---

Literary accounts of fishouts in the recent past,
to make you sorry you didn't go.

Davis Lake Fishout June 2nd-5th
Fishmaster: Betty Rentz

We had a small but enthusiastic group at Davis Lake: John and Elaine Cook, Doug Severin, Steve Rigg, Pete Thomas, and Ralph and Lisa Berman and me.
The damsel hatch was just beginning. Reports from the lake suggested that fishing would be tough, after the long cold winter. And most days, for most people, that proved to be true. Mostly zeros were scored, except for Friday the 3rd. Weather that day was fairly calm all day long (we had pretty good winds most other days) and for at least Elaine and me, the fish cooperated.
Elaine landed five and I landed three, with several misses. The fly that consistently worked the best was an articulated damsel in a muddy brownish olive, with red crystal flash wrapped through it. In the water it looked reddish brown, which was just the color of the naturals.
These are magnificent fish - nothing under 17 inches caught. Elaine's biggest was a 21 1/2 inch bruiser that had the girth of a salmon. I also got one that length, but not as thick. Steve Rigg and Elaine also had the distinction of catching good size Pike. Fish were also caught on calibaetis emergers and Sheep Creek nymphs.
We had great campfires and lots of good laughs, and the usual great potlucks. If you have any interest in fishing this beautiful lake, do it soon. Official word from DF&G is that they will drain and poison the lake in late 2006 or early 2007. So go this fall or next spring for sure, and get these big guys while they are still alive. Once they poison the lake, everything will die (they hope) and when restocking occurs, the fish will be smaller. It may be several years before the lake refills. Until then, Frenchman Lake will be a good alternative. - Betty Rentz

The bass were slow to respond to our perseverance this time. Maybe it was because the waters were cooler and the early morning fog kept the damselfly activity suppressed. Tom Deetz, and daughter, Sharon were the first in the water. Tom had moderate success with the bass, but picked up a lot of blue gill right from the start in the larger pond. Our new member, Sophia Zadubera, had no trouble catching and landing her first bass on a flyrod once she settled into her float-tube. First-time experiences can be really challenging, even overwhelming, when you're new to flyfishing trying to make sense out of all the fishing gear... float tube, fins, rod, waders, etc. Lee Fitzsimmons was a great help. Thank you, Lee. Lee didn't do too badly while fishing in the special cove that has been consistently good from previous trips. She hooked lots of blue gill and bass. Rich Lyness ventured out on the water in his kayak for the first half of the day and had a great time. Tom Deetz, Dick Stipes and I struck out in the pond next to the cabin. Usually Tom has always been able to provoke some of the largest bass to react to his bunny leeches, but not so this time. My success was "surprisingly" good this time float-tubing on the larger pond. I landed 4 large 3 to 4 lb. bass that inhaled my homemade poppers and then I got cozy with a king snake that tried to settle onto my lap while I was busy casting in the other direction. Yes, a SNAKE! I felt a subtle pressure on my leg, looked down and saw to my horror 15" of S-shaped tail. Man, let me tell you, I screamed and thrashed the water like nobody's business. I don't know who was more frightened, the snake or I. But thank goodness all 4 feet of snake headed for shore, leaving me totally freaked out and still screaming. And can you believe it, no one got a picture. Tom said he didn't come to my rescue because it was too far to kick. We all laughed hard about it. - Cecilia Stipes

Back to Table of Contents