Lake Davis Update 5/27

This past weekend was a lesson on how everything revolves around aquatic insect activity and dictates how well the lake will fish. The number one factor here was an approaching late season cold front. On Saturday my guests had a very productive day, the wind was  there but air temps climbed to the low 70's and water temps ran 57.8 to 61.2. Perfect conditions. Blood midges were out in big numbers and carpenter ants were being blown from the lush coniferous forest on the west shore onto the water. The trout were taking the ants with the most aggressive rise forms you'll ever see for a Lake Davis rainbow. The indicator rig presenting flies 3-4 feet down was the most effective, and Loco Ants on top got some love too. The ant patterns were really hard to see in the chop and took the eyes of a red tailed hawk to be successful in locating the take. Effective flies for the day included UV2 olive mayfly bead head nymphs #16, Sheep Creek Specials #12, Loco Ants #10, and Blood Midge Pupa #12.

I often say every day is different on a still water and on Sunday it proved my point from the previous day. First off a big wind was forcasted and with this wind came a slight cold feel to it; the wind chill effect. This brought water temps down to 55.1 to 58.3 degrees and air temps in the high 50's. The hatches never came off, and the fish really never came into the shallows in big enough numbers to produce good fishing. As the day grew the wind chill lowered even more and I knew it was going to be a tough day. Luckily my guest wanted to learn about the lake and her habits, access points, techniques and tactics. I've been getting a lot of fly anglers who seek this approach and are not so concerned with numbers of trout caught. Educating the masses and sharing the knowledge makes me most happy, and having students who appreciate that makes it even better. 

And what about the damsels you ask? They're late to the party as cool water and air temps combined with slow weed growth is stalling things a bit. I will say this the most active hatching damsels I have found have been in the north part of the lake. Even on Sunday I saw fresh flyers on the shore. It's time to pray to the fish gods for warmer weather to ignite conditions at Lake Davis!