Lake Davis Report 7/13

[Troutstalker55B]

Lake davis is STILL red hot! The Damsel hatch started early today at 7:50am. I fished from shore casting to heads, some were easy and some I had to work for. It is so nice now that the pike are gone, the rainbows do not feel threatend and feed in a pattern or striaght line. Before the fish would dart left, right, or swim 50 feet to the next clump of weeds to hide.

By 11:15 the hatch had ended and I ended up with 10 fish, the biggest at 23" 4 pounds with a 10$ tag (Cool! paid for the gas). It was such a golden day, and Madison my blue heeler barked at every hook up (yeah, I'm that guy - Sorry for that but he's really into large trout!).

Some things I would like to share about the damsel hatch that I have learned there from my past guide service and years on the water are this;

1) Get out early, you never know when the hatch will come off.
2) Look at the naturals for that day and adjust your fly to match them, it's better to be a bit smaller than bigger.
3) Use a light hook to keep the fly in the zone, no lead eyes. I like a Tiemco 2487 in a 14.
4) Keep your ties simple and slender, so many ties are way to bulky.
5) Use 4 x and make sure your tippet is 40 inches - it's all about the stretch.
6) It's better to cast at selected targets then to blind fish.
7) Look at the shore for gangs of seagulls, they will tell you where the best hatch is taking place.
Use a long leader, I run a 3 foot section of .024 butt material off my fly line, then put on a 9 foot leader = 12 feet of stealth.

Get up there, The hatch is starting to wane, but the fish just keep rising.

Best of luck,

Jonny B.

[FRSam]

Hey Jon you're way to generous with your information...you can't have everybody catching fish out there...you'll have the whole lake educated before you know it.

Kidding aside if you're looking to take some nice fish out of Davis listen to Jon, he knows that lake like the back of his hand. And when Jon says the fishing is RED HOT he's the one person I'm not going to have to ask any more questions of - I'm just going to get my butt out there.

Great information Jon - I look forward to seeing you, your Dad and Madi out there tagging all those beautiful fish. And if you hear a dog barking - that'd be Madi howling "FISH ON".

It's sure nice to have the Davis of old back once again.

Pete

[Troutstalker55B]

Pete,

Your so right about having the the lake back as it use to be, gonna be a great fall with large trout and thier bellies feeling like gravel with all those snails!

Were on for Tuesday, be at my house at 7am. Pack a lunch, beveri, and gear. Game on!

Jonny B.[/img]

[jayclarkflyfishing]

Don't you guys work?!?!?!?!?

[Troutstalker55B]

Well Jay, sort of - If you count care taking for one cranky ol Dad. Today was the first day I had to myself - pure bliss! Hey If you ever see Uriah tell that kid to call me and go fishing - He can paint another day. He missed out on some great fishing, I hope to get him out to eagle this fall though, and your welcome as well - lots to show you up there!

Hope all is well in your world,

Jonny B.

[FRSam]

My lord Jay, work - that's a four letter word...and it definitely interferes with much more important stuff like your flyfishing time. And besides my long term retirement plan is a massive coronary while hooked into one jumbo sized rainbow trout.

Jon - I'll give you a call regarding this Tuesday.

Pete

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

Thanks Troutstalker

I really appreciate it when someone post very meaningful info so that others can read it and have a chance to have better fly fishing experience.

My job for the past 40 plus years has been to try an help people have some or more success in their fly fishing adventures.

My good friend Michael Fong use to write wonderful articles with great information which was appreciated by many fly fishers for years.

Lots of new to fly fishing people need help with timing and techniques so they so can have a good day on the water and stay excited about this wonderful sport.

The people I am most excited about here are the one who actually take the time to help others.

Thanks to all who help out here................

[Troutstalker55B]

My pleasure Bill. I feel the more folks we can get involved with fly fishing, the bigger voice we will have when our fishing areas become (or have) threatend.

This mesage board is really a good one, if not the best.

THANK YOU,

Jon Baiocchi

[jlmelend]

Took Jon's (Troutstalker's) advice and checked out Lake Davis myself.
It was a smoky day at 9AM when I got there. The air was still and the hatch was on. That's smoke clouding the air NOT damsels. You can see the weeds sticking out of the water where the damsels become adults.

Took the Kayak and got blasted by damsels. Notice how much clearer the air was when the wind picked up?


For my fellow fly tiers out there, here are some olive and chartreuse nymphs compared to a no-name damsel nymph I picked up at Kienes.
[IMG]
Here's the bottom...oops, ripped the tail off by accident..

Here's an olive one

Here are some adults hitch-hiking port side


Saw many rises but none in the shallows or near shore. When I paddled toward rising trout they must have gotten spooked, cause I didn't get any grabs. Unlike rivers, it's tough for me to figure out which way the fish are facing when fishing Lakes, unless I am using a sink tip (it will drag with the deep current). I only got into fish that rose in the choppy watter near the deep end of the lake.

Here's the catch...

...and Release.


Jon (Mr. Stalker), thanks for the pointers, you put me right into the fish! Good fishing to you Jon!

[mike N]

Nice looking bugs. Tie up a few wiggle damsels, they're fun to tie and the fish like them, too. pluss they jump out at you when you open your box. I am no expert at Davis, but what worked for me is patience. Wait for the fish to come up in the clear area in the weeds, cast to a riser, let it sit, and hang on. I tied a small peice of poly yarn about 18" above the bug with an overhand knot as inidcator. I also have had success with a read thread midge pupah as a dropper below the damsel.





MN