November, 2016

Hi Everyone Merry Christmas.  Here's my Holiday Putah Creek report for November, 2016. 
Winter has finally arrived and with it flows on Putah Creek have stabilized at 80 cfs and fishing is still good. I teach an "Introduction to Fly Fishing" a couple times a year for Napa Parks and recreation and I took one of my students out to the creek and we found some fish-- one was well over 20' on a # 20  Zibra midge thanks to Lauries quick skills with the camera we got some pics And a video. We were fishing the Staircase and really working it for well over 2 hours with no action and I was really giving it the once over trying everything I could to garner a hit: More weight / Less weight, Longer leader/shorter leader. Changing flys - Soft hackles, Pheasant Tails, Midges and so on . I moved a bit then went back. I know theres fish in there whats going on ??? Hmm. My guess is this section gets pounded and maybe these fish are just not willing to take anything that does't look absolutely perfect. So I try a blk #20 with 6X and my indi didn't make it 10 ft and I see my indi shoot off to the side then go upstreem 2 or 3 ft well that was a fish and I missed the set so I reset my drift and I got a second chance and yes I got the set in time. This all happened in November and I continue to find fish when I put forth the effort . 

I would like to mention I have stopped guiding on Putah for the season, and am now guiding on the Lower Yuba in Marysville with great results. I try to move the guided trips over to the Yuba from Dec 1-March 1, to give Putah Creek a break as it is in full spawn mode and the fish are trying to spawn . So for now its the Yuba and as always it can still be hit and miss when fishing our local waters they dont get stocked and thats fishing- your never guaranteed a huge fish but they're in the system and can be found if you put in the time and are armed with a good understanding of how to build a leader set for the riffle you are fishing at that time. Obviously there are some other things involved i.e. fly selection, a good drift is always very important and a bit of luck never hurts. 

So if you want to get out and do some Winter fishing, or give a Gift Certificate to someone special, drop me a line. Richard Loft, Napa Valley Fly Guides, 707-294-4738; www.napavalleyflyguides.com