Putah Creek, Yuba River

The Green River Turns Brown & The Yuba Remains Gin Clear

by Matt
Brown River

Today I wanted to fish Putah Creek at winter low flows however when I arrived I was shocked to discover that the green river had turned brown! After that disappointment, I drove to the Yuba where conditions were the complete opposite; bright and gin clear.

From the information that I could gather online there are two theories of why the creek was lowered from 200 CFS to 40 CFS within a day. Theory one is that the flows were lowered so that the Sonoma County Water Agency could clean the canals and theory two is that this was the time to turn down the faucet due to agriculture season ending. Putah Creek is no stranger to fluctuating flows but why is it blown out?

Just Chocolate

Here is my hypothesis of why the creek is blown out.
The Wragg Fire burned nearly all of Sonoma county’s side of Putah Creek leaving the ground ashy and covered with soft dirt. On Friday night and Saturday morning the valley experienced it’s first true bit of fall rain. It might have been the rain and ash mixing together that turned Putah Creek’s usual green to brown. I could smell the stench of ash and water as I hiked around access 3.

Or could be the runoff from the canal cleaning?

Confirmed: Sonoma County Water Agency has lowered the flows to clean the canals.

Honestly I don’t think the fishing will get any better if we continue to get on again off again rains and low flows, therefore I’m going to call it quits on Putah Creek for the rest of the year. It’s been a good one!
Hopefully one less angler off the water will help these fish cope with these crappy conditions.

Bright As Can Be

Yuba River
The Yuba River is still tough. What was suppose to be 80 degree weather felt more like 90 degree weather out there and despite the Yuba getting some rain on Saturday, the water is still gin clear and low. In addition to these tough conditions, I had the luxury of fishing during 10-15 MPH winds. Extremely frustrating!

Yuba Biggie

The day ended with two bows landed. One small, one big.

Yuba Smallie
Putah Creek

Nymphing Putah Creek: Make Mistakes. Learn. Win.

by Matt
Access 4 Monster Bow

For those who can successfully nymph fish Putah Creek, I truly envy you.
Delicate tippet and micro sized flies are still a relatively new
concept to me. This trip I tried nymphing the creek to make mistakes and try and learn from them.

Fishing access at Putah Creek is kind of like playing a video game. Access that was locked at 400 CFS becomes unlocked at 250 CFS. The flows were lowered to around 247 CFS this trip which gave me access to a few new areas that I was able to explore. Bushwhacking around Putah Creek is very frustrating but it’s worth it when you find a great spot.

The day was bright and the fish were down. It took quite a bit of time before I was able to hook my first fish on a nymph which was immediately lost. As a matter of fact, I lost several fish this trip. Not a big deal though, no trophies lost.

I have a hunch that the problem with my unsuccessful nymphing is due to the rod that I am using. My 9ft 6wt fast action rod has too little of a bend and too long of a length. This is resulting in too much pressure on light tippet which easily pops out the size 18-20 flies when the fish shakes. Not to mention the poor presentations.
Using delicate (5x and 6x) tippet is important because it allows the line to fit through the eyes of the tiny size #18-22 hooks, presents a light natural drift, and best matches the naturals.

Unfortunately the tip of my 3wt is broken so I won’t be able to give that rod a shot any time soon but I do believe fishing a shorter and lighter action rod is the answer in successfully nymphing Putah Creek.

After getting fed up with nymphing, I tied on my sink tip line and started throwing streamers. I was experimenting with buggers this time and ran into the same problem I was experiencing when fishing my other patterns. Short strikes. Although I did manage to hook a few fish including Haley possibly, the majority of the strikes were too short; basically a nibble.

I’ve been researching about these “short strikes” and found that these are fish trying to either stun the streamer to eat it downstream or nip it away from its feeding zone. Considering how many smaller fish there are in the creek, I am thinking it was the latter.
I have a few tricks up my sleeve that will hopefully remedy the situation…

There was a great last light hatch of midges before I called quits. Lots and lots of 8-12” fish eating on top. It was too late for me to switch to a mono leader but I did manage to catch one before it got too dark.

Last Light Bow

So can nymphing catch you big fish at Putah Creek? Probably… Will nymphing catch you the most fish? Most likely…
I think I’ll stick to my streamers on Putah for a bit. You never know what might come out of the depths to eat it.

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Keep Calm and Fly Fish™