Lake Davis / Highway 70 Side-Trip

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