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Fishing at California’s Davis Lake is red hot
Dave Rice, RENO GAZETTE-JOURNAL
6/3/2003
Lake Davis has a number of features that make it a very desirable water to fish.
It’s close to Reno (about an hour), it’s surrounded by pine trees, it produces big trout -- and most importantly –- it is closed to water skiing and personal water craft (PWC), also known as jet skis.
I have nothing against those who like to water ski and race around in PWC’s. In fact, I like them so much that I don’t fish Lake Tahoe during the summer so that I don’t get in their way, making it hard for them to resist maneuvering so close to my boat that I can clearly see their brilliantly-colored tattoos. I worry about them getting tangled up in my stainless steel fishing line as they zoom by at 40 mph, but that’s another story.
I was invited by Jim Tigan, to join him, Jerry Dollard and Jim Murphy, all of Portola, Calif., to fish Lake Davis a couple of weeks ago. Tigan is a game hawker (falconer) I wrote about last winter. Dollard owns and operates a grocery store and gas station in Portola and Murphy is the Portola city manager. The lake is about seven miles north of Portola.
The Grizzly Valley Dam, which impounds the waters of a number of creeks, including Big Grizzly, Freeman and Cow, to form Lake Davis, was completed in 1966, with the first signs of a lake showing up shortly after. Fish were released into the lake by California Fish and Game and the first fishing season opened a year or two later.
I hadn’t fished Davis for several years, mostly due to the fact I couldn’t catch any fish. Then came the illegal introduction of northern pike 1994, the controversy over and eventual fish eradication in 1997, and the discovery of this pesky fish’s re-infestation a couple of years later. Dollard and Murphy believe there are many others like me who are staying away from this magnificent water thinking the fishing isn’t very good. Boy, was I wrong.
Dollard was the guide and pilot of Murphy’s new classy boat. Our guide has fished the lake heavily for many years and he convinced me that he really knows how to catch the lake’s big rainbows, even when the action is slow, as he says it was the day we fished.
The surface water temperature was in the high 50s, so Dollard had the three of us fish shallow, about 6-8-feet below the surface. He uses one color (about 30 feet) of lead core line as weight that is tied between the line on the reel and a few feet of monofilament leader to which the lure is attached.
We caught seven fish using small needlefish lures in firetiger and perch patterns, a silver and black Rapala, and a No.6 olive wooly worm. All were fat rainbows ranging from 16-to-19 inches. When the action slowed down in the afternoon, we tried fishing deeper by using leadcore line and letting out two to three colors to get down to about 12-to-14 feet. This method resulted in one fish, which took the Rapala.
Dollard says it is best to fish shallow in the spring and fall when the water temperature allows the fish to remain near the surface. In the summer he fishes deeper with the leadcore. Anglers also do well with downriggers during the summer months.
With its 32 miles of shoreline, Davis is very popular with shore anglers and fly fishermen. Favored baits include the regulars: Powerbait, worms, marshmallows and Velveeta cheese. According to Dollard, fly fishing is best during the beginning of the hatch of a number of flying insects in the spring. Later on, he says the fish seem to get harder to hook in this manner as they gorge themselves on the unusually large hatches of bugs at the lake.
“They will still bite,” he said. “It just gets to be more of a challenge.”
When full, the lake surface covers 4,030 acres, larger than Frenchman Lake, but somewhat smaller than Stampede Reservoir. There are three public campgrounds at the lake and three additional private campgrounds nearby. Further information about all six is available online at plumascounty.org, or by calling the Plumas County Visitors Bureau at 800-326-2247.
There are four boat ramps at the lake, three on the east side and one on the west. We launched at the Honker Cove boat ramp, which has two docks and plenty of parking.
The Rotary Club of Portola will hold its annual fishing derby at Lake Davis this Saturday and Sunday. Fifty-two fish will carry tags that will land the angler big bucks. One fish will be worth $20,000, another is worth $5,000 and 50 others are worth $100 each. There will also be prizes for the largest fish (length) in each category. Further information, including a registration form, is available online at ci.portola.ca.us.
Updated fishing information is available by calling Jerry Dollard at Dollard’s Sierra Market (530) 832-5251, online at dollardsmarket.com, or emailing him at dollards@psln.com.
The California Department of Fish and Game planted the lake last week with 10,000 rainbow trout, bringing the total to 20,000 this year. Dollard said the fish average 1/2-pound in weight. The lake will receive a total of 50,000 fish this year
To get to Lake Davis take West Street north from Portola, off Highway 70 (West Street becomes Lake Davis Road), or take Grizzly Road about three miles east of Portola.
Dave Rice retired in 2001 after 30 years with the Nevada Division of Wildlife, 25 years as chief conservation officer. He can be reached at thomascreek@worldnet.att.net.
Dave Rice, RENO GAZETTE-JOURNAL
6/3/2003
Lake Davis has a number of features that make it a very desirable water to fish.
It’s close to Reno (about an hour), it’s surrounded by pine trees, it produces big trout -- and most importantly –- it is closed to water skiing and personal water craft (PWC), also known as jet skis.
I have nothing against those who like to water ski and race around in PWC’s. In fact, I like them so much that I don’t fish Lake Tahoe during the summer so that I don’t get in their way, making it hard for them to resist maneuvering so close to my boat that I can clearly see their brilliantly-colored tattoos. I worry about them getting tangled up in my stainless steel fishing line as they zoom by at 40 mph, but that’s another story.
I was invited by Jim Tigan, to join him, Jerry Dollard and Jim Murphy, all of Portola, Calif., to fish Lake Davis a couple of weeks ago. Tigan is a game hawker (falconer) I wrote about last winter. Dollard owns and operates a grocery store and gas station in Portola and Murphy is the Portola city manager. The lake is about seven miles north of Portola.
The Grizzly Valley Dam, which impounds the waters of a number of creeks, including Big Grizzly, Freeman and Cow, to form Lake Davis, was completed in 1966, with the first signs of a lake showing up shortly after. Fish were released into the lake by California Fish and Game and the first fishing season opened a year or two later.
I hadn’t fished Davis for several years, mostly due to the fact I couldn’t catch any fish. Then came the illegal introduction of northern pike 1994, the controversy over and eventual fish eradication in 1997, and the discovery of this pesky fish’s re-infestation a couple of years later. Dollard and Murphy believe there are many others like me who are staying away from this magnificent water thinking the fishing isn’t very good. Boy, was I wrong.
Dollard was the guide and pilot of Murphy’s new classy boat. Our guide has fished the lake heavily for many years and he convinced me that he really knows how to catch the lake’s big rainbows, even when the action is slow, as he says it was the day we fished.
The surface water temperature was in the high 50s, so Dollard had the three of us fish shallow, about 6-8-feet below the surface. He uses one color (about 30 feet) of lead core line as weight that is tied between the line on the reel and a few feet of monofilament leader to which the lure is attached.
We caught seven fish using small needlefish lures in firetiger and perch patterns, a silver and black Rapala, and a No.6 olive wooly worm. All were fat rainbows ranging from 16-to-19 inches. When the action slowed down in the afternoon, we tried fishing deeper by using leadcore line and letting out two to three colors to get down to about 12-to-14 feet. This method resulted in one fish, which took the Rapala.
Dollard says it is best to fish shallow in the spring and fall when the water temperature allows the fish to remain near the surface. In the summer he fishes deeper with the leadcore. Anglers also do well with downriggers during the summer months.
With its 32 miles of shoreline, Davis is very popular with shore anglers and fly fishermen. Favored baits include the regulars: Powerbait, worms, marshmallows and Velveeta cheese. According to Dollard, fly fishing is best during the beginning of the hatch of a number of flying insects in the spring. Later on, he says the fish seem to get harder to hook in this manner as they gorge themselves on the unusually large hatches of bugs at the lake.
“They will still bite,” he said. “It just gets to be more of a challenge.”
When full, the lake surface covers 4,030 acres, larger than Frenchman Lake, but somewhat smaller than Stampede Reservoir. There are three public campgrounds at the lake and three additional private campgrounds nearby. Further information about all six is available online at plumascounty.org, or by calling the Plumas County Visitors Bureau at 800-326-2247.
There are four boat ramps at the lake, three on the east side and one on the west. We launched at the Honker Cove boat ramp, which has two docks and plenty of parking.
The Rotary Club of Portola will hold its annual fishing derby at Lake Davis this Saturday and Sunday. Fifty-two fish will carry tags that will land the angler big bucks. One fish will be worth $20,000, another is worth $5,000 and 50 others are worth $100 each. There will also be prizes for the largest fish (length) in each category. Further information, including a registration form, is available online at ci.portola.ca.us.
Updated fishing information is available by calling Jerry Dollard at Dollard’s Sierra Market (530) 832-5251, online at dollardsmarket.com, or emailing him at dollards@psln.com.
The California Department of Fish and Game planted the lake last week with 10,000 rainbow trout, bringing the total to 20,000 this year. Dollard said the fish average 1/2-pound in weight. The lake will receive a total of 50,000 fish this year
To get to Lake Davis take West Street north from Portola, off Highway 70 (West Street becomes Lake Davis Road), or take Grizzly Road about three miles east of Portola.
Dave Rice retired in 2001 after 30 years with the Nevada Division of Wildlife, 25 years as chief conservation officer. He can be reached at thomascreek@worldnet.att.net.
