trinity, feather, or american

[stonefly58]

Attachment 5947Attachment 5948Attachment 5949Try these on Putah!

[Bwag]

I've got some midges, what are the first two called? Saw the pic you posted under the Trout section, that's a chunky Rainbow!

[stonefly58]

All three flies are tied for Putah specifically, however I have had great success on other river systems (Hat creek, Carson and the Owens) with these three flies. The midge was tied on a #20 Tiemco 2487, the other two were tied on a #14 Tiemco 2487. The first fly is a "BWO emerger" and fished nymph style, the second is a "Gold Ribbed Nymph" and fished nymph style as well. These are not available at any fly shop, there are some that are close, and they may work, I can't say for sure because I don't buy flies, I tie my own. FYI, these fish are very leader and indicator shy, I use 5X or 6X flourocarbon tippets, depending on the clarity, very little weight and as small an indicator as possible!

Enjoy the Creek!

[Bwag]

Thanks for the info, I mostly buy my flies but do tie some, mostly for Steelhead though. I just may have to give these a shot. That fish I caught earlier this week that was 3-4 pounds broke off my 5x. I've always fished 5 or 6x there but figured I'd put on some 3x since the water was a little murky. I waited about a half hour and hooked that fish again on 3x. Couldn't believe it but it bent my hook which is probably why I should tie my own as those Putah fish are getting bigger (aside from the ones that come up from Lake Solano). I ended up keeping the 3x on and landed 4 fish that day on 3x, surprised me to say the least.

[Sammy]

that's so cool. I'm always amazed to see the same fish caught twice. Especially if it was handled by the angler and released. I will have to look for the pictures, but last year on the East Walker, my brother hooked into a nice chunky brown sipping flies off the surface. It was netted, quickly photographed and released. Shit you not, 15 minutes later (max) i caught and released the exact same fish. Didn't realize it until later when we were looking at pictures.

Just goes to show you that with proper release technique the fish can be back doing it's thing that quickly.

Here is my brother with his catch


and me with the same fish 15 minutes after

[winxp_man]

Looking at the pics that is the same fish to me judging but the spots on it. Nice fish even if its not the same.

[Sammy]

yeah i mean the spots are too identical for that NOT to be the same fish. Unless it has a twin brother. Was a nice fish to catch on a dry and plenty of fight even the second time around.

[Bwag]

That's a beauty Sammy. I think for sure given proper handling and fishing techniques when speaking of catch and release, rainbows seem to do pretty darn good. I can only speak of rainbows and can only relate it to Putah Creek for a brief time frame at that ( and I'm about as far from an expert on this as anyone). But, those fish get hammered pretty good and there are minimal spawners from my observation, yet in the two years I have fished it I can consistently land 4-6 fish per trip and on one summer day this year hooked into 19 and landed 9 of those.

To me, it would seem many of the rainbows on Putah are caught multiple times. And I know from my experience on average all the fish I landed this year were about 2-3 inches bigger than the previous year.

All of this isn't without the hard work of the Putah Creek Trout organization, namely Steve Karr among many others.

I had a coworker who fly fishes come up to me at work and say she was going to give up fly fishing with the exclusion of a few backpacking trips because she read an article in the nytimes that said approximately 90% of catch and release fish die. I searched for the article but couldn't find it, I wish I could but those numbers seem ridiculous.

I guess what I'm saying in a very long winded way which you're already aware of is I firmly believe we can have great fisheries if they are managed well and respected by all, not just those of us that fish.

My dad got me to watch Rivers of a Lost Coast, if that isn't a fair warning of just how bad we as people can ruin good things I don't know what is.

[Sammy]

well said. I've heard that 90% rumor and don't believe it to be true. (at least not generally) Rivers of a lost coast is a great movie. And very sad. Heading up for steelhead tomorrow and we always watch that movie. I try to drink several beers before it gets depressing. Alcohol is an upper right?

[Bob Loblaw]

I don't believe that 90% figure either. If that was the case our streams would be full of carcases on busy fishing days and they are not.

Ditto on everything saidf about Putah, but its close so I keep trying. I'm thinking Saturday on the American and Sunday at Putah.