Davis lake 7/5-7/7 No damsel hatch

[1flyfisher]

I fished from second point fugawee over to freeman and the cow area for the 3 days. I did not see one damsel swimming. I had 3 damsels climb on my kayak on thu so there were at least 3 swimming at some point thu. I did not see many adults flying around, just a few here and there(there should be thousands all over). From fugawee all around cow and into freeman I saw a few dozen adults. That was it. The water is 73-76. It was 76 wed afternoon. I talked to some guys at cow on tue afternoon as they were leaving around 3 and they did poorly the one guy I talked to got 1 tube/trolling around all day. One of the other guys did a bit better. On wed there wasn't a drop of wind for the most part. Perfect conditions for a damsel hatch but no bugs swimming. The lake was calm and I could see great distance for working fish. I Did not see any working from fugawee to cow to freeman. I paddled all over and did not see fish rising any where aside from a few for 20 minutes(caught 3), then they quit. The water was covered with callibaetis duns. They were all over but the fish were no where to be found. They had no interest in the duns. Use a nymph. I was able to land 3 on wed. First fish I caught was 16" and clean. The last fish on thu about 17" had gill maggots infesting its gills. Real disgusting. Most of the fish were not overly infested with maggots/copepods/ I'd say maybe half of what I caught had some crud on them. The other had a little here and there but not enough to make you gag. On thu i landed a half dozen with a few missed grabs. Biggest was over 19". There was a small window of opportunity where they would rise very sporadically. They were hard to target as they would show themselves but then disappear. I had fishable risers on and off for 45 minutes which I took advantage of. Guys in prams in front of me fishing deeper water were not catching. After those risers ended for me I left the area and went to try and find some fish. Shortly there after the folks in prams left the area and followed me over to cowllibaetis island and cow area. The wind came up and stuck a fork in it so I was out of there @ 1 on thu. I saw one bloodmidge in 3 days paddling about. On thu the fish would rise very sporadically. There were small midges coming off but the fish were not working them. A pram guy I know who fishes davis regularly told me he landed 4 on wed. There were a few other guys I know fishing from prams catching a few fish here and there. Nothing of any real quality.
There were some cars at jenkins, I have no idea how it was there or elsewhere.
You had to work pretty hard to scrape up some fish. But you could catch a few in the cow/fugawee/freeman areas.

I believe the damsel hatch has come and gone. I hope I am wrong but I do not anticipate much of a damsel hatch going forward as they should be ending at around the 4th of july not starting. That's the problem. July 5/6/7 were perfect damsel conditions but no bugs. I believe there may be a very small smattering here and there on select days but that should be about it. No big real hatch like years past. That is what I would say you can expect. The damsel population is by all observations clearly dropping dramatically.

The water is bath tub warm if you do not nurse them they will swim away, roll over belly up on the bottom and die. You need to hold these fish for 5+ minutes and nurse them.
That's about the gist of it.
I tell my friends to stay home.

I have a new 4wt z-axis galvan torque arriving in the next few days so I will have to try it out, maybe try davis again next week. iF I go I will post a report good or bad.

....also....I saw quite a few schools of small fish I believe were baby trout 1-3" around the willows.

[Troutstalker55B]

1flyfisher,
Sorry to hear you had a bad one at the lake and did not get a good damsel hatch. We had a decent hatch last Sat. through Friday. Have you tried a fresh adult? They are hatching where ever they can but the freshies are being blown into the water and being keyed in on by certain rainbows. I know you’re an expert and all but if you put yourself in the right area at the right time the bugs and fish are there. With all the new water your lucky to find the fish, things are different and old habits are hard to break. Screw everything you know and start over – Stalk the trout as a hunter would. Stomach samples are packed with sculpin green colored crayfish - Did you try those on the mud flats of Freeman? We did, and did quite well. Water temps ran today at 68-70 degrees today. There was a damn good blood midge hatch at Fugawi from 12-2pm today, 14 feet of water with your bug 9-10 feet down. I have not seen any Calibaetis duns, just spinners in the last week – Slender nymphs have been hot! Just wait until this Oct. things will balance and the fly fisher will have good fishing if they think outside the box and adjust. Lake Davis is a joy to be on, 0 fish or, if you catch a hundred – A special place as YOU know. Things are winding down on the lake – Time to focus on more productive waters. Take care -1flyfisher,

[OceanSunfish]

Sorry to read about the lack of damsels..... at least you were there fishing the lake... which is more than I can say....

IMO, Lake Davis has been through an awful lot of turmoil during the past 15 years...... The most recent 10 years prior to 2011 have been very harsh with low pool.....

But now with the lake near full, it's the start of good things..... I think the corner has been turned and with all the new habitat for aquatics to scatter to and breed..... more midges, damsels, and beatis to come! I'm still concerned about the snails tho.... I think the snails are really going to be the key....

Looking forward to many good years to come at Lake Davis. I'm very excited and optimistic that at least this Northern California fishing gem won't get wasted like so many other fisheries of late.

[Troutstalker55B]

Great post OceanSunfish,

You have some serious words of wisom there, thank you!

Jon.

[Bull_Dog]

Go to the General fly fishing column on this site for a good Davis report.

Must have been too many anglers watching to post an every cast report like Pyramid. LOL

If you are a stillwater fisherperson fish the wind, don't quit when it starts.

Puts down most of the dry fly thing but the fish get happy when the wind blows.

[Troutstalker55B]

Go to the General fly fishing column on this site for a good Davis report.
:

Bull Dog - Jay Clark, Bryan Roccucci, Bill Forward, and myself give very accurate information for Lake Davis (Not Davis Lake as you Nevada folks like to call it). Myself, I live 7 miles from the lake and fish it a hundred times a year - This is my home and I know it very well. Regardless of my profession I'm here to share the good word on the lake for the entire fly fishing world. I was the first to own FS permits on the lake when you big guys would pimp it out and not do so. Everyone who guides or fishes the lake needs to work as one for the better of the public - They own the lake, we who make an income come second.

You’re so right about the wind - The wind is your friend, adjust and work with him and you are king! Best of luck to your guide service and if you need any info on the reel deal at the lake just give me a call!

Jon Baiocchi

[1flyfisher]

I heard lots of complaints from folks last year that drove several hours to find the so called raging damsel hatch non existent and the fishing sub par and the bulk of the fish small 10-14" and covered with parasites.
Sadly I heard it again this year, it goes like this. "I read on the internet that the damsels were coming off and the fishing was supposedly red hot and I drove 3+ hours to get up here and fished the last few days and haven't seen many bugs and the fish are few and far between". On tuesday afternoon when the dude in the tube that landed one said those exact words I felt bad for the guy.
My above report is for those folks.

Folks, the bugs don't lie. When damsels hatch and come off they don't vanish. They remain flying around the water through august looking to lay their eggs. On an average year at davis you will see blue adults in the thousands hovering a few inches to a foot or so over the surface of the lake in swarms this time of year all over cow/freeman/second point fugawee. I paddled every piece of shoreline from fugawee to freeman and checked all the willows. I saw maybe a few dozen at best in the back of freeman. They should be flying all over. I usually have to pick the nymphs off the back of my neck, off my hat, they are all over my boat, crawling all over everything, I on an (average) day would see hundreds of nymph swimmers. I saw zero damsels swimming and had 3 climb up my boat in 3 days. Very simple...anyone can put their money where their mouth is. I challenge anyone to meet me at the lake next week and prove me wrong by pointing out the thousands and thousands of adults flying around and nymphs swimming I hear claims of.....


....folks....truth is last year was the worst damsel hatch I have seen since I started fishing davis in the 80's. Anyone that tells you otherwise is simply full of shit. This year so far there are even less.
The fish are in the 14-16" range with an occasional fish that is clean and larger(they planted some clean brood stock last fall and a few remain). I'd say that more than half have some infestation of gill maggots, anchor worms or some other parasite.
Be wary of those that have a vested $$$ interest.

[jbird]

Always amazes me how one "experts" observation sums up the quality of fishing somewhere. Then gets all lathered up when someone else catches fish there. It appears to me that Mr Baiocchi may have some useful information in his post?

It is always a good idea to use visible hatches as clues in stillwater. But DO NOT live and die by them. Even during a prolific hatch, trout will eagerly take other flies presented to them correctly. Especially when the water column is so loaded with naturals, your imitation is really a joke among the masses.

If you drive all the way to a lake to hit some legendary hatch, and its not happening, Put on your thinking cap, dig out those flies you keep pushing to the side. explore different water columns with different lines. If you strike out, chalk it up as a sound beating. but to report that the fishing is no good and tell people to stay home is just ignorance.

Never stop learning. Pick up some of Brian Chan and Phil Rowleys books or videos. Store that information in your thinking cap when things get tough.

[jayclarkflyfishing]

It is always a good idea to use visible hatches as clues in stillwater. But DO NOT live and die by them. Even during a prolific hatch, trout will eagerly take other flies presented to them correctly. Especially when the water column is so loaded with naturals, your imitation is really a joke among the masses.

If you drive all the way to a lake to hit some legendary hatch, and its not happening, Put on your thinking cap, dig out those flies you keep pushing to the side. explore different water columns with different lines. If you strike out, chalk it up as a sound beating. but to report that the fishing is no good and tell people to stay home is just ignorance.

Never stop learning. Pick up some of Brian Chan and Phil Rowleys books or videos. Store that information in your thinking cap when things get tough.

This is great advice Jbird!And has been exactly what I have been stressing in my presentations to fly fishing clubs and to my clients.We as fishermen need to learn how to adapt and figure out what the fish will eat if the main hatch for that time of year is not happening.

I have been guiding on a lot of different waters lately and haven't spent as much time on Davis as some others. But the time I have spent has seen very little damsel activity.But I do not despair as I have been lucky enough to have some fun dry fly action with callibaetis dries and emergers.I was wading in front of the bathroom facilities at Cow and had fish sip callibaetis duns within a rod length from me.Pretty cool.I did fish with a guy that had some good action early in the day and then again late in the evening with callibaetis nymphs.

This year I have been using a lot of Denny Rickard's patterns and now understand why he developed them and why they are successful.His flies flat out work.They are simple yet effective and they have been getting grabs when nothing else has been working.

I knew people would be disappointed this year when the damsel hatch failed to materialize again and it is a shame.Yes, the damsel hatch is fun but there are other hatches going off daily and the fish are still eating.

Water temps in the North end of the lake are definitely in the catch and keep territory(72* at 10 am in 3' of water at Cow) but they are a little lower at the south end.I have one more trip at Davis this week and then I will be calling it quits until the fall.Let's hope the snails are around this fall!

Enough of my ramblings!I hope you all have a great weekend!

Jay

[jbird]

This year I have been using a lot of Denny Rickard's patterns and now understand why he developed them and why they are successful.His flies flat out work.They are simple yet effective and they have been getting grabs when nothing else has been working.

Jay

I believe you can go to any western trout lake with a simple selection of his seal buggers, AP's, stillwaters and callibaetis and catch fish no matter whats happening. I would also have a small selection of chironomids and peasant tails to round out the puzzle.