Another lovely spring

More snow and rain fell this week here in the Northern Sierra's prolonging an already cool, wet,and windy spring. I got out a few days ago on a quick scouting mission of a few local favorite spots. First stop was Nelson Creek near Quincy. This small creek is raging and because one needs to be in the stream corridor to fish it , Nelson is on the wait a week or two and check back mode. The water clarity was good, but the flows are just too high and fast to be fished safely in my opinion.

Next stop on my exploration was the Middle Feather near Two Rivers Resort. This is my favorite run in this reach and while the flows were high it looked very fishy. Alas, I had no grabs but was happy with the promise that this high water year holds. I only saw a few midges and one creamy mayfly and no rising fish, but that should change with the river levels dropping and temps increasing.

We should start to see golden stoneflies, little yellow sallies, grey drakes, and a plethora of caddis flies hatching in the coming weeks.

With the another semester at FRC wrapping up I have been very busy writing papers and studying for finals. Taking a short break from a creative writing project, I was able to wet a line on Smithneck Creek near my house where I was able to catch a couple of little browns high sticking a prince nymph. This little creek is out of its banks in most places in the canyon but fish can be found in the slack water and pools in the meadows.

Back to the studies!

Lake Davis Report

I finally took the boat out on Davis for a shakedown cruise and was absolutely amazed by the amount of water in the lake. of the snow is gone from the lake but the westside still looks snowed in and impassable. I only fished for a few hours before the wind forced me off the lake. It was nice launching from the Lightning Tree boat ramp for the first time in YEARS, but the dock has not been installed yet so retrieving in the wind was a pain in the ass. All four launch ramps are usable this year!

On a down note, only one Forest Service campground is open this year,Lightning Tree. Grizzly and Grasshopper are closed for improvements and there is very limited dispersed camping on the west side of the lake. J&J's Grizzly Store has 34 camping sites available for tents and RV's and is less expensive than the Forest Service campgrounds.Check them out!

The water clarity in the north end of the lake is pretty poor at this time with a foot or two of visibility and a color that ranged from chocolate milk to pea soup. There is a lot of water to explore this year and finding fish should be a fun and challenging experience.There were a few blood midges around but not much else at this time. The damsels should start showing up anytime but with the full lake may have a long migration this year. I am hoping for a good hatch but expect it to be about the same as last year...spotty. If they don't show in great numbers don't be too bummed because midging will be outstanding as usual! Blood midge pupa's and Sano's rootbeer midge will catch plenty of fish!

Next up...Frenchman's.