Keep Calm and Fly Fish

Almost Perfect Flows At Putah Creek

Despite Putah Creek being a tailwater fishery that is relatively short and narrow, the water is cold all year-around, deep, and has ample cover. These factors are some of the reasons why Putah Creek trout grow to such immense sizes. Putah Creek trout that are 20”+ make up about 10% of the creek. 
The adult male rainbow trout, also known as a buck, of Putah Creek are what the local anglers refer to as “The Beast of Putah Creek” due to their dark colors, kyped (hooked) jaw, and huge body. These beast are elusive creatures that are not easily caught. Now that I am more familiar with the creek, I set out to find myself a monster.

Since my last visit, the creek was lowered to a flow of 350 CFS. These flows lowered the creek about 1ft and gave me access to about 70% of the areas I wasn’t able to fish my previous trip. In my opinion, these flows are almost perfect. The wading is still challenging but not nearly as dangerous. The water is still high but not as fast. By the look and feel of theses flows, I’m thinking that a flow of 250 CFS would be absolutely perfect to fish.

Creedence Clearwater Revival’s Green River

Throughout the day I skipped around all the parking accesses and explored some new water. The lowered flows attracted a few anglers to come out and try to fish the creek as well. As I passed by these anglers, I started to notice that only those who were keyed in on the creek’s secrets caught fish. Putah Creek rainbows are not easy to catch.

Burnt Area at Access 4

When a trout grows to a certain size, nymphs are no longer a sustainable food source. These big trout have official graduated from Trout University and are now higher on the food chain. Smaller fish is what’s for dinner.
To imitate small fish, streamer patterns that match the hatch work the best. Go go Hero Sculpin!

Wading access to the creek is pretty limited giving big trout plenty of spots to hide and avoid anglers. Although I hooked several fish throughout the day, all of them threw the hook except my first Putah Creek trophy.

After covering a few spots with no hits, I hiked and fished a run with a deep channel and plenty of cover. As I stripped in my fly, I felt a take and it felt huge. The water was gin clear and allowed me to watch as the beautiful bow shook its entire body to throw the hook. During the fight, I noticed that this fish wasn’t much of a runner and used its weight to its advantage instead of the current. This allowed me to control the fight and in the end land my first Putah Creek trophy trout.

20”+ of Putah Bow

Dark colors, check. Big body, check. Kype jaw, nope. Although the big fish I caught was a beauty, it was a female. Not the fish I was looking for but a great fish nevertheless. Now that I have more confidence fly fishing the creek for big fish, I will continue to fish Putah Creek in hopes of one day landing a true beast.

New Zealand Mudsnails In Putah Creek
Be aware that there is a huge infestation of New Zealand Mudsnails in Putah Creek. These mudsnails reproduce extremely fast and out-compete our native aquatic insects for food. There is currently no solution in controlling these mudsnails and it is advise that anglers not jump into another body of water after fishing Putah Creek.

New Zealand Mudsnails have a 100% chance of hitchhiking on gear (proven from my experience), therefore switch outfits if you’re going to fish elsewhere or thoroughly clean your gear before entering a new body of water.

These Ones Hitched Hiked Home

High Flows At Putah Creek

When it was discovered that trout in Putah Creek were able to spawn successfully, a campaign was launched by local agencies, guides, and anglers to protect these wild self-sustaining fish. In 2010, Putah Creek was officially designated as a catch-and-release fishery and only barbless artificials can be used. Putah Creek remains the only wild and scenic fishery west of valley. Prior to these new regulations, the creek was once stocked with hatchery rainbows and brown trout.

The rainbow trout in Putah Creek are a bit of an anomaly because they can grow to huge sizes despite living in a 4.5 mile stretch. Many have theorized that these big rainbows are the genetic cross between steelhead trout and ancient coastal cutthroat trout that hybridize a long time ago. But who knows?
This trip was my second attempt in trying to catch a Putah Creek native.

The number one reason why anglers ignore Putah Creek until fall is because of the flows. From about April/May to September the flows stay around 500-600 CFS which is very high. Ideally the flows that you want to fish are below 250 CFS. Today I fished 480 CFS flows which was fishable but still high.

A few weeks ago there was a huge fire, named the Wragg Fire, that set the Putah Creek Wildlife Area blazing. The Wragg Fire burned thousands of acres and was one of the most destructive fires of this year. Unfortunately Putah Creek was also caught in the fire leaving access 5 and 4 burnt out and access 3, 2, and 1 in poor condition. The majority of the creek opposite to HWY 131 (Solano County) was scorched during the fire. The outcome of the Wragg Fire may possibly create future issues for the creek in the form of sediment accumulation and erosion. In my mind I figured it would probably better to fish it now rather than later.

Burnt Black Hills

Putah Creek is truly a puta to fly fish. There were very few access points at these flows and wading was difficult due to high water. There is literally no room to backcast without getting snagged on Putah Creek, therefore knowledge and skill of roll casting, snap-t’s, and double speys will save you the frustration of undoing a snag. The fish are also known to be very finicky eating very small size 18-22 nymphs. The trout per mile at Putah feels moderate making them somewhat difficult to find.

Access 3 Pool

The only flies I planned on throwing into Putah this trip were streamers. When I arrived at the creek, I fished it hard, throwing my pattern into every nook and cranky I could cast to. Throughout the afternoon I had three follows and one attempt. Nothing landed yet. My hopes of ever holding a Putah Creek bow was slowly starting to fade away. But I kept calm and fished on.

My luck finally came through when I hooked my first fish and it’s a big one! I played the fish carefully as it made a big jump and ran downstream a few times. After a few minutes of play, I had finally landed my first Putah Creek rainbow. A big dark beauty!

First Putah Creek Bow

As the sun started to go down, I had some hopes of catching a few more fish but it didn’t happen. There were a few smaller trout that were rising for size 24 midges but nothing big. Overall, this trip was totally worth the hour drive. Now that I live a bit closer to the creek, I am looking forward to mastering it.

A lot of information about the creek isn’t updated. But to all of you who didn’t already know, the parking access is free. No $4 fee is required anymore.