Davis and Frenchman oct. 11-15

[gene goss]

4 people and myself fished 4 days at Davis Lake, and one day at Frenchman Lake....at both lakes the dinner bell starts at 10am in the very shallow bays and would last untill the wind put them down....at sundown some nights at Davis Lake there would be a lot of fish rising in the shallow bays. A floating line and a long leader with a suspended fly that had some orange in it was a good choice. I had to get out of my float tube to fish these shallow bays...in 6 inches of water these fish would be feeding in. We all had over 10 fish days at Davis.....but....Frenchman had some very nice fish working a shallow bay.
Scott V. in the tube, and Jim H. wading

[Troutstalker55B]

Gene,

It was great seeing you up there and I'm so stoked you guys got into them! When the fish are in the really skinny water it does not get any better. What a perfect trout lake.

Jon.

[Scott V]

There is nothing like stalking quality trout in ankle deep water. Waiting for those lips to break the surface or that sweet tail fin break the film is heaven. And I had heaven for a long time on Saturday. I think I spent most of my time walking the shoreline and shallows looking for fish and catching them. What a great day on the water, I am really loving Davis.

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y85/PsychoZ/Lake%20Davis%202011/IMGP4214.jpg

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y85/PsychoZ/Lake%20Davis%202011/IMGP4215.jpg

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y85/PsychoZ/Lake%20Davis%202011/IMGP4216.jpg

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y85/PsychoZ/Lake%20Davis%202011/IMGP4219.jpg

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y85/PsychoZ/Lake%20Davis%202011/IMGP4223.jpg

[gene goss]

There is nothing like stalking quality trout in ankle deep water. Waiting for those lips to break the surface or that sweet tail fin break the film is heaven. And I had heaven for a long time on Saturday. I think I spent most of my time walking the shoreline and shallows looking for fish and catching them. What a great day on the water, I am really loving Davis.

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y85/PsychoZ/Lake%20Davis%202011/IMGP4214.jpg

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y85/PsychoZ/Lake%20Davis%202011/IMGP4215.jpg

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y85/PsychoZ/Lake%20Davis%202011/IMGP4216.jpg

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y85/PsychoZ/Lake%20Davis%202011/IMGP4219.jpg

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y85/PsychoZ/Lake%20Davis%202011/IMGP4223.jpg

Hey Scott....you left out the best part....your hemo stat patch job on your float tube.

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

Excellent post guys.......thanks.

[gene goss]

Who said you can't catch fish on a full moon. My biggest trout for Davis Lake this year, was caught on Wed. evening....around 4lbs.
http://i179.photobucket.com/albums/w300/eugene047/bigfishpicture.jpg

http://i179.photobucket.com/albums/w300/eugene047/davislake10-11-11009.jpg

At Lighting campgrounds the water is turned off, and they are not charging to camp....could close any day now for the year. Grizzly store charges $6 for a 5 min shower or you could go soak in Sierria Hot Springs....$20 for 3hrs in Sierraville.

http://i179.photobucket.com/albums/w300/eugene047/davislake10-11-11011.jpg

[catch&release]

If you could fish that skinny water at Davis in the middle of the night now that would be some of the best fishing you have ever seen.

I fish alot of lakes in Idaho and Utah in the shallow water 2-5 feet and slay the fish on chub and perch patterns.

Sad that you cant fish California lakes after dark, only one I can think of is Pleasant Valley Res.

Ernie

[gene goss]

If you could fish that skinny water at Davis in the middle of the night now that would be some of the best fishing you have ever seen.

I fish alot of lakes in Idaho and Utah in the shallow water 2-5 feet and slay the fish on chub and perch patterns.

Sad that you cant fish California lakes after dark, only one I can think of is Pleasant Valley Res.

Ernie

Hey Ernie...you can fish Davis Lake at night, and i think Frenchman Lake you can fish at night also....the rising shut down at dark, or we would have fished a little later.

[catch&release]

Gene, I guarante that if you come back around 11pm or midnight those shallows will be full of fish. Once these fish start feeling more comfortable and dont hear any noise they will move in in groves. Schools will move in and out all night. Fishing at night is so intense, the sounds are 10 times louder and the strikes are about 10 times as hard or it sure feels like it. All your senses are focusing on just one thing, THE STRIKE, and it is awsome.

Your casting also improves beleive it or not because you are concentrating on feeling your rod loading up instead of watching the line.

I am going to have to come up and fish Davis at night if that is the case.

Ernie

[Troutstalker55B]

All the lakes in Plumas Co. are open 24/7 night or day.

Jon.

[catch&release]

Is Eagle considered in Plumas County?

[Troutstalker55B]

Is Eagle considered in Plumas County?

Lassen County. It's 2 hours here from Graeagle to get to the south marina if the A1 road is open. 2.5 hours if you go Hwy 139.

Jon.

[gene goss]

Gene, I guarante that if you come back around 11pm or midnight those shallows will be full of fish. Once these fish start feeling more comfortable and dont hear any noise they will move in in groves. Schools will move in and out all night. Fishing at night is so intense, the sounds are 10 times louder and the strikes are about 10 times as hard or it sure feels like it. All your senses are focusing on just one thing, THE STRIKE, and it is awsome.

Your casting also improves beleive it or not because you are concentrating on feeling your rod loading up instead of watching the line.

I am going to have to come up and fish Davis at night if that is the case.

Ernie

Well Ernie....the day time catching is hot right now....11 pm....means i have to climb out of my mummy bag. Jon Baiocchi and i have talked about fishing at night at Davis Lake, and Jon has done some indicator fishing at Davis Lake at night....right now you don't need to fish at night, you just need to find the right bay or cove and you will have plenty of action in the day light. Jon Baiocchi and Jay Clark are in touch with these place's.

[gene goss]

Some of my friends know that i sometimes smear some power bait on my flies....i was looking at the fish sniffer board and saw this new power bait thats glows in the dark for night fishing for trout....check it out
http://www.google.com/products/catalog?hl=en&q=glow+in+the+dark+power+bait&rlz=1R2ADFA_enUS337&gs_upl=5047l12062l0l15609l26l26l2l11l11l0l234l1858 l2.8.3l13l0&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tbm=shop&cid=6270501683178722463#

[catch&release]

Jon and Jay are both fine guides and fly fisherman. Hope you havent taken any offense to my Suggestions about fishing at night. I have put in thousands of hours night fishing with floating line in 3 to 5 feet of water at night and have been more than successful at this technique.

This is why our sport of fly fishing so great, so many different ways to approach the fish. Fly Fishing is not a science, its an art, just like a painter who starts with his own blank canvas and paints there own picture. Always different than everyone else.

Just something to think about a new technique in your bag of tricks.

Good Luck and enjoy the great fishing at Davis.

Ernie.

[gene goss]

Jon and Jay are both fine guides and fly fisherman. Hope you havent taken any offense to my Suggestions about fishing at night. I have put in thousands of hours night fishing with floating line in 3 to 5 feet of water at night and have been more than successful at this technique.

This is why our sport of fly fishing so great, so many different ways to approach the fish. Fly Fishing is not a science, its an art, just like a painter who starts with his own blank canvas and paints there own picture. Always different than everyone else.

Just something to think about a new technique in your bag of tricks.

Good Luck and enjoy the great fishing at Davis.

Ernie.

I'm open to new ideals about catching fish, and would like to try this technique....but...don't know enough about it.

Would you fish at night in the same places that you caught fish in the day time.(shallow bays or a cove)?

Whats the best time of the year to do night fishing, and do you fish on a full moon or no moon?

Sorry for all the question Ernie.....Thanks

[Bob Scheidt]

We too fished Davis that weekend. Caught a few off the shore on damsel nymphs. Didn't really know where to go, since we are unframiliar with the lake, being from Fresno as I am.
We did find some shallow water and caught a few. We left in the afternoon. Caught some at Frenchman's too.
Bob

[catch&release]

Gene,

I fish the same areas at night as I do in the day time, early mornings and late in the evenings. However, the number one rule about fishing at night is to prefish the area in the daylight hours. Never fish anywhere at night you havent fished in the daylight hours. Show up before dark, wade the area you are going to fish, look for holes, rocks and dropoffs that can catch you by surprise in the middle of the night. Figure our where the weed beds start and where they end along with the depth of the water you will be wading and casting into. Fish the open areas around the weed beds and get a good picture of everything in the daylight so you wont be surprised when it gets dark. Its also very wise to have a partner fishing with you at night. One of the best places to fish at night is any running water comming into the lake. Small streams running into a lake will bring smaller fish and fry in and the bigger fish will follow and try to eat the smaller fish. Pay attention to your back cast area also. Make sure you have enough room to have a 40 to 50 foot backcast.

You are looking for shallow water that fish will feel comfortable moving into at night because they know they are safe and dont have to worry about any predators seeing them in the shallow. There is allot of food in Shallow Bays, Shoal areas, not more than 5 to 8 feet deep.

Floating lines are perfect for these applications. I usually fish about a 10 foot leader and fish patterns that "push" alot of water. This means larger flies, wooley buggers, streamers or bait fish patterns. If the lake does have a bait fish population I prefer to imitate these fry or smaller fish. If you have a lake that doesn't hold bait fish then I would stick to the wooley bugger patterns or crawdad patterns. You can lightly weight these flies with a few turns of lead or a beadhead if you are fishing deeper water and want the fly to get down alittle faster but i prefer no weight because I like to fish these patterns alot slower at night than in the day time. I like a long slow pull with a 3-4 second pause then repeat. Again just like in the day time you can change and adjust your stripping cadence but everything should stay pretty slow. Your senses are so hightned fishing at night that the strikes feel like they are trying to take the flyrod out of your hand.

Moon cycles Full or Dark, I feel it is easier for you to move around with the light of the moon. I have had epic days fishing full moons at night and good fishing in the dark of the moon but I prefer to fish more twards the full moon cycle. I feel fish are more on the feed in a full moon and can see the fly much easier than in the dark of the moon. Daytime fishing would be just the opposite.

Times of year, I feel you can catch fish at all times during the year. I would always target the large brown trout this time of year all the way into November when I fished utah but Spring time fishing at night is great also. Shallow water in the Summer can be very tough on the trout so be careful about fishing in warm shallow water.

Remember that when fishing at night you are allowed to fish much heavier leader material. This will help you to play the fish faster and an much better release for the fish.

Hope this helps and let me know how it goes for you in the future.

Ernie

[Troutstalker55B]

Just an update on the current conditions, click my blog link for details and pics!

Jon.