Lake Davis
Elevation: 5,775
Road condition: Paved
Region: 50 miles
north of Reno and
80 miles south of Susanville
Area/description: Davis Lake
is a fertile, shallow lake adjacent to the Middle Fork of the Feather River
near the small town of Portola. Located in high desert country, the lake
offers one of the best high-growth rates for trout because of the fertile
aquatic food chain, which is a result of the lake’s shallow shorelines and weed
beds.
Lake size: 4,000 acres with 32 miles of
shoreline Depth: Maximum 108 Species: Stocked Eagle
Lake rainbows
Closest town or
supplies: Portola
Contacts: Beckwourth
Ranger District, (530) 836-2575; Dollard’s Sierra Market in Portola (530)
832-5251; Grizzly Store and Camp at Lake
Davis (530) 832-02270; Sportsman’s Den
in Quincy (530)
28-2733.
Facilities: Lodge,
marina, grocery store, bait and tackle, coin-laundry, coin operated showers, RV
campground
Nearest campgrounds: Grizzly
Campground, Grasshopper Flat Campground, Lightning Tree Campground.
Boating: Davis Lake
offers boat launching facilities around the lake. The west shore offers a launch at Old Camp
Five accessed from a gravel road. The
east shore launches are Honker Cove at the southern end of the lake and
Lightning Tree at the campground on the north end of the lake. In between these two launch sites is Mallard
Cove, which provides a launch facility for canoes and car top boats. Swimming or operating motorized boats are
allowed, but waterskiing or operating personal watercraft is prohibited. CAUTIONARY NOTE: Lake Davis
produces high winds mid-day, especially during the spring and early summer.
Fishing season: General Season Best times: Late
spring through the early summer and again in the fall when trout cruise the
shallow shoreline.
Fishing Tips: Allan Bruzza, owner of the Sportsman' Den in Quincy, recommends that shore anglers use inflated nightcrawlers, PowerBait or crickets or meal worms. His top choice in lures are red Dare Devils, Kastmaster, gold Mepps Aglia, original Rapala and Thomas Buoyant lures. For trolling he recommends trolling dark colored flies using leadcore line and 30-foot leaders. He also recommends trolling Rapalas, Needle Fish, Speedy Shiners and Yo Zuri's. His tip for fly fisherman is to bring a full sink, uniform sink type II line along with a dry line. Allan publishes a series of Sierra fishing maps that include tips on fly fishing, trolling, jigging and bait fishing. You may reach Allan Bruzza at his Sportsmen's Den in Quincy at (530) 283-2733.
Fly Fishing: Fly fishers do best
generally in the western and northern shorelines and in the upper portion of
the lake around weed beds in the bays and coves, especially Jenkins Cove, Cow
Creek, the outlets of Freeman
Creek and Grizzly Creek. Lake Davis
has prolific hatches of midges, damsel flies and an abundance of scuds.
Trolling: With thirty miles of
shoreline, trolling is a popular and effective method, especially around the
island and in the area of Freeman
Creek. Float tube anglers do well trolling fly
patterns such as Woolly Buggers or leech patterns. Popular trolling methods include trolling
with Rapalas and Needlefish, as well as trolling lures and flies.
Bait fishing: Bait fishing is popular throughout the
lake. Because of the weed beds, anglers
typically use inflated night crawlers suspended off the bottom or suspended
Power Baits. Mallard Cove is a popular spot for shore anglers, while bait
anglers with boats work the coves and inlets during the spring and early
summer.
Favorite fly
patterns:
Stocking information: A second lake poisoning and an aggressive
stocking program has been re-established to regain Davis Lake’s
reputation as a trophy trout lake. After
the first attempt failed to eradicate predatory pike in 1997, the state
poisoned the lake and parts of the lake’s watershed again in September, 2007. The greatest fear for biologists is that
these pike could escape and move down to the delta where they could wipe out
runs of salmon and other indigenous fish.
Additional
information: Ten years later the second program to eradicate the presence
of unlawfully introduced pike was deemed successful by DFG September, 2007 with
the application of Legumine, a new liquid formulation of rotenone. Pike devastated this once great trout lake,
but Randy Kelly, acting manager of the Lake Davis Project, stated that, “We are
aggressively re-establishing the fishery so that anglers can pursue the
excellent trout fishing they were accustomed to at Lake Davis.” In addition to nearly one million trout
planted during the spring of 2008, DFG planted 31,000 Eagle Lake
trout ranging in size from one-half pound to more than three pounds.
Nearby fishing: Frenchman Lake
Directions: From
Highway 395 north of Border
Town, drive to Hallelujah
Junction with Highway 70. Turn west on Highway 70 and drive ____ miles to
Chilcoot and the junction with Frenchman
Lake Road.
Turn right on Frenchman
Lake Road and continue past Chilcoot Campground
