The Mighty Green!

A Great day of fishing but a bad day of catching! I enjoyed every minute of the trip but we didnt see many fish, especially not at the end of our lines. Either way, I had a blast!

I scouted Putah two weekends with the hopes of fishing it soon. I asked Mark (from Northern California Trout) a few days ago if he was willing to fish it with me and he agreed. We met up in Woodland and were on the road by 830. We arrived at our first fishing spot in Putah at around 915. After we waded up we headed out to Spot #1 (spots are actually labeled this way). The first thing we noticed was how deceiving the bank was. What appeared to be sand was a soft yet thick mud that you quickly sank into as soon as you stepped on it.

At the riffle

As you can see in the video, Spot #1 seemed very promising and yet let us down. We were nymphing under indicators with barbless (pinched down) hooks on our flies. Even though It was a great riffle and a nice swift current, there were no fish to be found. At one point i was so caught up in just casting, drifting and waiting that I completely lost track of time. Honestly, I was just having a great time standing in knee high water, listening to the water run, hoping for a bite. 

Meanwhile Rob, a nice guy who we had met earlier, got into one fish at about 16". That's when we knew it was time to move to the next fishing hole and give that one a try. 

Great Scenery at Putah

The second hole (hole #3)  also had a nice riffle and looked very promising. The issue with it, and most other spots at Putah, is that casting area is tight. One bad cast and you end up picking your line out of the bushes (which happened to me twice). However, this was a good problem to have because it forced me to adapt. Prior to this trip I had only done a regular back cast but Putah forced me to practice my roll casts and also casting over my left shoulder. By the end of the trip I was so much better at casting. 

Mark wrapping up for the day

Well, even though we didnt get into any fish, I was able to bust out my brand new, unused waders, boots and vest that I got in December. That plus I was able to hang out with Mark who is always a good time to hang out with. 

Well, even though we left putah skunked, I felt I learned a lot. I don't ever want to leave a fishing hole  where I didn't at least learn. As for Putah, I have a feeling I will be returning quite often to figure this creek out. Every waterway has a combination and I WILL figure this one out! And when I do, Mark will have to make his way back so we can get our revenge on this creek.