LAKE DAVIS PIKE

[Basslab]

Noticed the story in the Bee today about Lake Davis and the ever ongoing battle to eradicate northern pike as they plan on another poison campaign in 2007. My thinking is this will be my last chance to try and fish for those toothy critters. Now before you start, I neither endorse or oppose their actions, I just want to catch some of those monsters knowing full well that they must be killed and turned over to authorities. My question is whether anyone has taken their boat there and fished for pike and if so, are there any special permits, etc. I have already contact DFG and awaiting their response but we all know how long that can take and I feel this is about the prime time to head up there. Appreciate any info.

[Bill K]

Len. I do not know a lot about the pike at Davis, but did go fish them once, several years back. Went to the far end in shallows and weeds and used a floating rapala in silver/blk color. Caught a few smaller ones and turned them loose, as that is what F&G, in their infinate wisdom said at the time. As for eraticating them, they never will. Those fish are just smart enought that some will drift into the aquafirs and come back out after the lake fills again and the chemicals are gone. But those experts can not see pass their power struggle with the people and residents in the area. You should be able to catch some, working it early and late in the day.
Bill K

[MIKE209]

Get a fly rod and fish the Damsel fly hatch that should
start any day now. Forget the Pike and fish for the 4 and 5 lb
rainbows up there. My parnets lived up there for years and it
is a real shame that some asshole went and planted
those fish. They killed off a great bass fishery also. My people
didn't know how good the bass fishing was up there.
If you take your boat stay well off the Points on the west side
1/4 to a 1/2 mile they go out a long way. I saw a guy it a bass
boat beach himself at 50 to miles per hour one time.
Mike

[Blue_R70]

Here's an interesting article from the Reno Gazette-Journal:
http://news.rgj.com/apps/pbcs.dll/artic ... 40343/1002

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Live pike find causes concern for officials

JEFF DELONG
RENO GAZETTE-JOURNAL
Posted: 5/24/2006


Efforts to prevent the escape of a voracious, invasive fish from a popular Sierra fishing lake expanded to inspections of anglers' cars last weekend and officials said they are worried about what they found.

Five northern pike, two of them alive, were found in cars or boats on trailers stopped by the California Department of Fish and Game at two Lake Davis checkpoints.

"That's very significant, very disturbing also," said fish and game spokesman Steve Martarano.

The two live fish were not being kept in water and the two fishermen found with them said they did not have any intention of planting them elsewhere. Still, Martarano said, the situation is concerning.

That's because if pike ever escape from Lake Davis -- by swimming downstream into Feather River tributaries or by being physically removed and planted in other waters -- they could quickly spread and overwhelm valuable native fish.

"People moving them out is definitely one way," Martarano said. "If they do get out, that's a worst-case scenario."

The state's first checkpoint for pike at Lake Davis involved 71 car inspections and also produced some unexpected results. The occupants of one car were found in possession of a mason jar full of marijuana while another motorist attempted to discard items that could be used to manufacture methamphetamine. Both cases were referred to the Plumas County Sheriff's Department for investigation.

One angler found with a live but dying pike was issued a warning. In the second case -- in which the fish was in such good shape that it lived for more than two hours out of water after being discovered by wardens -- the matter was referred to the District Attorney's office.

Anyone convicted of transporting a live fish of any kind in California could be fined up to $1,000. Deliberate planting of an invasive species such as pike could result in a much larger fine of up to $50,000.

Anglers who catch pike at Lake Davis are required to kill the fish and turn them in to the California Department of Fish and Game office in Portola or to one of several businesses in the area that accept the fish, Martarano said.

Pike were first discovered in Lake Davis in 1994, leading to concern the predatory fish could not only decimate the lake's popular trout but ultimately escape and spread throughout the greater Sacramento-San Joaquin river system.

In a highly controversial move, the state in 1997 tried to use fish poison to rid the lake of the pike. Massive protests resulted in Portola, prompting the state to send 150 police officers -- including sharpshooters -- to the tiny Sierra town about 55 miles northwest of Reno. That event cost California $2 million plus another $9.2 million in reparations to residents who said their water supply and tourism-based economy were damaged.

But pike again were discovered in the lake in 1999, either having survived the poisoning two years earlier or having been subsequently planted in the lake by anglers who value the fish for their fighting ability.

Since then, officials have hooked, netted, trapped, shocked and used explosives against the fish, with some 55,000 removed from the lake.

"Still, the numbers are exploding," Martanaro said. "And the more pike that get in there, the more chance there is they will get out."

Earlier this spring, officials were concerned runoff from a heavy snowpack would cause Lake Davis to spill over its dam and allow pike to escape downstream. That now doesn't look to be a danger, Martanaro said.

Fish and Game officials are exploring future alternatives to eradicate pike from Lake Davis before they can spread. The preferred option, which would not occur until late in the summer 2007, would involve draining most of the lake and again trying to poison the fish. That idea today has much more public support than in 1997.