Putah 9-12

[Paul B.]

Great morning. This one was below the 128 bridge.
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y225/gs1dad/dad006.jpg

[Katz]

BEAST! :shock:

Are you willing to share the pattern that scored that beauty. I have always had good luck with #22 blood midge pupah.

Kraig

[Paul B.]

I was out of my favorite micro may flys so I tied on a green #18 WD40 bead head under a #16 poopah. The fish took the WD. Paul

[Paul B.]

Katz, I am not familliar with the midge that you mentioned. Do Kiene's carry these flies? Thank you. Paul

[Katz]

Not sure where to buy it. Simple tie. I will give a description and see if I can manage a pic of the little guy.

The fish on Putah seem to love the red flies

Standard #18-22 (too small to even see hook)
Red thread
copper wire (also very small)
Red Glass bead (also very small)

I thread the bead onto the hook first, then wind the red thread back to the turn of the hood over the copper wire. Thoroughly cover the hook back up to the bead with the red thread and then wrap the copper wire back up to the bead to give the look of ribbing to the fly. Sometimes I will add a wrap of pheasant tail just behind the bead to finish it off, but it hasn't seemed to matter much.

Run that behind a small yellow egg in November and you will knock them out.

Yes yellow. When these fish spawn the eggs are a golden/yellow color and the spawn in Nov/Dec. Single barbless only in November and be very careful as the water is small and there are reds everywhere you could step in if not careful. I can give you the name of the yellow dubbing used for the eggs too if I can find it. It's Golden Rod or something like that?

Also, if you are not getting some weeds on your nymph every few casts, you are not deep enough, add more weight.

There are likely many on this board who can give more info about the Putah Strain of fish. I have heard they have some cutthroat in them and all sorts of other information.

Good luck.

Kraig

[Paul B.]

Thank you Kraig. PB

[jbird]

That looks like a really good size fish! Nice and plump. Odd coloration....Beauty!

Jay

[Paul B.]

Coloration is a bit odd. It almost makes me think the bows are mixing with the browns up there!!!!!

[David Lee]

WOW !!

Nice fish ..... 8)

David :D

[flyfshrmn]

The reason that fish may appear unusual - it just might be a steelhead. The davis fly fisherman helped the DFG with a population survey several years ago and found steelhead smolts in Putah, something that neither the DFG or the local farmers and river users really want to acknowledge. If there are native steelhead in the creek, it's got many legal implications for water flow issues.

[jbird]

The reason that fish may appear unusual - it just might be a steelhead

I dont doubt the possibilty of there being steelhead present in the river system, but steelhead have less variation in appearance than the wide variety of trout and their coloration diversity, not to mention hybridization (is that a word?) I would have a hard time digesting the claim that the fish pictured above was a steelhead. If there are rainbows and browns coexisting in that river, I might speculate its a hybrid of sorts. Its spot pattern almost looks cutthroat-ish. Its body shape is brown-ish...But I would be willing to bet its just a rainbow with a slightly odd coloration that only God knows the answer.
Jay

[dberry]

[q[quote]uote]The reason that fish may appear unusual - it just might be a steelhead

Both Putah and Pope Creeks had good steelhead populations prior to the construction of Monticello Dam. It used to be that when Berryessa overflowed, there was always great steelhead action in between the Winters bridge and the Solano Dam. Still find a few fish there every year when the conditions are present. Don't know why the DFG or BRN weren't required to mitigate the loss of the habitat and run

[lee s.]

Danged nice looking fish, db. :)
Sure does look colored like any of the "old" steelhead we were ever around. "Old" meaning further along on their spawning run, as in Trinity R fish, etc.
Interesting squattiness in the rear portion though. Sorta like some kamloops we've been around.....?
Anyway, danged nice specimen, to say the least. 8)
....lee s.

[Jgoding]

Looks like a spawning coloration to me, although it looks like a female fish and it's usually the males that take on that coloration scheme.... I fish some WU areas and one creek in particular I know when I catch a male as they take on dark colors like that fish above but the females are usually more chrome looking....

Jeff

[Jgoding]

Looks like a spawning coloration to me, although it looks like a female fish and it's usually the males that take on that coloration scheme.... I fish some WU areas and one creek in particular I know when I catch a male as they take on dark colors like that fish above but the females are usually more chrome looking....

Jeff

[Katz]

There is something very unique about the Putah Creek Fall/Winter run fish. I'm sure there must be someone out there that knows more details than I and can chime in here.

They spawn in December and are all but done by early Jan.

Their eggs are yellow. Like the color of this guy - :) .

As far as I know, there is no way to get a brown and rainbow to cross, and if they ever did I'm sure they would not be fertile.

And, I have a vague memory of talking to someone up on the stream one winter who told me the Putah Creek fish is a very specific breed and has some rainbow and cutthroat in there family tree.

Whatever it is - they get big and they love the little flies. :D

Kraig

[flyfshrmn]

I don't believe there is any evidence for a natural cross between browns and bows. They can be artificially hybridized. As for the coloration of the fish under discussion, if it is a native Putah creek drainage fish, then those are probably the natural colors of that particular genetic group, arrived at by local selection to match the extant colors of the habitat bottom, something that happens in almost all isolated groups of fish and generally throughout every isolated ecological system.

[oonchie]

they got those colours from eating too many NZMS.

J/K