My alarm went off at 2:45, wow is that early, I just don’t move very fast at that hour. Barrett, Greg and I met at the shop, loaded our gear and headed for Davis lake by 3:30. Driving through Pleasant Hill we narrowly missed a doe and two fawns, had slippery, snowy conditions going over the Pass and drank a bucket of coffee. At this point I am wondering why I left the friendly weather and water conditions of the McKenzie and Willamette.
By 6 am we are casting near the weed line at Davis Lake, laughing hysterically as we land Largemouth after Largemouth. All of us are catching fish, Barrett using a floating line, Greg a clear sinker and me a clear sink tip. We all have long(13-18ft) fluorocarbon leaders ending in 15-20lbs and massive, tough to cast lead eyed bass bugs. Cast, let the fly sink to the bottom ,and inch it back towards the boat.
Davis is still cold and is sure to get better and better as things warm. Our fishing slowed around 8:30 and we really had to work for 4 or 5 more mid day. We saw a few Callibaetis, Water Boatman and zero trout. This weekend most of the high lakes (Diamond, Crane, Wickiup, Cultus, Crescent, Odell) have their opening weekend, if you want an early start to your fishing day give Davis a try. –CD
Hey,
What side of the lake were you guys on, the creek or the lave flow? Nice fish.
that is super bad ass.
Oh man, that looks like awesome fun! There’s some chubby bass to be found there. What kind of bugs were you throwing?
Lava side
I have been out four times so far on Davis with the first time two weeks ago. I have been finding bigger fish along the lava slow trolling 4″ black leeches behing my toon. Water was a bit lower than last year. I have hooked a few trout towards the west side of the lave about 30 ft off the lava just below the surface. Most of the trout are in the creek spawning as I have seen some good fish in there doing thier thing. Will get better with heat.
Those are some pretty nice bass. Can’t wait for the weather to get a little warmer.
I caught a nice trout on Sunday. Second year using my own flies I tie and caught a 23 inch native trout. He was a big boy.
Tight lines
would you mind stating what rod/line weight you would recommend and What Hardy reel were you using? Looks like an awesome place to fish. Thank you for sharing your trip/tips!
Just a heads up… We got fat tickets at Davis last year for using similar barbell eyed jigs with rubber legs. The warden claimed there was too much rubber for it to be a fly. Nearly everyone on the lake that day got tickets for everything from barbs to using rubber legs. Can’t understand how you can catch and keep as many as you want of an “invasive” species yet get ticketed for your flies not being “traditional”? Needless to say, we fish nothing but hair and fur at Davis now =)