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

Late Fall Putah Creek Report

Hey everyone heres my report for Putah Creek 9/16 > on to end of October.  I fished much of the creek less visited most of the year. Flows where very low but if you know where to look you can find water rarely fished due to much higher flows through out the year and that made for some very interesting and productive fishing. Also I have started finding some really great fish- 4 or 5 weeks ago I hooked and landed two fish on a wd-40 and two-bit hooker; also dont forget to offer up some smaller flys if nothing else is working-- its suprising how fast you can get takes after fishing a particular run with the usual fly and get stumped until you offer a #20 or #22 and get slammed and caught off-guard with a fish you never got a chance to even get your eyes on.  Its been a month or more since ive posted a Putah Report and I going on my best memory but she has still producing even with the rain and low flows she produces good fish counts it just takes time.

The one thing I belive is overlooked far too often is Leader Construction. What I mean about that is mainly the distance between the indi to weight- if thats wrong, all bets are off it doesn't matter if you have the right flys or not your going to miss the mark by not seeing the take if your too long or in the case of too short you wont get a take on a fish because the fly is not on the bottom .

If this doesnt make sense don't worry keep fishing and thinking about why you're not catching the fish you see and hear of others doing. Once you wrap your head around some of this it starts happening pretty fast you'll be on the water and hook and land fish only heard of in your dreams out there. But dont take my word for it!  Spend more time fishing or better yet give me a call and book a date for this month, the Yuba this Winter, or Putah again starting in March.

Recomended Flys
Flashback PT #18 ,16 ,14
Soft Hackles- I like the emerging ones I've done very well with them
Mayfly patterns
Flashback wd/40s #18/20

Fish on! Richard Loft, 707-294-4738, www.napavalleyflyguides.com.

Volunteer Opportunity on Putah Creek! Oct. 29 & Nov. 6

Hi everyone so in case you havent noticed the flows have dropped to 50cfs for the annanual canal cleanout between Winters and Putah Creek. Also !  We are in need of some help on Putah Creek . Steve Karr the acting president of Putah Creek Trout is asking for at least 20 volunteers to help us save this Precious River in need.  I have crossposted this from The Putah Creek Forum hoping some of you can help us out , The big Day is 10/29/2016 . So please take a minute to read the post and register to help 

Thanks 

Richard 

All: In early March this year a heavy rain storm cell sat over the badly burned Cold Canyon/Wildhorse Canyon watershed for several hours, dumping inches of rain onto the steep canyon slopes, and heavily eroding the burned ground. The result was a sudden high pulse of mud and water roaring down Cold Canyon into the creek; within a few hours the creek flow jumped from 100 cfs to 800 cfs before returning to 100 cfs. This pulse of tons of silt flowed down the Interdam reach down to Lake Solano, deposited into new mud islands and deltas as far down as fishing access 4. Much of the silt was mobilized by the high agricultural flows, but large submerged mud bars are becoming visible as the creek level drops.

The major spawning bed at Deer Sign was buried under several inches of silt at a critical time for the eggs and alevins present in the gravel. We believe much of the 2016 spawn cohort was killed by the siltation of the beds. A recent survey of the adjacent side channel turned up "0" young trout-this had never happened in surveys from previous years. Deer Sign spawning bed is in horrible condition right now and the new spawning season is just around the corner. It is critical for the health of our fishery that we remove silt and weeds from the spawning bed at Deer sign and also at the resort. This is a call for all hands to volunteer to prevent another disastrous spawn.

The end of this month, on October 29, and then during the following weekend on November 6, we are holding work days to clean the gravel spawning beds of silt and weeds at both sites (October 29) followed by gravel supplementation at one site (November 6). We need at least 20 volunteers for the 29th and at least 60 for the gravel augmentation Sign up for the 29th bed cleaning at the link below

If not showing, click on the “Spawning Bed” tab to get to the spreadsheet

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/13eqJmRxO66MDmgi2Ysrkx4edS61gWhqjKdi-HmdzmbU/edit?usp=sharing

Signup for the November 6 gravel augmentation through our PCT Facebook link, using the “Going” Button; or email or call Steve Karr directly):

https://www.facebook.com/events/170214676760431/

SK60@putahcreektrout.org

530-400-1171

Napa Valley Fly Fishing Guide - Richard Loft: Putah Report 9/15/16

Napa Valley Fly Fishing Guide - Richard Loft: Putah Report 9/15/16: Hey Everyone- Putah is continuing to fish really well, however it is getting a lot of pressure so consider being a little extra quiet;...

Putah Report 9/15/16

Hey Everyone- Putah is continuing to fish really well, however it is getting a lot of pressure so consider being a little extra quiet; and fish spots others don't bother fishing due to heavy concentrations of boulders that make drifts difficult. You can always go to a hopper dropper and fish those runs being overlooked by most. Also consider bringing a second rod for nymphing. I have been doing very well with a standard nymphing rig with a #16 or #18 top fly ( pheasant tail ) or ( caddis ) just any basic fly seems to be working, and your favorite midge below. Remember to mend often and set often I landed a nice 15 or 16in bow yesterday on just a twich of my indicator. 

 Last week produced lot of fish in the 12 to 15 inch range so fish on and if you see me on the river and are having a hard time finding a decent section to fish just ask if you can jump in and fish I try to remember to share the river when I can as few people get to fish as much as me and I understand other peoples time on the river may be very limited so just ask if you see me fishing a slot I will do my best to share. It  also forces me to fish runs I normally overlook. This time of year you never know what you will stumble across fishing obscure runs seldom fished.......? Just saying. :)  

Thanks for reading and hope to meet some of you on the river 

Richard Loft--over & out
www.napavalleyflyguides.com
napavalleyflyguides@gmail.com
707-294-4738

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3 Attachments

Here Come the Big Fish!

Hi Everyone heres my report for 8/30/2016

 I am going to make this a short report
Fishing activity has been steadily getting better. Flows are starting to drop and I have spent most of the summer fishing and guiding the high flows of summer. Yesterday was an average day of fishing with fish hitting the usual midges and pheasant tails- they have been preforming well so I stick with em most days. Well as day turned to night there was a really good Blue Wing Olive hatch and i was not getting any action until I loaded a tiny midge and first or maybe 2nd drift --a stupid big fish is on line then takes some air and both me and my fishing buddy Patrick look at each other and say OMG thats a big fish. My guess 20in  Unfortunately 4 minutes or so later it was gone. I got my flys back so 20 minutes later I got my chance again with this 16 incher . I normally don't use super small flies they're just a little to small for my eyes but well worth the extra effort so its worth having them around. Did you put off fishing this summer? It's time to get in there-- I'm booking September & October so give me a call! Richard Loft, 707-294-4738; napavalleyflyguides@gmail.com or www.napavalleyflyguides.com

Volunteer Opportunity!

Hey everyone ; Just a little Reminder (Saturday September 17th is California Coastal Cleanup ) and we could use your help cleaning up our local wild fishery Putah Creek. I took the liberty of cutting and pasting the email I got from Steve Karr President of PCT ; Putah Creek Trout . And its a great way to meet other local fishermen and help the creek at the same time to. I do believe we will have a lunch at one of the accesses on the creek afterwards so show up and if your going to be on the creek  might as well bring your waders and rod and make a day of it

All: the annual clean up day for the interdam reach is Saturday September 17, 9:00 AM to 12 Noon. We need at least 20 volunteers to cover the Yolo side of the creek from Access #5 to Monticello Dam. Sign ups are at the link below. Bags, buckets, vinyl gloves provided. Bring your water bottle; refills provided. Waders for Access 5. Cold lunch and drinks provided at Access 3 at noon (bring your own alcoholic libations).

This is our first fall event for 2016 and a great opportunity to give back to the Creek. We remove  hundreds of pounds of garbage and recovered recyclable goods each year. This year we are joined in sponsorship by Fly Fishers of Davis and participation by regional Fly Clubs. 

Please mark your calendars and plan to join us.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1jh-UOrgCfhqOEjgqh2TWaoRd9tS7m3SNXn2n4FBQhPI/edit?usp=sharing

SK60@putahcreektrout.org

www.putahcreektrout.org