Return to Green River Feb. 13th

 This trip took place on Friday, February 13^th. Although my buddies bailed on me, it was way too great of a sunny winter day to waste indoors. Instead I decided to head to Green River (Putah creek West) and try for some of their trophy rainbows.

As you might recall, the last time I went out there with Mark from Northern California Trout we got the ol skunk but I swore to figure out the combination to this creek. I can honestly say I gave it a great effort.

right hand view

in front of me

I arrived at around 9am and the banks of the green were already littered with fly fisherman. I went to my first spot. This spot is close to the dam which I figure would attract more fish. It looks easy to fish since the water kind of bottlenecks in one area and then flows through.  I threw a few flies and also got some caught in the bushes.

left hand view and dam

 If you didn’t know, Putah creek is the type of place where you are forced to improve your roll casts.

Left hand view

right hand view

A bit later I went to the second spot of the day. The time I was here with Mark, we met a guy that had a specific way of fishing one hole that is pretty deep, wide and slow. He fished it like you would fish a regular bobber: about 3 feet of leader underneath the strike indicator and wait for a bite. Unfortunately for me, this didn’t work.

In front of me

The Riffle

Spot number 3 was also a familiar spot with a great looking riffle. Last time I was here I cast at this area and had no luck. Yet the spot looks so fishy, I figured I would try it again. So I cast various flies at the riffle and let them drift in different directions with no takers. At one point I pulled out a mosquito pattern that I picked up at a fly shop and tossed it out under an indicator. Even though this fly was a dry fly, after hitting the fast paced water, it went under.  A few casts later I felt something and so I set my hook and sure enough I had a fish on my 2 lb tippet! I pulled him in and as I reached for my net, snap! He broke that 2 lb tippet and then he was gone. 

Even though I lost the fish, It was great having the sensation of a putah creek trout on the end of my line. Aside from that it was a gorgeous mid-winters day in California and I was out at the fishing hole during the week. Life was good. The perfect end to the Day was a burger and beer at Plainfield Station. 

As I have said before, Every fishing hole is like a lock and your job as a fisherman is to figure out the combination. Last time I was here I failed, this time I didn’t land the fish but I inched closer by finding a fly they would take.  I’m getting closer to cracking the code and when I do, it will be glorious!

Total Fish: 0

Winter day in California

B-day Fishing

The day before my birthday I decided to make a little fly fishing trip out to “Central” putah creek in Davis. I had originally planned to take a bigger trip out to Western Putah in search of some trophy rainbows but ended up waking up too late.

In the past I haven’t taken pictures of this fishing hole that once graced me with my first largemouth bass on the fly so I decided to snap some on this day.

My first stop was this hole which might look great but is actually only about 1-2 ft deep and teeming with pikeminnows.  I threw a couple of flies but due to the low hanging tree branches and tight casting I decided to move to the next hole.

This next hole is the big producer for me. Here a black wooley bugger gets the job done all summer long. Now I’m not sure if it was because  the water was cold or my inexperience (or a combination of both) but on this specific day the fish were scarce. I didn’t get a single fish to take my offerings. I only saw one bass in the water; I usually see them following my flies, but not on this day. 

My final stop was this third hole. This hole usually produces when others don’t and although I did see a few more fish out here they were not interested in what I threw in their direction. Around this point I started getting hungry so I split. 

Well, it’s always good to practice my fly cast. Big news coming soon but that’s it for now!

Total fish: 0

First Fruits of Fall

I had half the day off so I decided to hit up Central Putah south of the City of Davis. I need a little practice on the fly rod so I armed myself with nothing but Excalibur. This was my first fall trip and even though the nights are getting cooler, the summer bass patterns still seem to be in play.

There are three different spots on putah that I fish. “Western Putah” is what I call the area next to the dam up through the city of winters. After that there is a stretch that runs in Davis and that is what I call “Central Putah.” Then there is a third stretch in the Davis Wildlife area that I call “Eastern Putah.”

Anyway, I made my way out to central Putah and started off with a San Juan Worm under a strike indicator. At one point something hit but it wasn’t a takedown. After that I went with what is proven to work there, the black wooley bugger, Sure enough after a few casts I drew first blood with a small largie.

After that fish I decided to try some other flies including a sparkly worm (don’t know the actual name, lol) that I had, some streamers, a large white popper, a royal humpy, a lt Cahill, etc.


What finally ended up working was an orange panfish popper I had. For whatever reason they didn’t seem to like it much after that. In fact, the later it got the less they seemed to be feeding.

All in all it was a quick outing, two fish caught on the fly and released to grow. No complaints here. I know this is still summer-like fishing and I’m looking forward to seeing what fall time has to offer.

Total Fish: 2 Largemouth bass

Sometimes it’s Destiny

I had a camping trip set up with a couple of buddies this past weekend.  We were all set to go and then one of the buddies was told he had to work late which ended the hopes of a camping trip. I felt pretty down about that considering we were supposed to head to Lake Camanche and try our hand at some trout, bass and catfish.  I was especially looking forward to trying to catch some Largemouth bass on the fly rod. But alas, it didn’t happen. We were supposed to head out later in the day on Saturday, around 4 so I waited until 4, got the news that we weren’t going, grabbed excalibur and then went to the fishing hole. 

For that day, the fishing hole was Putah creek Central as I will call it because there are three different areas of putah that I fish; West putah (tail water of Berryessa all the way to Lake Solano) Central putah (Davis city limits) and East Putah which is located in the Davis Wildlife area and is headed to the Delta). 

I arrived at Putah at around 5:00. I hit spot #1 and tied on old faithful (or fairly new faithful) the royal humpy in an orange color. I tossed a few with no bites. It was also fairly tight casting so I moved on after a while. Then I went to spot #2, where I have seen a lot of bluegills in the past as well as some pikeminnows and largemouths. I cast a few and could see the panfish coming up, checking the RH out and swimming away. For whatever reason they did not enjoy the humpy. I went a few feet down and the same thing happened.

The last spot was a spot on a little dam or concrete barrier thing that funnels the water on that spot of the creek. The funny thing about this spot on the creek is that I have fished it before and didn’t catch anything.  I fished it with a black wooley in the past but had no luck. This time I tried the RH but no fish were interested.  After a while I looked at it and just pictured that if any bass were there, they were waiting for an easy meal outside of the swift current. I thought the bass might enjoy a streamer but when I went into my fly box my eye landed on a bead headed black wooley bugger. I don’t know why, it just made sense. So even though I had fished WB’s here in this exact spot before and caught nothing, I went for it. A few feet away from me there was a snag that made me think I had caught a fish a couple of times. At about the 10^th cast I stripped my line and thought I had a snag, but then it moved! I pulled in a little smallmouth bass which I had never caught at this creek before. Unfortunately I didn’t get any pictures of this fishing spot but its and interesting one. Its about 2 feet across at the spot where I was standing and casting and maybe about 2.5 feet across as it gets closer to shore. Fun little place to fish but you lose your balance at all and you’re wet! 

About 4 casts later I felt another tug and I got down on one knee to pull this fish in. I could tell it was a little bit bigger and had more fight. When I finally got him in, I realized that this sucker was a largemouth bass! I was very excited about this milestone which wasn’t big but enough to scratch the Largemouth off of my list. A few casts later I got into a second largemouth, this one a bit smaller. I was pretty happy to have figured out the key to catching fish here. 

Now, do you remember the snag I was telling you about earlier? Well I fell victim to that snag and I lost the only all black beaded wooley bugger I had. I looked in my box and I tied on a beaded thin mint but no takers. Then I tied on a black streamer and still no takers. I had a black wooley with red flakes in it and I figured that was the closest thing but unfortunately they showed no interest in that either. After a while I called it a day and added a mental note to pick up a few beaded black wooleybuggers for my next trip out there. As it turns out, I didn’t have to go all the way to Camanche to catch a bass on the fly, I did it 20 minutes from my door step. 

With this day I completed one of my 2014 goals, to catch a largemouth AND a smallmouth on the fly! Now its time to catch some larger buckets and smallies. I look forward to that feat!

Total Fish: 1 Smallmouth bass + 2 Largemouth bass = 3 fish

OBN and USAL

I have not had a pleasant experience with what is called the “Outdoor Blogger Network.”  For whatever reason both times I have attempted to promote some of my posts, it hasn’t worked.  I was able to create a profile the first time but that was all. I remember waiting for them to promote my post and nothing.

This time around I updated my profile and added myself to the directory and figured maybe that is what I was doing wrong. I was wrong. I added myself to the directory, checked and realized I was nowhere to be found in the directory. 

I tried once again to promote my posts but this time I posted two of them and for whatever reason it just doesn’t happen! I have checked everyday since and nothing. 

Well, considering that it doesn’t seem to work for me, I removed the badge and am leaving this network that shows no evidence of me ever having been there! 

If you have any ideas about what is going on, let me know. Otherwise, I’m perfectly okay with not being part of this network.  Either way, I have all of you and folks that  find my blog through the Kienes  board and The Fish sniffer. 

As for fishing, I haven’t been in a while. With the recent storms and cloudy weather, I’m a bit hesitant to even go out and risk getting rained out. It is supposed to clear up next week so next Wednesday I might try to make my way out to Putah, Boss pond or Butte Pond. I guess I will let you guys know.

 I also have the (now) yearly  trip to Usal  trip with my Chico buddies coming and I am pretty excited about that! If any of you have any tips on crabbing from the beach or surf fishing, please let me know!

That’s it for me. Get your fish on, folks!!

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. 

Just Another Skunk Tale

When I got back from Washington I had two extra days to relax and unwind. So in other words, I went fishing!

Monday Ol’ Pops and I got some gear together and headed to the Sac River in Princeton. Princeton is a small town with about 400 people living in it. There is one store in the entire town and that’s where we picked up some supplies. When we arrived at the fishing hole I began to think about the fact that I hadn’t been fishing there since I was around 6 or 7; that means 23-24 years! Nonetheless the fishing hole looked exactly how I remembered it! 

The Sac at Princeton is a small stretch of river and a sweet looking river bend. In the past my uncles would really nail the blue gills at that river bend. And of course, stripers were all throughout the main river. But in December of 2013 the river is much different. There were tons of salmon rolling all over the place but absolutely nothing biting our lines. This was beyond getting skunked because we didn’t even get bites! I even tried for some blue gills but nothing. Oh well, It was still fun visiting this old fishing hole. Maybe I will be back in another 23 years!!

I had planned to go fishing with my buddy Russell but unfortunately the winds were at 25+ MPH. Russell ended up cancelling so I sat on the couch and put on a movie. After about 30 minutes I figured I may as well go see what is going on at the davis Stretch of Putah creek. 

Int the past, putah has produced quite a few bluegills , pikeminnows and some small bass. I have also caught a few larger bass including a 5lber, but that was a long time ago. And, those were all during warmer months. I decided to take my fly rod out and brave the wind.  I was determined to walk further than I ever have before, looking for pools with fish and although I cast up and down that creek, there were no fish to be had. I tried all the pools and ended up hiking until the creek got very narrow and then I figured it was time to go back. 

The weather is getting colder, the days are shorter and now I believe its safe to say that the times are changing. Time to hope for some more rain and try to get into some chrome and some sturgeon!

Updates: Labor Day Weekend

September 1st - My Parents went camping and so i joined them for a day. Since the last time that i fished black butte I didn't even get a bite, I wasn't expecting much action. i set up my little Zebco Genesis with a slip sinker aand floated my worm. within a few minutes I had a small largemouth on the line. After getting him off of my line I released him to grow another day. After that I was able to hook into three more small catfish. Even though nothing was worth keeping, it felt good to catch these fish, the most i have caught in Black butte in one day. In other words, at least I didn't get skunked!!

September 2nd - The very next day I was out on the water again, different waters, of course. I fished Putah for Largemouth and sure enough I caught a small one. What is with all the small bass? I need to hook into a 5+ pounder here pretty soon!

Thanks to my lovely wife for snapping the picture.

September 3rd- (Taking advantage of the three day weekend) I fished South Lake Tahoe for the first time ever. We were only there for two days and my wife wanted me to do less fishing and spend more time with her. She did however let me fish a bit so I found the nearest shore line, bought a carton of worms and hit the water. Unfortunately, not even a bite. It didn't seem like the best place to fish the lake, but like i said, i was limited in time. Next time, I will have to find a place where a creek is feeding into a lake. I'm sure I will find fish there. I was also able to fish the American river as it went through the mountains for about a half hour. Didn't catch anything, but lovely country nonetheless!

Secret's out!

Easter weekend was a great fishing weekend. We went into the striper run at full force, expecting limits and nothing less. Unfortunately the striper weren’t having it! In fact, many anglers that were around us were saying the same thing but we all decided that within the next week the striper count should pick up.

Turns out our “secret” fishing hole isn’t a secret at all! We have what we thought to be a secret fishing hole out on the sac in Colusa. All last summer and winter, we hit that hole and rarely would we see anybody out there. All of a sudden at the beginning of the year we started seeing more and more people coming to ask us if we had caught any out there. This weekend we had four different anglers come out to check on the spot! Secret’s out!

Anyway, we used Anchovies and sardines with sardine pro-cure oil. There were bites but nothing major. While my dad was out of commission, his line got a bite, I ran over to get his pole, set the hook and brought up what I imagined would be a nice stripe! Turns out it was just this fat little 13 in channel cat which we ended up giving out to a group of anglers who were next to us and hadn’t caught anything. Wouldn’t you know it as soon as we left, they moved over to our spot!

Sunday was a good fishing day! After church we thought we might as well chase some bass in West Sacramento. Instead we ended up trying Putah Creek which some fols were recently telling me held a good amount of bass. Turns out they were right! There were a lot of bass anglers out that day and we ended up catching these two monsters! Pops caught his 17.5 in 3 ½ lber on a Yum Rubber Crawdad. I caught my 20 in. 5 lber on a wacky style rigged lucky strike black rubber worm.

Which brings me to my question of the day… Some guy in a discussion board, made a snide remark about me keeping this female largemouth. I thought to myself, “I didn’t know I wasn’t supposed to?”  What’s the etiquette when it comes to female bass?  You see, I don’t know how to tell the difference between the two. My fat bass ended up being fat with eggs! I felt bad because I feel like I deprived that creek of future generations. Then at the same time, I consider myself a hunter/gatherer and everything we catch, we keep because we eat it! We’re not the catch and release type unless they are below size limit or prohibited for any other reason.

Well anyways, Seasoned anglers, have grace on me if I broke some sort of etiquette or rule, but please let me know if I did something wrong!? Newbies, I’ll let you know what the answer is once I get it!