Snow Fall Amounts @ Davis

[1flyfisher]

I drove up to have a look at the amount of snow around the lake. They have the road plowed up to mallard. The creeks were flowing good with lots of run off entering the lake from various creeks along the east shore. The snow on the east shore was spotty. Some places had maybe 2.5 feet in north facing areas and gullies in the shade. Many areas were bare ground. The east shore gets all the sun and we have had some very high temps. It was 58 degrees the day I was there. A t shirt was enough for me to be warm. It was sunny with no wind. I saw a pair of bald eagles in a tree. There were quite a few folks out on the ice around the dam ice fishing, the ice at the dam which was white and looked to be much thicker than the rest of the lake. From the dam looking north before the first island the ice was white. Right there in front of the island from the west to east shore and the rest of the lake the ice was blueish and looked pretty thin. There was a lot of water on top and some shorelines had a little open water. Another week of warm weather and I would expect it to break up. I have seen the lake break up in jan and february for several weeks and then refreeze again till spring. Wouldn't surprise me if that happens if the warm weather continues. Not much in the way of storms in the near future. Temps have broken today though and have returned to closer to normal but there is plenty of sunshine in the near future.

All in all I expected to see a bit more snow on the ground. It has been melting fast around tahoe and elsewhere in the sierra. A few weeks ago we had anywhere from 1.7 of average to over 2 times average. I read the latest water surveys and that has dropped quite a bit to below average in many places. Anyway there is a lot of winter left and time for a ton of more snow to fall.

I haven't heard any fishing reports on how the ice fisherman are doing but I am sure they are yanking out any decent fish that they can catch.
Hopefully next summer will be better than last.
Keep your fingers crossed and pray for snow.

[Troutstalker55B]

1flyfisher,

2nd time this year we have had a warm and melt, but we are at 14.39" of precip and still have 3 more months if not more of rain and snow. We have already beat the 07/08 season at 11.53". I'm prayin buddy - Take care!

Jon.

[1flyfisher]

Yeah I hear what you are saying. Precipitation is precipitation. You would figure that 14" of precip in rain or snow or a combination of both is as good as snow pack. That's what I would logically figure but every year these hydrologists start to get nervous and now according to them after this warm period we are at 80% of average snow pack(in certain sierra areas) for this time of year per RGJ. You'd figure if it melts it will end up in tahoe or Pyramid or in the right place.
Either way....with the amount of rain we have gotten and what I saw on the west shore of davis and surrounding peaks....we will be damn near maximum pool even if we don't get anymore snow. But that's just My unprofessional guess though.


I was up at frenchman's too, that lake looks pretty low. I saw another bald eagle right there at the damn eating scraps of rainbows from the ice fishing folks. Real cool watching him hop around on the ice that close by. he was real close and didn;t care....usually they don't let you get too close. I have had them fly right over my head 100 feet up but whenever they are on the ground, 150+ yards is the closest I can quietly paddle up to them.

....I wish eagle would get hammered with pow, sadly they are in the banana belt.

adios

1flyfisher,

2nd time this year we have had a warm and melt, but we are at 14.39" of precip and still have 3 more months if not more of rain and snow. We have already beat the 07/08 season at 11.53". I'm prayin buddy - Take care!

Jon.

[OceanSunfish]

If I read your message correctly, your "unprofessional" opinion is that Davis Lake will be at or near "maximum pool" with what snow and rain has fallen to date!

That is fantastic!

I mean, even if you were 80% right, that would put the lake nearer to maximum pool than it has been in probably 8-9 years!

Here is a picture I took from late April 1996. I believe this is from the Cow Creek area.....

And, the lake was at 81K AF or pretty darn close to maximum pool. Hence, no ugly scaring on shoreline from vehicles, ruts, highwater line, etc.

Aesthetically prettier and a ton more room to fish, yes, but the health of the fish and the acquatic insects will no doubt improve with a full pool of water too.

[1flyfisher]

Looks like the spigot has shut off. La Nina effect kicking in. I was afraid of this. My buddies back east are crying like babies from all the snow. I bust their balls constantly.
Nice weather to go fish though.

[OceanSunfish]

Snow and rainfall in and around Davis Lake of late has been pretty good?

Is there hope that the lake will fill to capacity of close to capacity this spring?

Sending positive thoughts that way......

[Troutstalker55B]

The last two storms of Feb. has left me with 7' 4" of snow, I'm seven miles from the lake and it sits another 700 feet higher so I would assume they got more. Right now our precip is at 19.88 inches and we still have a ways to go before the good weather comes. Last year we received 22" of precip and the lake came up 4-5 feet. It's looking good so far, I just hope we have some warm weather in June to get those damsels on the march.

Jon.

[OceanSunfish]

Thanks for the update.

I just hope the powers that be allow the lake to fill by not releasing so darn much water....... to ultimately fulfil water contracts.... ugh.

Lake Davis needs to be at maximum pool for a few springs seasons in a row..... and yes, I agree, a normal warm spring and start to summer would be a help to the 'bugs' up there too...

[1flyfisher]

It should be close to max pool. They didn't drain much last fall. It was bone dry for like 6 weeks but the last 2 storms were pretty fat. One or 2 more nice fat storms and it will definitely be full for sure. Either way....no water worries for this summer.

Snow and rainfall in and around Davis Lake of late has been pretty good?

Is there hope that the lake will fill to capacity of close to capacity this spring?

Sending positive thoughts that way......

[OceanSunfish]

It should be close to max pool. They didn't drain much last fall. It was bone dry for like 6 weeks but the last 2 storms were pretty fat. One or 2 more nice fat storms and it will definitely be full for sure. Either way....no water worries for this summer.

Acording to CDEC, Lake Davis has almost 10K acre feet more now vs. this time last year! Again, I sure wish "they" would let water stack up behind the dam so that the lake level could rise 25K+ acre feet to reach close to max pool!

The lake is really pretty when the water level is max pool. All those tree lined 'fingers', etc.