Davis 9/16-17

[1flyfisher]

The Lake was nice and calm for Thu and early Fri. A bit of a front is coming in today and that will shut down the bloodmidge bite and scatter the fish and kick them into fall fishing.

There were a lot of small fish around.
There were 5 boats yesterday and today anchored up and catching planters off fugawee.
If you want lots of small planters you can find them and catch a lot.

[1flyfisher]

Also I would recommend if you go to bring your boat and motor. I would not advise coming to davis right now to walk the shoreline and wade. The fish are not in casting distance. They are not cruising the banks at the moment they are out further out of casting distance from shore eating midges. That should change as we get into colder weather. If you walk the shoreline now you will be bummed. A boat with a motor is best as you need to cover some water. If you tube try camp 5 and jenkins. There are always some small fish around camp5/jenkins and in good numbers and the occasional bigger fish. That is pretty much what you will find elsewhere. A lot of dinks with the occasional bigger fish. Cow is dead. There are no fish around cow creek. It was and has been pretty dead out there. That can change any day though and hopefully it will. I only saw a few sporadic risers around cow. I would recommend getting in the boat and cruising till you find fish and avoiding the cluster of boats anchored up catching dinks. And stay away from any dark colored kayaks as I am paddling one and There's no need to cluster up on one spot. Happiness is a 100+ feet. The fish will be moving around and scattering around the lake so go find them. It's a big lake and fish can be everywhere in the fall. I am paddling so I am limited as to how far i can go but I would say if you have a motor use it. Fish will be around. I will launch and fish the east shore channel and eagle point next week. East shore channel with a sinking type 2 with a small #12 bead head bugger or bead head wiggle tail slowly trolled or stripped can be deadly.
Get down about 8 feet and you will be into fish. I generally do very well with a type 2 and a black bugger. Try different colors of wiggle tails.
The fish are still in late summer mode. Bloodmidges and regular midges were coming off. The fish were slashing and crashing them off the surface. Blood midge pupa and callibaetis worked well.
If you find a pod of planters you can catch many. I try and avoid the planters myself. There haven't been too many big fish around but I did see and catch a few nicer fish. Biggest was around 19"/20". Most were 16 and under. The fish I caught seemed to be a bit healthier as far as the parasites. I didn't check gills as I just popped off the hooks. I avoid handling fish, I just slide my fingers down the tippet grab the hook and pop it out. There were less open sores on the fish. I noticed some bumps on the skin. I don't know if that is just the beginning of a break out/sore or sores healing over. So we shall see next summer. I expect them to fade soon. The lake is healing and things will take time. It got nuked and things have to adjust and get a good balance. High stable water levels will help a ton. The weed beds need to reestablish themselves after being drained and now higher water but a cold spring summer they didn't grow very well this year. But once we fill the lake and keep it filled(hopefully) that should really help with the parasites and maybe the snails will come back. Stable weed beds will get the bugs reproducing in quantity. The damsels, callibaetis and blood midges, are there. Stable water levels and healthy weed beds will help to reestablish the balance and health of the lake.
Overall I would say the fishing is below average but better than it has been this summer. I will fish davis a bit as I am close by but I am going to be spending more time elsewhere this year as I expect to find better fish and fishing than davis.
I did spot a few schools of tiny rainbows 1" long. Amber rossi told me they had a nice reproduction this year much better than in the past well above average. That still only amounts to a small amount of fish but some wild reproduction is nice.
I saw 1 snail. That was the first snail I have seen since last fall. Let's hope it will produce a few million little ones.

[Troutstalker55B]

Paul, it sure was nice to see you out there, share some thoughts, and wet a line. Dad was stoked to see you as well! The one thing I have noticed so far is how skinny some of the bigger rainbows are - like snakes. See you at the other pond...........

Jon.

[michaeln]

one thing I have noticed so far is how skinny some of the bigger rainbows are - like snakes.

That seems strange to me. This is my first year fishing Davis, but I thought Davis trout (in normal years, whatever that is and this isn't) are known for a football shape with little heads.

Is the food supply that far off this year? (I know about the lack of snails but IIRC they would not have been feeding on snails yet anyway). Or I wonder if the infestation of copepods weakens the fish and inhibits growth?

For instance, in researching Davis I read somewhere that the fish tended to grow 6-8 inches in a year, ie: plant 12" fish and they'd be 18-20" as holdovers the following year... but nobody at all seems to be talking about catching any FAT fish at Davis this year.

[Troutstalker55B]

Michaeln,

I have no answers but plenty of questions myself. I will tell you this, the bug life has not been normal. The damsel fly hatch was the smallest I have ever seen it - If you can call it a hatch at all. The food supply in the lake is down and the size of the fish prove it.

Another thing is the lake came up about 4 feet this spring, and the skinny water (1-5 feet) is pretty much blank of food. Time heals all wounds and balance will return, I just have a hard time waiting for this to happen!

Jon.

[1flyfisher]

The fish and lake are struggling from the rotenone.
There is tons of food in the lake.
The callibaetis, blood midge and damsels are there. There was a weak damsel hatch the last two years due to weather. The damsels will snap right back.
There are parasites on the fish but they will go away soon.
The snails are gone for now but hopefully they come back. I wouldn't hold your breath on that but all we can do is keep our fingers crossed and hope nature snaps back.
I expect some nicer holdover fish to show up any day. I caught fish to 20-21" this summer, just not many. The bigger fish were few and far between because all the 20"+ fish get yanked out.

The lake will be fine.




Is the food supply that far off this year? (I know about the lack of snails but IIRC they would not have been feeding on snails yet anyway). When there are Snails they are available 24/7/365.Or I wonder if the infestation of copepods weakens the fish and inhibits growth? The parasites harm the fish by creating sores in the sides of the fish which body fluids are lost, weakens the fish, and other issues etc .

For instance, in researching Davis I read somewhere that the fish tended to grow 6-8 inches in a year, ie: plant 12" fish and they'd be 18-20" as holdovers the following year... but nobody at all seems to be talking about catching any FAT fish at Davis this year. The fish do not grow 8" a year. A 12" fish doesn't grow to 20" in one year it takes longer than that under even the best circumstances and conditions and food.

[1flyfisher]

I caught fat rainbows the other day.


... but nobody at all seems to be talking about catching any FAT fish at Davis this year.

[michaeln]

Thanks Guys

I am trying to talk myself into making one more trip up there soon. I may go to the other pond though. I had much better results there on my one trip.

[1flyfisher]

The fish are small planters up to about 16". There are a few larger but not many. If that works for you then fish davis.


Thanks Guys

I am trying to talk myself into making one more trip up there soon. I may go to the other pond though. I had much better results there on my one trip.

[jayclarkflyfishing]

I think one of the problems Davis is suffering from is low oxygen content due to decomposition of the fish that sank to the bottom during the treatment a few years back.Remember only 6800 lbs of dead fish were removed and there was a lot more fish in the lake than that.I saw catfish breathing oxygen from the atmosphere on numerous occasions in late June/early July.

I have seen evidence of snails in Fairview the past couple trips there.

Frenchmans or Davis is a no brainer for me.I will always choose Davis over Frenchmans.Copopods or not!

Hope you all are having a nice early fall!

Jay

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

Be interesting to see how people do in October?

[Troutstalker55B]

Bill,

Here we are Oct. 13th and today I saw so many hook ups with all sorts of anglers, fishing different games. Float tubing with an Int. line, indicator fishing, trolling flies, and fishing off the bank (see my blog for a great “how to” article on fishing the skinny water with a dry fly). Fish are rising in 1-15 feet of water, water temps are at 54-56. It will fish even be better in the weeks to come. The leaves are turning and the willows are starting to glow, skies are blue, and the air temps are prime. Fellow anglers, experience this great stillwater, now is the time.

Jon.