webdesignbykeith.com/putahcreeksurvey.html


Map of Putah Creek and Lake Solano

http://www.putahcreekflyfishing.com/putah_creek.pdf

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

Our page on Putah Creek under "REPORTS" on our top main menu:

http://www.kiene.com/reports/streams/putah.shtm

[Sammy]

That's good stuff! Putah creek is STILL one of the toughest places I've fished.

[huntindog]

That's good stuff! Putah creek is STILL one of the toughest places I've fished.

it is easy...all you have to do is find the big fish on the redds and run a maribou jig (I mean bugger) in front of them...it works great every time :eek:

[Sammy]

Ah the putah way... also don't forget to not buy a license

[Boondoggle]

Group - at the risk of creating a firestorm - there's a lot of controversy about fishing Putah Creek during the spawn. The creek is under a lot of pressure. I do understand the temptation, but it would be great if we could all avoid fishing over spawners. They're under a lot of pressure already and, since Putah is now wild only, we want them to succeed. Please do email Greg Bonovich or check out his website (provided by Bill). There's a long string about redds fishing that you may find informative.

Thanks for listening!

Boondoggle

[Sammy]

Totally agree. and for what it's worth, I'm certain Huntingdog's post was a joke

[berryessie]

Yes, Greg has been very helpful with the rehabilitation of the creek but it would not be possible with out Putah Creek Trout. The non profit conservation group is leading the way with the creek. They are the ones who got the regulations changed and are working with the Wild Trout Program to get things established. They work hard both behind the scenes with office work and on the ground with labor.

http://putahcreektrout.org/

The population is of wild rainbows are making a come back but the browns are still struggling. I have not heard of any browns being caught for a number of years. For whatever reason they did not seem to reproduce in that creek very well.

As for Lake Solano it is pretty much a dead zone these days. A few fish live down there and move up during the spawn but most of the population is in the creek year round.

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

Thanks berryessie

I am glad you posted about "Putah Creek Trout"...............

[Yard Sale]

So did Putah hold trout before lake Berryessa was formed?

[Ralph]

So did put ah hold trouts before lake berryessa was formed?

and salmon and steelhead.

[Jimmie]

I can remember in about 1956 going to Putah with my dad as he fished for steelhead. As I was growing up there were always stories of someone catching a giant trout (after the Solano diversion dam went in) that was speculated to be a steelhead trapped when the dam went in.

[tacocat]

Putah Creek is on the 2011 Steelhead card.

[berryessie]

Putah Creek on the Steelhead report card is reffering to Lower Putah Creek below the diversion dam near the town of Winters. The run is pretty pinner less then a couple of dozen each year. Plus the private access to get down to the creek makes it near impossible to get to.

[Boondoggle]

Hey Sammy - thanks for the reply, and I got Huntindog's joke. I'm a little too sensitive to the issue and didn't want anyone to read it and think "hey, I should try that."

Thanks again.

[Sammy]

HA! yeah i wasn't sure. I understand the sensitivity as I often lurk, and occasionally post, over on the putah forum. (my first post there turned into one of those 7 page arguments... and I hadn't even tried fishing it yet)

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

Actually Mark Pinto was the first person that I knew to actually guide fly fishing for trout on Putah Creek.

He liked #18 Black AP nymphs way back then on very light tippet. He tied them extremely thin and sparce too.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Mark-Pintos-Home-Waters-Guide-Service/175149099175985



In the low flow of the winter people use long light fly rods (9' #3-5 line) with a soft tip, also with light sensative indicator, maybe a tufft of yarn, with light 6x tippets and small nymphs.

It would be smart to go out one day with a good Putah Creek guide or take a group class if any are available there. Why I suggest this is because it is a little specialized for the new comers.

.

[Charlie S]

Why aren't we just badgering DFG continually about closing Putah Creek during spawning season?

[Paul B.]

Because then the local idiots would push for closure from September to April since there are two seperate spawning periods in the creek. Fall and spring. Throw in high spring and summer flows and you've pretty much closed it for good.
I prefer open season on otters all year and electro shocking anglers who fish the redds.

[Bob Loblaw]

Agree with that last sentiment (otter killing excepted). The redds should be closed and off limits during the spawn, but there are other parts of the creek that ought to be kept open. Putah is essentially a winter fishery because the summer flows make it all but impossible to fish. If you do manage to find a spot where you can get to the water you need a couple of pounds of lead to get your fly down to where the fish are.

The only thing standing between the redd rapists, the bow fishing, the bait yahoos and general moronic behavior on Putah are responsible anglers keeping watch. If the fishery is shut down for the winter we will leave, and it will be open season for the idiots.

Keep it open, and leave the spawners alone.

[Ed Wahl]

I think not. What you are describing is poaching.

Bow fishing is allowed for Carp and Suckers, trout are so far off limits that no one calling themselves a fisherman could ever make that mistake.

I Bowfish, but would be willing to maybe aim a bit higher for someone doing that for trout. I dislike greedy poachers as much or more than the next guy.

How big a problem is poachers shooting trout with bowfishing gear on Putah?

Ed

[Yard Sale]

Very cool to learn more about the river I learned to fly fish on. Thanks for posting it!

Cool about the return to wild fish. What about some signage about spawning beds?