Keep Calm and Fly Fish

Putah Creek Beast

Despite feeling a little sick, I took advantage of the overcast weather conditions and set out for Putah Creek. The flows are currently dropping and were at 270 CFS when I last checked. Although I was more curious about how the creek looked and fished at these flows, I was pleasantly surprised when I finally hooked and landed my first Putah Creek beastie!

Low-light, cold water, and lowered flows; it was feeding time on Putah Creek. The fish were very aggressive and chased my Hero Sculpin in nearly every access spot. Although I didn’t get very many sticks, I was able to land two this trip while losing only one. These bows are experts at throwing hooks. Most of the fish in the creek are between 8” – 14” which might have played a factor in them not sticking. I was using a size 4 hook which might have been too big for these guys. I’ll try tying my streamers with a smaller hook to see if it makes a difference.

Average Putah Creek Bow

I currently know four spots that hold big fish. How do I know that there are big fish in these particular spots? Well I’ve either seen them, caught them, or hooked them on a consistent basis. As a matter of fact I’ve even named them because I’m pretty sure I’m encountering the same fish. Today I finally caught Bucky.

Bucky lives in a deep run/pool. I’ve had him follow my streamer once before only to have him see me and refuse. After that encounter, I threw several different presentations to try and entice him but he was spooked and I moved on.

Today I found him in the faster water towards the head of the rapids. Not expecting that I’d find him there, my line suddenly tightened. I knew I had hooked him. His dark red sides flashed as he raced upstream into the deeper water. There was no way I was going to land him in the faster water so I had to carefully maneuver around the fallen branches, blackberry thorns, and slippery rocks all while keeping a tight line. Once I made my way to the slower water, I fought Bucky for a few more runs and finally netted him. After taking a few pictures, I let Bucky recover and swim free hoping to one day catch him again.

Till Next Time Bucky

I also caught Haley for a second time but she threw the hook seconds after. One day Haley, one day…

There is truly something special about these Putah Creek bows. Their unique morphology sets them apart from any other wild rainbows I’ve caught in California.

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.

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