NEWSFLASH!!! Hexagenia Mayfly Invades Lake Davis!!!

Yep, For real. What the ???? I know, I was in disbelief myself when I got an email from Steve Anderson of the Diablo Valley Fly Fishing club last week who said he may have seen a Hex at Lake Davis. With no pictures or evidence I simply could not believe it, I had to find out for myself if they were really there, and hold one in my hand for proof.

On the night of the 20th of June, Rob Anderson and I went to our location to rehearse the schedule of events for our Lake Davis Still Water Outings. Upon reaching the waters edge there were hundreds of California gulls making aggressive maneuvers down to the water and picking off insects. I thought to myself that this is quite strange as I've never seen them do this in all my years on the lake. They weren't after blood midges, that's for damn sure! We observed the water more when the large unmistakable silhouette of a mayfly appeared in my vision. It looked like a hex!

I saw one gracefully floating towards shore, took off my shoes and waded through the mud and grasped it, opened my hand and screamed like I had just won the lottery! We both stood their dumbfounded and just watched the show. Forget the fishing, this was a historic event happening live!

The next few nights displayed the same results and when the wind died down the amount of bugs hatching was phenomenal. The fish responded and took full advantage of this large food item, once you hear the suck of a trout eating a Hexagenia mayfly you'll never forget it!

On the evening of the 22nd one of our guest made more history with being the first known fly angler to present a hex emerger and landing a Lake Davis rainbow. We cheered so loudly I think the entire town of Portola could hear us!

History; Carl Nosek with a Lake Davis Hex Eating Rainbow!!!

With a flick of the switch the hatch ended, the Gulls flew off as did the geese now satisfied that their stomachs were full, and the trout hunkered down in the deep weed beds. As we walked back to the car the smile on Carl's face was still visible under the light of the "super moon", it was awesome!

So just how did the Hex show up? There are many scenarios  but the one that makes sense to me is in the last 2 or 3 years enough Hexagenia mayflies were blown to the east by a big west wind from the Lake Alamanor area where upon they landed on the water of Lake Davis. After the populations of Hexes that I have seen, I am quite certain they will be at Lake Davis for quite some time. In the future a fly angler will be able to fish a blood midge hatch in the morning, then the damsel fly hatch, deep water chironomid presentations in the late afternoon, and fish the Hex in the evening. 

This is HUGE! 

Meanderings Through The Northern Sierra

The last few weeks has been a blur of coniferous forests, polished granite, lush wild flowers, and crystal clear waters that flow through remote canyons. It seems everyone is delighted with the harmonic vibrations that only summer can provide in the Northern Sierra. The Western Tanagers are back hiding behind the pine bows, and the Dippers busy diving under the currents with their underwater goggles picking off mayfly nymphs and caddis to their heart's content. Wild flowers are popping out all over providing a vibrant combination of colors to compliment the vast green landscape. Fly anglers too are savoring this special time before the real heat comes upon us by venturing out to their favorite haunts whether it is a famous still water, a big free stone river, or a special creek.

I had the pleasure of guiding some special guests into the Jamsion Creek canyon, they were a hardy father and son duo who reminded me of my past with my own dad who taught me how to understand and appreciate the great outdoors. The small size of the wild rainbows did not matter to them, it was the experience and solitude that pleased them. When you see a smile like this on the water you know you did your job of sharing the good things in life.

There is something about stalking spooky wild trout in gin clear water with only the sound of gurgling water around you. It's a simple pleasure that many like myself call therapy. It's free and for the taking, all one has to do is take the first step into the unknown where the wild things are and completely lose themselves within the realm.

When you get right down it their is an instance where everything else just doesn't matter anymore, and it's usually when you hold one of these beautiful rainbows. Time stops, you behold your catch, and once again smile at the simple things in life.

Let's flip the coin and meander to a different setting of a still water that on the outside is a busy place full of recreation and people, but on in the inside offers a mouth watering delicacy of incredible scenery and ambiance. Lake Davis is all that and more. The month of June is a special one here with Damselfly nymphs hatching, Western Grebes doing their special two some dance walking on the water, Bald Eagles strafing through the air, and California Gulls laughing it up on the fertile shores.

The meadows that line the lake and stretch out to the west are filled with wildflowers, the purple haze of Sierra Penstemon glow from afar.

The damsel fly hatch this year is pretty good after seeing the last three years of measly proportions. I've been impressed to say the least. If you've never taken the time to get on your knees and watch a nymph swim from the water and crawl out on land to hatch, you're missing out on one of Mother Nature's wonders of the world.

The Electric Blue male looks fragile and sweet, but in the bug world both the nymph and the adult damselfly is a ferocious predator reeking havoc on small midges and other unsuspecting victims.

Higher up in the food chain the Lake Davis Rainbow finds Damselflies rather enticing to the pallet. Fishing the Damselfly hatch off the bank and sight fishing in 1-3 feet of water is so special that until you actually do it you'll never understand. It's a specialized type of fly fishing where one must use all their senses and skills to place the fly on the nose of a trout without spooking them - And you better have the right fly too or it's refusal time.

I have heard of reliable reports from other fly anglers that pulled up their anchors to have found snails latched on. This is the missing link that is needed to fatten up the rainbows of Lake Davis, fish that used to range in the 4, 5, and 6 pound range had a diet rich of abundant snails. I have not seen one since the last treatment of the lake to eliminate the Northern Pike since Rotenone the agent used darn near kills everything. Last week I found a small snail floating in a quiet cove, picked it up and smiled. They're coming back slowly but surely, and I can only hope to see the populations flourish again that were so huge in the mid 90's. 

Where ever I may roam......

Damsels At Davis!

They’re here and the fish are already keyed in on them…..Damselflies. The heat has finally woken up the damselflies at Lake Davis and it’s the start of the best hatch that I and many long time Davis fly anglers have seen in quite some time. Water temperatures have spiked as well and are ranging from 67-72 degrees. Even with these lethal conditions the trout will still come in to feed for a few hours before returning to the comforts of deeper, cooler water. Summer mode is in full effect at the lake and good fishing starts at first light to about 1pm. Then probing the deeper shelves in 12-18 feet of water during the heat of the day will be productive. As evening comes the last two hours of light is good and there can be many rising fish if the water is not too choppy from a windy day. Effective flies this weekend included Red ice cream cones #12, blood midge emergers #12, damsel nymphs #10-12 that are not weighted like my shallow water damsel shown below, Jay Fair wiggle tails in olive and brown #10-12, UV2 olive mayfly nymphs #14-16, and Jay Fair trolling flies #8 in brown with copper flash. The rainbows are hot right now and range in size 17-20", check your knots and tippets on a regular basis. Parasites are beginning to show on some of the fish, not too thick yet but we'll have to wait and see.

There are numerous swimming nymphs but not in every part of the lake, certain coves from Eagle point clear up to Grizzly creek on the west and north shores have the heaviest concentrations. Habitat is everything for the emerging damsels and groups of willows surrounded by water is a like a magnet for them, but keep in mind weed beds coming to the surface and even free floating weed beds or mats of feathers and junk can also suffice for hatching. Your clues to finding the best hatch is looking for active rising fish in 10-2 feet of water and studying bird behavior. Seagulls will stalk damsels on the bank and in the water, I also observed this weekend that red eared grebes like them too but out in open water. Pelicans can help you locate the fish as well. The photo below shows a group of pelicans hunting rainbows in shallow water; my clients and I adjusted our location after observing this and found a good pod of active damsel eaters. The damsel game is not easy; it will test your ability and skills as a fly angler. For those who are new to the game my best advice is to observe and carefully plan your presentation to individual trout; don't beat the water!

There is so much insect activity right now that it boggles the mind and really shows you why Lake Davis is so productive. I witnessed vast plumes of Blood Midges that numbered in the thousands at first and last light, so intense that a high audible whine could be heard echoing throughout the lake. After seeing this I’d like to think that the hatches are coming back to the legendary status that was taken for granted in the past. There are at least 4 other kinds of small to tiny chironomids out as well. Damsels come next mixed in with some calibaetis, I did not see very many duns on the water as conditions were not ideal but there were many spinners in the air in small masses hovering above the boat. If you’re a bugaholic like myself you owe yourself an evening at Lake Davis right now, blood midges, small chironomids, long horn caddis, and white winged sulfur mayflies molting into spinners all over you and everything else. It’s so cool!

This coming week a cool down is expected and should stretch out the hatch and stall things a little, which is a good thing. I do not expect the water temps to drop too much as once the water heats up those temps pretty much remain high. Wake up and bring you’re “A” game, it’s go time for the Damselflies at Lake Davis!

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!

Sunshine and Water

Special days on pristine waters float around my mind for years on end. We all have those cherished memories that we play and rewind over and over, each time picking out a singular action, word, or feeling that makes us smile even during the toughest times that life can throw at us. Today was one of those days. The ancient bug was out, the fish were rising, and there was just us out there taking it all in. Laughter, smiles, sharing the knowledge. I'm rather glad the masses think this river is just mediocre  I'll gladly take the small wild fish on dry flies anytime, the dipper behind the waterfall in her moist moss lined nest, and the overhead fly by of a male merganser. The lupines talked to us today, we couldn't understand a word of it but the glow they gave us enriched the day. Sunshine and water; life is grand.

Lake Davis - Middle Fork Feather River Update

I had a fantastic weekend of guiding and taking in the local flora and fauna at Lake Davis and the Middle Fork Feather River, I kept having to tell myself that it is not the month of June because it sure felt like it! Lake Davis is really starting to happen as water temps continue to climb. Today's reading ranged from 58-62 degrees. The blood midges are still hatching and the rainbows are rising for them when conditions allow (no wind). We had game today but by the time we were ready to present some dry flies to the fish the wind came up big and shut the dry game down. Bummer. Fishing blood midge pupas and Calibaetis nymphs under an indicator is still king in water depths from 8-15 feet. Flies should be presented off the bottom in the morning and 4 feet down in the late morning as the hatch intensifies. Damsels are beginning to show but in very small numbers, we'll have to wait and see what they have in mind as far as a decent hatch in the weeks coming up. The above picture above says it all as this young fly angler caught and released her first Lake Davis rainbow, it was quite the battle on her little 3 wt. rod!

The MFFR is getting very low in the Graeagle area just as I predicted earlier in the month. Most the fish are on the move downstream to higher flows and colder water. There is still some decent fishing to be had and best of all the wild rainbows are taking artificials off the top; dry flies are now producing! On Saturday my guest and I fished many access points from Clio to Sloat. The water below Two Rivers is a tad high but very fishable. We had rising pods of fish in the tail outs of major runs. Water temps ranged from 57-64.4 degrees. Lots of hatches including March Browns, Gray Drakes, BWO's, Little Green Stones, a few Golden Stones, Carpenter Ants, and a smaller black flying ant in a size 14. Effective flies for nymphing were tungsten bead head Hares Ear #12, olive UV2 Mayfly Nymphs #16, and Deep Sparkle Pupa in brown and pale yellow#12. Effective dries; BWO Cripples #16, Parachute UV2 Adams #16, and Emergent Sparkle Pupa in olive #14.

We had some anglers pass by us in Pontoon boats, there is plenty of water to do this as of now but the rowing is a bit technical. I've done this in the past from Clio to Sloat in three separate floats, it can be a blast!

Fingerling wild rainbows from this year's spawn can be found in the idle pools of the side water, It's so good to see that the MFFR has a healthy new trout population for the future.

If you want to fish the MFFR, you better hurry, increasing water temps and lack of snow runoff will shut this fishery down until mid September. Note: Forget the waders, wet wading is just around the corner here!

Middle Fork Feather River, Lake Davis, North Fork Yuba River Fishing Reports

The Middle Fork Feather River in the Graeagle area is about a month early and is fishing like it does in late May. Water temps are running 52 in the morning and 55 during the warmest point of the day. Gray Eagle creek and Frazier creek are running at 50 degrees, normally these creeks should be running at around 46. The weather was so gorgeous this weekend, warm and comfortable! It was such a pleasure to back on home water that I know so well.

Hatches? Wow! Skwalas, Gray Drakes, Brown Duns, March Browns, and a few BWO’s in the mix. No fish rising at all but they are taking sub surface aquatic insects. The top producing flies were olive Copper Johns #16 and San Juan Worms in earthworm color. Not that much lead is needed as the flows are very low for this time of year. No dinks in the last few days as well, wild rainbows ran 12-17” with two at 18”! It’s been a long time since I have seen some big fish come from out of the depths here. Streamers were also used with a fast sinking line in the big pools but only one good bump on a 4” long Double Bunny. Spring is the best time to land a trophy brown trout here in the upper watershed.

I’m so surprised at how well the river is fishing right now! If the warm weather continues with no precipitation you can bet the Graeagle area will be too low and warm when June rolls around and one must fish below where Jamison Creek enters the river; In other words get it now while it’s good!

Much has changed since my last report at Lake Davis. The large majority of the fish are done with the spawn with some remaining in the feeder creeks that have a good enough flow to them. There was a strong North wind Thursday through Saturday and fishing was slow. Water temps have come up a bit into the lower 50's and the blood midge have started to hatch, the size of them are big; #10. 

Since the fish are so scattered and are on the move I tried a different tactic today. I put in the electric trolling motor at the slowest speed and my guy casted to different areas using a floating line with a weighted Jay Fair trolling fly #8 in brown with copper flash. We netted 3 fish in about an hour and all the fish were dark and beat up from the spawn, they were not pretty!

Loons, Cormorants, and Pelicans cruised the lake looking for fish to eat. By studying the birds I was able to locate pods of rainbows and intercept them.

To sum it all up the majority of the fish are in the south lake from Catfish cove up to Camp 5 and are holding in the upper water column from the surface down to 5 feet. I saw a damsel swimming gracefully on the water’s surface on Saturday; this could be a good omen for the future of the hatch this year. I watched a troller clean his fish and stomach contents revealed junk; moss, and other organic matter. That right there tells me the bugs are not out in force yet and things are early. As I type this I’m sure conditions have changed as everyday this coming week will be warm. It won’t be long and in the following weeks the fish will settle down and be more likely to hit a fly. I will say being back on the boat was quite a joy, and how I love Lake Davis - What a pretty girl she is!

On my way back to Nevada City I rolled on down Highway 49 and checked conditions on the North Fork Yuba. It’s running a bit high but very fishable. I stopped by The Lure resort to drop off some brochures and water temps were at 52 degrees, there was no bug activity at all.

I put on the waders in the Rocky Rest area and fished on my own with a rubber leg Golden Stone #6 with Hogan’s Red Headed Step Child trailed behind it. I also ran a bunch of split shot to get down. Water temps here were at 56 degrees. The fish were not at the heads of runs but in deep tail outs. One dink came quickly to the net. I probed a deeper slot and hooked a very large fish that possibly ran 20”. I got a good look at it from a top view but I never saw the side of it so I don’t know if it was a brown or a rainbow. I played the fish for about 8 minutes (seemed like an eternity to me!) before the fly pulled out. Damn! There was a little chunk of flesh on the Golden Stone Nymph; I guess that fish wanted a big meal.

The first flower of the season Darmera Peltata or Indian Rhubarb was out lining the banks of the river, absolutely stunning! As far as bug activity a few Gray Drakes, Carpenter Ants, and some caddis was all that was out. It will be while before the North Fork shapes up but I imagine it won’t be long!

Spirit River's UV2 Tying Materials

My philosophey on fly fishing and fly tying is to blend "new school" techniques and tactics with "old school" tradtition. I also like to say the day I know everything about fly fishing is the day I quit; and with that said I'll never quit because the staircase of progression is what fuels my fire for fly fishing and life in general. The new age is constantly tweaking and evolving ideas and science, Spirit River has taken a giant leap into the future with their new line of Ultra Violet spectrum tying materials so that we may increase our chances of hooking more fish.

Most humans can perceive only a small section of the Light Spectrum. We call this the Visible Spectrum, or VS, which runs between about 400 to 700 nanometers

Below the VS light spectrum is the Ultra Violet spectrum. There are 2 types. One is a UV Reflective Light or UVR and the other is UV Fluorescence or UVF.

UVR are the shorter wave lengths the human eye does not usually perceive. These are what we are primarily concerned with. UVR reflects through a material or is emitted by the species and cannot readily be seen by the human eye unless very expensive equipment is used.

UVF are what we all know as the usual florescent tying materials which absorb light and will emerge back out in a longer wave length we can see as brighter or will radiate under a black light.

The UVR spectrum is extremely common in the animal/insect world. This is how bees find flowers and mayflies find mates. While many male species exhibit UVR to attract mates or to feed, many females exhibit less UVR to camouflage themselves and their young.

UVR is abundant in plankton, algae, baitfish, invertebrates & similar species. UV sensitive cones in the eyes of fish allow them to see in much greater detail in adverse water and light conditions. While visible light is lost in red at approximately 10 feet and orange at 25’…UVR and UVF light can penetrate up to 150 feet depending on water clarity. The RODS in a trout eyes do not allow them much sight in low light periods of dawn and dusk. However, UV sensitive CONES in their eyes do allow fish to see more details and at greater depths. Perhaps this is why some species prefer to feed at night. Bass anglers have known about UVR and UVF which is utilized on many of their baits and lures.

Our special UV2™ dye processes on feathers and furs add more UVR by increasing its electron mobility, its luminescence and overall light spectrum. The UV2™ is high in reflectivity and has diffusing properties, which the animal world identifies and exploits. With a special UV light held behind a material, the lighter shades (red and above) will glow ever so slightly.

A better way of saying this is that our fluorescent materials “scream” at you and our UV2™ materials “whisper” to you.

Check out this clip, it will shed some "light" on UV2 materials;

To see the full line of Spirit River's UV2 materials and to place an order click here; http://www.spiritriver.com/

Fresh Lake Davis Fishing Report 4/4/2013

What I thought was going to be a very wet and windy day turned out to be quite nice depending on where you located yourself. Dark cloudy skies with intermittent light rain settled onto Lake Davis this morning with air temps in the upper 40’s. Fishing pressure was very light and my guest and I fished Coot Bay with not another angler to be seen. We had great protection from the wind and the bay was one big “soft window”. Water temps were at 48.3 degrees and the lake is definitely up to about 80% of capacity. Most of the fish are ganged up in front of feeder creeks looking to spawn, but many of the east side snow melt creeks are already at a trickle so the trout are unable to swim up them. Grizzly, Snow, and Cow creeks have the best flows. There are two types of behaviors being displayed right now by the fish, full on spawn mode and active feeders taking midges off the surface and below. The only hatch I saw today was a very small black midge in a size 18-20, no signs of blood midge or their shucks from previous days.

The fish are in really good shape running 16-20” and clean. My guest fished “stock” style off the bank with a long leader to 3x on a floating line. Fly color was everything today! I started out tying on the tried and true orange glimmer – Nothing. Red – Nothing. Then I put on a wiggle tail with a bright olive glimmer shuck with a black tail and the trout responded on the first cast with a hook up! I’ll be tying up more of those ones for sure. 13 fish were touched in about 4 hours of fishing with 7 to the bank.

Access? It’s wide open! There is very little snow at all except a few bogs at Jenkins, and Cow which will melt out quickly with this warm rain – Just watch out for muddy areas if you are in a 2 wheel drive vehicle. As I stated before Camp 5 is fully operational with the dock in. The state of the lake is about 3 weeks ahead of a normal year. All we need now is warmer weather to bring the water temps up a bit which will intensify the hatches for more productive fishing. Good luck!