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Home › Waters › California › Putah Creek
Creek · Northern California in Yolo and Solano counties, running east from Lake Berryessa and Monticello Dam through the Putah Creek canyon past Winters toward the Yolo Bypass · California

Putah Creek Fishing Guides

A cold, clear canyon creek below Monticello Dam that grows surprisingly large wild rainbows within an hour of Sacramento, fished on tight quarters and light tippet.

A drift boat running a riffle between mossy banks in the Pacific Northwest
Gauge location. Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Guides on the Putah Creek

Claimed profiles take booking requests. Unclaimed profiles are built from public records so the river is never empty; the guide can claim or remove one any time.

About the Putah Creek

Putah Creek is the closest thing the Sacramento Valley has to a year-round wild trout stream, and it exists because Monticello Dam releases cold water out of the bottom of Lake Berryessa into a shaded canyon. The three miles of Interdam reach and the water down through the Putah Creek Wildlife Area hold wild rainbows that grow to sizes nobody expects from a creek this small, and it does it an hour from a metropolitan area of two million people.

The fishing is technical and the water is small. This is a creek of tight brush, overhanging oak and willow, deep green slots and long clear glides where a trout can inspect a fly for a long time. Short accurate casts matter more than distance. Anglers do well with small nymphs under an indicator and with midge and baetis patterns during hatches, and the creek fishes best on overcast days when the canyon shade lasts. Fish in the four to six pound range are caught here every season, which is the reason the parking areas fill on weekends.

Flows are the whole story. Releases from Monticello Dam are set by water managers rather than by weather, and they can jump from a wadeable trickle to genuinely dangerous within a day during irrigation deliveries or flood operations. This gauge sits below the dam near Winters and reports discharge and stage but no water temperature. Check it the morning of every trip without exception, and treat a rising number as a reason to stay out of the channel. Regulations on the upper creek are restrictive and change, with barbless hooks and artificial lures required through the wild trout water and seasonal closures in place.

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Read the full license

Version 1.0, dated 6 September 2026. Applies to every photograph submitted to GuidedFloats through the contact form, a species page, or the community board.

1. What you give us

By ticking the box on the form you grant Guided Floats, LLC (“GuidedFloats”, “we”) a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free license to store, copy, resize, crop and display your photograph on guidedfloats.com, in GuidedFloats’ own social media accounts and mobile apps, and in material that promotes the site itself, in connection with the fish, water or community feature you sent it in for. The license lasts until you withdraw it (section 4).

You keep the copyright. The license is not exclusive, so you can use the photo anywhere else and license it to anyone else. We will not sell your photo, license it on to anyone else on its own, or use it in paid advertising for a third party.

2. What you confirm

You confirm that you took the photograph yourself (or otherwise own the rights to it), that you have the right to grant this license, and that publishing the photo does not infringe anyone else’s copyright, privacy or other rights.

If any person is recognisable in the photo, you confirm that they have agreed to its being published here, and that a parent or guardian has agreed on behalf of anyone under 18. Please do not send photographs of other people’s catches, screenshots, or pictures copied from other websites or social media.

3. Credit

We print the credit name you give us beside the photo wherever it appears on the site, and record it as the photo’s creator in the page’s structured data. If you leave the credit blank we use the name you gave us on the form. Write “Anonymous” if you prefer no name at all. Your email address, phone number and the exact spot the photo was taken are never published.

4. Withdrawing the license

You can withdraw the license at any time by emailing hello@guidedfloats.com, or by using the contact form, and telling us which photo you mean. We will remove the photo from guidedfloats.com within 7 days of receiving your message and stop using it in anything new. Copies that are already outside our control — search-engine caches, social posts that have already gone out, printed material already produced — may take longer to disappear or may not be recallable, and we are not responsible for those.

5. What we may do

We choose which photos to publish and may decline any submission without giving a reason. We may crop, resize, sharpen or colour-correct a photo for display, and we may remove a photo at any time. We will not alter a photo in a way that misrepresents the fish, the water or you.

6. Your details

We keep your name, email address, the credit name, the water and date you gave us, and the network address the submission came from, with the submission record, as our evidence of this license. We hold that record for as long as the photo is published and for the retention period described in our privacy policy. Location data that your camera or phone embedded in the file is removed before the photo is published.

7. Versions

The version of this license you accepted is stored with your submission and printed with the photo. A later version does not apply to a photo you have already sent unless you agree to it.

Fished this water? Add a photo

Reviewed by hand before it appears. Pick the water, not the spot — we never publish exact locations.

Never published. We use it only if we need to ask about the photo.

Posting to Putah Creek.

JPG, PNG or WebP, up to 12 MB. We resize it and strip the location data out of the file.

The name shown under the photo. Leave blank to stay anonymous.

Reader photo license v1.0 — the short version:

  • You grant Guided Floats, LLC a non-exclusive, royalty-free license to publish, resize and crop your photo on guidedfloats.com and in GuidedFloats’ own social posts and apps. You keep the copyright and can use the photo anywhere else.
  • You confirm that you took the photo yourself, that publishing it does not infringe anyone else’s rights, and that anyone recognisable in it (or a parent or guardian, if they are under 18) is happy for it to appear here.
  • Credit is printed beside the photo wherever it appears on the site, using the credit name you give us. Leave it blank and we use your name; write “Anonymous” for no name. Your email address is never published.
  • Withdrawing is one email to hello@guidedfloats.com naming the photo. It comes off the site within 7 days.
Read the full license

Version 1.0, dated 6 September 2026. Applies to every photograph submitted to GuidedFloats through the contact form, a species page, or the community board.

1. What you give us

By ticking the box on the form you grant Guided Floats, LLC (“GuidedFloats”, “we”) a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free license to store, copy, resize, crop and display your photograph on guidedfloats.com, in GuidedFloats’ own social media accounts and mobile apps, and in material that promotes the site itself, in connection with the fish, water or community feature you sent it in for. The license lasts until you withdraw it (section 4).

You keep the copyright. The license is not exclusive, so you can use the photo anywhere else and license it to anyone else. We will not sell your photo, license it on to anyone else on its own, or use it in paid advertising for a third party.

2. What you confirm

You confirm that you took the photograph yourself (or otherwise own the rights to it), that you have the right to grant this license, and that publishing the photo does not infringe anyone else’s copyright, privacy or other rights.

If any person is recognisable in the photo, you confirm that they have agreed to its being published here, and that a parent or guardian has agreed on behalf of anyone under 18. Please do not send photographs of other people’s catches, screenshots, or pictures copied from other websites or social media.

3. Credit

We print the credit name you give us beside the photo wherever it appears on the site, and record it as the photo’s creator in the page’s structured data. If you leave the credit blank we use the name you gave us on the form. Write “Anonymous” if you prefer no name at all. Your email address, phone number and the exact spot the photo was taken are never published.

4. Withdrawing the license

You can withdraw the license at any time by emailing hello@guidedfloats.com, or by using the contact form, and telling us which photo you mean. We will remove the photo from guidedfloats.com within 7 days of receiving your message and stop using it in anything new. Copies that are already outside our control — search-engine caches, social posts that have already gone out, printed material already produced — may take longer to disappear or may not be recallable, and we are not responsible for those.

5. What we may do

We choose which photos to publish and may decline any submission without giving a reason. We may crop, resize, sharpen or colour-correct a photo for display, and we may remove a photo at any time. We will not alter a photo in a way that misrepresents the fish, the water or you.

6. Your details

We keep your name, email address, the credit name, the water and date you gave us, and the network address the submission came from, with the submission record, as our evidence of this license. We hold that record for as long as the photo is published and for the retention period described in our privacy policy. Location data that your camera or phone embedded in the file is removed before the photo is published.

7. Versions

The version of this license you accepted is stored with your submission and printed with the photo. A later version does not apply to a photo you have already sent unless you agree to it.

Access

Interdam reach below Monticello Dam - the top of the wild trout water, reached from Highway 128.
Highway 128 turnouts through the canyon - numbered roadside pull-offs and steep walk-downs.
Putah Creek Wildlife Area - the main managed access with parking and marked trails.
Putah Diversion Dam - the lower boundary of the trout water.
Winters Putah Creek Nature Park - easy bank access on the lower creek in town.
Lake Solano County Park - still water and the reach just below the diversion.
Russell Ranch and the lower creek near Davis - warmwater bank fishing well downstream.

Seasons

Spring: strong baetis hatches and good fishing before irrigation releases ramp up.
Summer: high, cold, fast releases through the canyon - dangerous wading and limited fishable water.
Fall: releases drop, the creek clears and the best wading and dry-fly fishing of the year arrives.
Winter: low stable flow, technical midge fishing and the fewest anglers on the water.

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Questions

What is the current flow on the Putah Creek?

As of Sep 17, 5:00 am, the USGS gauge PUTAH C NR WINTERS CA reads 441 cfs. Conditions update every 15 minutes.

What species can you catch on the Putah Creek?

Anglers target Brown Trout, Channel Catfish, Largemouth Bass, Rainbow Trout, Sacramento Sucker, Smallmouth Bass on the Putah Creek in California.

Are there fishing guides on the Putah Creek?

GuidedFloats lists 1 guide and outfitters on the Putah Creek. Claimed profiles accept booking requests; unclaimed profiles are built from public records and link to the business.

Where can you access the Putah Creek?

Interdam reach below Monticello Dam - the top of the wild trout water, reached from Highway 128. Highway 128 turnouts through the canyon - numbered roadside pull-offs and steep walk-downs. Putah Creek Wildlife Area - the main managed access with parking and marked trails. Putah Diversion Dam - the lower boundary of the trout water. Winters Putah Creek Nature Park - easy bank access on the lower creek in town. Lake Solano County Park - still water and the reach just below the diversion. Russell Ranch and the lower creek near Davis - warmwater bank fishing well downstream.

When is the best time to fish the Putah Creek?

Spring: strong baetis hatches and good fishing before irrigation releases ramp up. Summer: high, cold, fast releases through the canyon - dangerous wading and limited fishable water. Fall: releases drop, the creek clears and the best wading and dry-fly fishing of the year arrives. Winter: low stable flow, technical midge fishing and the fewest anglers on the water.

Where are the fishing regulations for the Putah Creek?

Regulations change by season and section. Read the current rules on the California agency site: https://wildlife.ca.gov/Fishing/Inland/Regulations