Every once in while, the stars align and the fishing gods grant me a full day for fishing. When it's a weekday, I know I've been living right.
A cosmic collection of circumstances occured on Monday, and I was ready to spend an entire day hiking and fishing. And then it rained.
When the weather cleared at 2:00, I decided to salvage my day and head to Strawberry for the late afternoon and evening.
I arrived on the Soldier Creek side to mostly clear skies, strong winds, and an unseasonably cool temperature.
After jigging about for a while, I finally hooked up with something. And then it surfaced, and to my dismay, I saw what it was. Chub.
This would be my first of nearly a dozen lakerats; all in the 10 inch range; all very fat. Try as I might, I couldn't find the trout.
As dusk approached, my dismay turned to disgust. I saw thousands of chubs cruising the shoreline. Thousands.
With no real fish, I salvaged the rest of my salvaged afternoon, snapped a few shots of the sights, and called it a night. I hope the rising reservoir and new cover for chubs doesn't spell disaster. I've never had a day like that there. I'm no master fisherman, but I've always managed at least a few decent cutts or bows.
Until the next day off...enjoy the pictures. Sigh.
lurechucker
[cool]Wow. Those are some gorgeous pics, man! Hey, did you try using chub meat for bait after catching the first one? That's what I would have done, but that's just me. Good luck next trip.
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Great pics lurechecker, although we always look for the pics of the fish on the site, its great to see some beautiful shots of mother nature. As outdoorspersons we always come to appreciate one of the great aspects of fishing and that is what you have depicted in your photos, ever think of becoming a professional on the side?
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Hey there lurechucker,
It sounds like you got your "limit" of chubs. Bummer about the trout. Anyway thanks for the nice photos of the "scarlet paintbrush" (red flower photo of [Castilleja miniata]) and the "Mountain buttercup" (yellow flower photo of [Ranunculus eschscholtzii]). Seeing the photos tells me the progression of the "botanical season" in Strawberry area - which I can use to determine many different aspects of the overall environment and it helps me to plan the timing of my research (and fishing)outings.
Well at least you got some good scenery and outdoor time while you were there - so not entirely a waste - for my perspective anyway.
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Sounds like a tough outing. Sure hope my wife and I do better up there today and tomorrow. You look at the thousands of chubs in the shallows as a problem, I look at them as a great opportunity for me to load up on them for the coming year of fishing, and also know that the cutts and large rainbows will continue to be fat. Got my two casting nets (when one is not enough) and my minnow trap ready. Crawdad trap with two raw chicken legs is also ready in the wings. Fishing rigs are tied. Just wish it was going to be a few degrees warmer for the wife (heck at my age I would also enjoy not freezing my tail off).
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Hey, Chucker, thanks for a nicely written report and beautiful pictures.
It's already been stated, but sometimes going fishing means that we are denied our sought-after prize and are left to focus our attention on other forms of wildlife. It appears that is what happend with you.
Who knows? If the fishing would have been fast and furious, would you have stared so deeply at the sunset or knelt down to get a close-up shot of those colorful flowers? Probably not.
I am hoping those chubs you caught became fertilizer for those flowers, or is it illegal to throw those pesky chubs up on shore? Hope not. I need to read the proclamation.
I hope that as anglers dispose of the chubs they catch and use nets to catch large numbers of chubs for bait and especially as the big cutts and 'bows feed on the chubs--that they don't overrun the lake to the point that other measures have to be taken to reduce their numbers.
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Well stated by all. I did indeed have a great time, and was actually really pleased with how the pics turned out. Every once in a while it's nice to not feel the pressure of fantastic fishing, so we can take our eyes off the water and look around a little bit. Even snap a few shots...(I'm just a point-and-shooter, too poor for professional stuff)
That being said, I still hope for better luck next time.
Out4Trout- I thought about carving up some lakerat for bait, but I wasn't really carrying the gear for bait. Have you had much success with chub meat? I'd be interested to hear how you do it.
And PrinceFisher... Very well said. Also, I think the plants and trees are very well fertilized there...
lurechucker
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i was up at solger creek last tuesday. the cutts have moved into the spawning stage. and are at the creeks and other spawning beds. i saw hundreds of 15 to 22 inchers at the bed i visited. also saw one brute about 28 to 30 swimming with the average cutts. some were beaching them selves and flip floping back into the res. probley to break loose the eggs. others were digging in about a foot of water with their tales making beds. should be in full spawn by now. let the cutts alone for a week or two.
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