I finally got up to Lake Davis to host the Gold Country FlyFishers for their 3 day fish out last week, and just as I suspected the usual
culprits of a high and cold water year were not favorable for good fishing. The
lake is 97% of capacity. The fuller Lake Davis is, the less coves, peninsulas,
and fertile shallows there are. Weed beds are also extremely deep as the water
levels rose during late winter into spring. Surface water temps are already at
67 degrees rising to 70 during the heat of the day. Not very many hatches with
good numbers at all. Just a few blood midges and Callibaetis, but there were
many smaller midges in the morning and evening. On our second day I started to
notice freshly hatched damsel adults on the submerged willows that are lining
the shoreline. I did not see any damsels swimming, and I’m thinking they were
emerging undetected in the willows crawling up the branches underwater. A few Hexes
emerged in the evening near Honker Cove on the east side of lake but the
rainbows, birds, and bats were nowhere to be seen. I have seen this type of
scenario before both at Lake Davis and Lake Almanor in the last 3 decades. Late
hatches of Damsels and the Hex, yet the surface temps are so warm that the
trout prefer to stay in their deeper air conditioned restaurants down below off
the first major ledge. All of the fish that were being caught were down 20 to
25 feet. Full sinking express lines and slip bobbers were the tools to get the
grabs. Sheep Creek Specials, Zebra Midges, and Albino Winos were the effective
flies.
Ca DFW has made 3 plants of 18,000 pounds of Eagle Lake
Rainbows since May, both catchable and sub catchable. This fall should fish
well once the water cools down, and by that time the shallows will be full of
aquatic insect life and much more fertile. If DFW keeps up on the planting
schedule we could see Lake Davis near her former glory like in years past. I’m
looking forward to seeing the most beautiful lake in Northern California
rebound and provide my fellow fly anglers some positive stillwater experiences.
See you out there in the autumn sunshine.
Penstemon Wildflower
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