Inglorious Bass Nerds tackle Davis Lake

Sam Parker and Rick Bocko of “River Crawl” fame bring us this Davis lake report. Thanks guys!

We’ve been told that early spring bass fishing on Davis Lake is an event not to miss. With this in mind, Rick and I packed up the jet sled and headed east. For me, this was a chance at nostalgia. I grew up fishing for bass on Tenmile Lake and was looking forward to revisiting this species armed with a fly rod and boat.

Leaving Eugene at 4:00 am, we were hoping to be on the lake at by 6. Upon arrival, the lake was completely fogged over and the truck outside temp was reading a balmy 23 degrees. We had to find a boat ramp. After scouting all “boat ramps” we settled on the southwest ramp. Launching this 2000 pound boat from a beach with almost no incline proved to be a little nerve racking. Oh why oh why didn’t I buy the drift boat?

With the help of a friendly passerby who wadered up, he no doubt dropped a hernia pushing the boat off the trailer while I gunned the engine in reverse. We were finally on our way.

After spending 2 hours wandering aimlessly in thick fog and feeling a little like Chris Columbus, the fog finally burned off. Having no cloud cover from the outset, we knew fishing was going to be tough. We trolled the lake using streamer patterns while looking for bull rushes to try some surface fishing. Only problem was most of the bull rushes couldn’t be seen. They were submerged. We went ahead and tried our hand at some popper fishing without any luck. We then trolled the lava dam without success.

Deciding to troll while sight fishing, we plotted a course west. By now, we were in the middle of a huge callibaetis hatch with some white mayflies coming off. It wasn’t long before we spotted fish mid lake around a shoal. Slapping on our streamers, I hooked up with a 5 pound bass. Shortly after the bass, I hooked up with a 22” rainbow. Rick was getting strike after strike, but unfortunately was not able to bring one in during this 30 minute frenzy of strike after strike.

Like a switch, the day’s first action was over. Eventually, we made it back to the lava dam. Trolling 10 feet from the dam, Rick hooked up with a nice bass. We had no further luck at this end of the lake.

Getting desperate as the day was slipping away, we headed back to the shoal where I hooked up with the last fish of the day, a beautiful rainbow.

All in all, it was a good day considering the less than ideal conditions. We didn’t see another person hook-up which made our limited success a bit sweeter. This is no doubt a very special lake and further reinforces why we live where we do. Enjoy the pics.

Sam & Rick