Lake Davis

Lake Davis sits at about 5,800 feet in the Plumas forest north of Portola, a shallow reservoir of about 4,000 acres on Big Grizzly Creek. It is one of the best known stillwaters in Northern California for the fly, because the shallow, weedy water grows insects in huge numbers and the rainbows grow fast on them. The state treated the lake for northern pike in 2007 and restocked it with trout.

Late May and June are the heart of it: damselfly nymphs migrating to shore, callibaetis mayflies over the weed beds, and fish cruising the shallow coves of the west shore. A float tube or a small boat along the weed edges with a slow-sinking line or a dry is the standard approach. By midsummer the shallow water warms and the fish go deeper or slow down, and fall brings them back up. Statewide trout rules apply to the lake.