NAPA VALLEY FLY GUIDES

                                                             Winter Report 2025

Putah Creek February Report; 2/8/2025

Flows; 4.438, Falling 11cfs hr  

Hi everyone I visited Putah Creek yesterday and walked the bridge to get a better view and see what the river looked like

Well it looks very high just what you would expect 5000 cfs would look like 

Knowing Putah Like I do i will start my summer now getting to know it as flows drop, In my opinion that's what it take to really know the Creek fishing it at all flows good or bad so when flows do hit a wadable level im there and ready 

Some of the best days i have had where shere luck and that only happens by fishing a lot 

Please feel free to contact me for available dates 

Thanks again 

Richard and Lacey

707-294-4738

email 

napavalleyflyguides@gmail.com

                                                                Napa Valley Fly Guides

                                                                 Winter Report

                                 

                                                        December report, Monday 12/11/23

Flows; 67cfs.

Fished from 2;00pm to 5;30

I Fished a favorite spot on Putah Creek with a friend who needed a day to think about things and get a better perspective on life and I can't think of a better place to do just that. 

After getting geared up we hiked in and got to doing some preliminary casting 

technique and gear used;

Rod; Echo CarbonXL, 10ft 4wt  

Reel Sage ESN 

Fly's ; Im not sure I but think I used a #14 Tungsten euro fly on top

Bottom fly, #16 Tungsten euro fly

after a 45min lesson I grabbed my Sage DS2 9ft 5wt

I was fishing right next to him with a 8mm, Egg pattern with a single #20 black Zibra midge below it. So what ever I hooked took off across the river like a bullet and was gone before I could do much of anything other than say  Oh Wow to myself.

Anyway that happened again about 15 or 20 minutes later with the fish taking about 20 feet of line so fast it made both our heads spin again At least this time I got a jump and splash as it came unbuttoned Both times this fish schooled me fast and Furious and was gone

we then both worked our way up river and enjoyed the beautiful weather and scenery, Hooking one more fish to end the day. All in all A really nice day on the Creek

For Booking information please call 

Richard                                                 Holiday Gift certificates available Now!!!

@ (707) 294-4738

Napavalleyflyguides@gmail.com

  

Fall 2023 Sept report and Farewell to my heart and soul Rusty

 Hey everyone, I lost Rusty July14th after 14 years of being my best friend. He past in my arms here at home with Sarah and Tracie here to witness his passing, Valerie from In Loving Arms did what I could not have done, Still a sad Day , I hope to see you again my love !

 

 Here is my latest fishing report Sept 11th Flows 335cfs weather is still a little warm 

Water temp 56deg

trail to under the bridge is closed until I get in there and open it up so I am still fishing access 4 access 5 is getting a little skinny for my taste 

4 is producing some fish but I am looking forward to October/Nov when flows drop a little more and I can start fishing my other personal favorite runs 

I am starting to fill my calendar but feel free to call me with any Date requests and I will do my best to get you on the water 

Richard 

(707) 294-4738

napavalleyflyguides@gmail.com

 Monday August 8th 2022

  PM Fishing Report; Flows are fluctuating between 450- 480 cfs 

Hello and thanks for visiting my report. I got a late start late yesterday reaching the Creek about 6;00 or 6;30 spent the first hour above the bridge with no luck. I then moved down river and focused on a section just under the bridge with no indicator simply high sticking with a RS2 on top and a Soft Hackle below.

Things must have been just right because I hooked and landed 4 or 5 fish in 30 minutes with the last one breaking my leader effectively ending my day as it was getting dark and I left my readers in the car

the last fish was only 14. or 15 inches but looked really nice as it did a few jumps before breaking me off

All in All a really good time considering Putah Creek can really be a difficult fishery 

Please feel free to call me if you want to book a trip 

Thanks again and have an awesome Fall 

Richard and Rusty

Napa Valley Fly Guides 

(707)294-4738

                                                                Napa valley Fly Guides

Hey Everyone I just wanted to pass along a nice little joke from Geoff Fernald just before his passing in June of  2015

A man get stopped by a game warden with his basket full of fish. 

Warden: do you have a permit for all these fish? 
Man: no sir. These are all my pet fish. 
Warden: your pet fish? How's that? 
Man: well, every night I take all my pet fish for a walk to the lake, I let them swim for about half hour and then I whistle and they all come back and jump in my basket and we go home. We do this every night. 
Warden: Well that's just a crock of lies!! 
Man: here I'll show you... (Releases the fish in the lake) 
Warden: well this I got to see!! 
5 minutes later... 
Warden: well?? 
Man: what? 
Warden: the fish!! Where's your pet fish?? 
Man: what fish??

Geoff was more than a Father figure his support and advice helped me build my confidence and where invaluable, He also made it possible to start Napa valley Fly Guides by building my website if HTML code not commonly used but it is still preforming well. 

Thank you Geoff

Richard and Rusty

and of course Tia too

PreFall Report for Putah Creek

        8/31/21                                          Napa valley Fly Guides report.                                     

                                                                  August/September 2021

Hey everyone 

Here's what I see happening as of the last thirty days

Summer is starting to wind down and we are entering one of the more productive times of year so I am keeping a close eye on flows and keep my gear packed and have fishing the creek more this last 30 days

Fishing has been good on days when flows are below 500cfs and are still holding between 526, and 450 cfs so its a wait and watch game for now, but it will blow up soon, The fishing and the crowds. 

Fly Selection: 

Fly selection seems less imporntant as I have gotten better at my presentation and just being slow and carful not to kick submerged rocks or carelessly tapping my wading staff on rocks as I approach a area I am about to fish Remember trout have a lateral line that can pick up even small vibrations you might think are not picked up by fish, They are so Slow and Subtle is the key to sneaking up on any run. 

 So keep me in mind if you looking to get on Putah Creek to hunt for some Bows on Putah Creek

Thanks for reading

Richard Loft

(707) 294-4738

or email me @ napavalleyflyguides@gmail.com for available days;

 

                                               

                                                              Napa Valley Fly Guides 

                                                                                                                       

 Hi and welcome to my Putah Creek report Clients and myself have been seeing some really brightly colored fish with that unusually bright chrome look with nice size this early in the season. The numbers are not what I would hope for but the trout I'm getting to net with clients are really nice and willing to play ball if the presentation is good and the correct fly is presented. 

As I stated in my previous report, try stripping in extra line before executing your mend. It makes sense to remove as much line as possible from the water before you start mending. A lot of the time I get better results by stripping in a little and then I don't need to mend nearly as aggressively to achieve the same results.

There's a lot more going on than you might think: I suspect even I have things I have yet to fully understand on how to get a perfect drift. I've come to understand much of this by simply standing at a riffle and throwing cast after cast over and over again thinking about what is happening and how to make a better drift. Is my leader to short or long? Is the fly ahead or behind the indicator? Is my line causing drag? Sometimes I think I must be a little mad to have spent so much time fishing the same creek, but it results in hooking up regularly on this very challenging technical creek. 

I've spent a lot of time fishing Putah but I don't claim to know it all. The floods change the topography of the river so what worked on a specific riffle one season is so different the next it is hard to put a finger on it. Certain areas like #5 are completely different this year.

Flows will continue to rise this spring, and the creek will continue to fish better as we move towards summer, but I honestly don't really enjoy the high flows that come with July, August and September. Flows over 470 cfs gets to be a bit much, but I still fish and guide, I just prefer a little less flow plus I like to fish from the back side and wading can get dicey with flows over 500cfs.

Guide fly tip: For the next few weeks try using  #14 San Juan Worm or any Tungsten bead head flys to get down as quickly as possible and have brought me fish to net as of late.

Please feel free to call for available dates 

April,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,22,23,24,25,26,28,29,30

Thank you

Richard Loft 

(707)294-4738

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