Hit the Berry up again on the first day of the year and was afraid to exit the jeep when I looked at the digital temp gage, it read -32!!!
It was really cold but after catching 50 fish and a 27 incher a few days ago, I had to get some more of that action.
We headed to our same general spot in the marina and it turned out to be a little slower than last time. We caught about 30-40 fish between the four of us and got three over the slot @ 22 1/2 inches each and one little 12 inch rainbow.
One thing I would advise people to do when fishing the marina is to get away from people. Everytime I fish up there people don't understand why we catch fish consistently and they (people 10 feet away from the marina) only catch a few. A big key to sucess on Strawberry is to get away from people. Get off of your butt and walk a little ways and you'll catch more fish. People also fish in like 70 feet of water at the marina and wonder why they don't catch very many. I fish in less than 20 feet of water everytime I go and sometimes less than ten. They like to cruise the shallows in the morning.
Just wanted to give a few tips out because I got 32 PMs from people wondering how to catch fish at Strawberry.
[signature]
Thanks for the info, I've had my good days and bad at the berry and wondered why. I usually try to fish off of points and try to find the transition between the deep and shallow. I will concentrate more on the shallow now that I know. Does that apply later in the season also?
[signature]
Hookjaw and I fish all the time together, so I'll take a crack at that question.
Yes it applies later in the year as well.... at least in our experience. Start off shallow in the morning 15' or shallower, and you should have some good success. As the bite slows, find some deeper water. We usually try and find 25' of water, or sometimes deeper.
Like Matt said, the big key is to get away from the crowds. Last year we had a 70+ fish day 400 yards from the tent city in the marina. As we walked back other anglers reported 2-3 fish each....
The last bit of advice I can give is this.... don't always fish right next to the bottom. Sonar is a HUGE help in finding fish, but if you don't have one, make sure to have a second pole permit. Fish one rod at mid depth, and the other a foot off the bottom. My last time out I caught 25 or so fish, and at least 20 of them were suspended from 3' under the ice to 15' under the ice in 35' of water.
[signature]
Nice job again. You can't catch 27" fish every time you go, but it sure would be fun!!! It is nice to see that someone else fishes shallow as well. I don't fish nearly as much as you, but we always fish shallow at the berry. I had a co-worker that told me that he had a good day at the berry and caught 6 fish. I chuckled and told him that I would never drive all the way to Strawberry for just 6 fish, unless they were all over the slot. I told him to try fishing shallow and he gave me a look of disbelief. The fishing can be fast and furious. They are shallow for a reason, they are looking for food. They won't be found everywhere shallow, but if you know where to look, it can be awesome. That 27" fish is almost a once in a lifetime Cutt, good decision on the mount.
[signature]
Do you think that fishing shallow applies to most lakes ?? I mean fish coming in shallow to feed then move to deeper water ..
[signature]
Do you guys have better luck in the bays or off the points? I grew up in the south and this Ice fishing is new to me. I have a great time and meet some really great people. I grew up catchin speckle's and rainbows in the appalachin's. Little different out here but starting to get the hang of it. I bilt me a shack and bought me a fish finder, old snowsled, power auger and a bunch of equipment. Still havent had a day close to what you guys are saying.
Do you guys use some kinda double hook setup or just plain ol ice fly's? I still aint found any of the dang whattacrickets everybody talks about, but pretty much have everything else you could think of. Thanks for the info and without a doubt, I would mount that 27 incher!!!
[signature]
It really depends on what you are fishing for I guess. In my experience, cutts and bows will feed in the shallows more than most. That might now be true everywhere... but I have defenitely found it to be true at the Berry.
If you are looking for panfish, they will be in 40' of water or deeper most winter months.
[signature]
nice fish there hookjaw.2 years ago on the 31 dec my bud skip caught 2 just like that one after the other in mud creek. lost his wedding ring releasing them.both were posted on big fish.
[signature]
WOW! Two 27 inchers in a row? I would like to see those pictures, why don't you track them down so we can check them out.
[signature]
No we don't use double hook set-ups. I have used close to the same presentation for like ten years. I like to use tube jigs and grubs in a 2-3 inch size. We always tip our jigs with meal worms or red-shiner minnows, and once in a while I tip it with powerbait in hope for a big bow, but I usually just end up catching cutts.
Alot of times when the bite slows down it is almost necessary to jig. The fish are less aggressive later in the day and they like a little action to their jigs.
[signature]
It was 3 years ago that skipythelurker got the two hawgs. Here is a link to the post. I remember it well!
[url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/cgi-bin/gforum/gforum.cgi?post=177438;#177438"]http://www.bigfishtackle.com/cgi-bin/gforum/gforum.cgi?post=177438;#177438[/url]
Wish the pics were better and up close like yours!
[signature]
Wow! That's awesome! I bet it was even more of a rush back then to catch something that big. It's common now to see 22-23 inchers but back then a 19-20 incher was one of the bigger fish of the day. Two 27s in one day is amazing especially when you only catch six fish all day.
[signature]
Were in luck...lots of bigfishers will remember this story but its a great read anyways! Sure is fun to be able to enjoy nice swimmers like this once in a while! Makes the trip worth it doesnt it!
Ive attached the link..Hopefully we can just click on it and go their but if we cant. copy and paste it into your browser>
Enjoy!
Skipper
[url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/cgi-bin/gforum/gforum.cgi?post=177438;search_string=strawberry;#177438"]http://www.bigfishtackle.com/...g=strawberry;#177438[/url]
[signature]
Although it has been a little slow lately, MudCreek holds a couple of my favorite hotspots on that entire lake. Kent and I were there 2 weeks ago and even though we only caught 3 fish, 1 of them was 24 inches!
I've seen a lot of big fish come out of that area.
Those two fish you caught were truly hogs, especially 3 years ago! I'm trying to imagine how big they would be now if they are still swimming around in there!
I know there are a LOT of big fish in there. I've seen some breakoffs that shouldn't have broken off!
Randy
[signature]
what was really crappy was both those fish were in my hole. turning there noses up at my offerings. the reason i know this cause i was wathimg them on my aqua view,skip was about ten ft away in his house then the turned and headed for his famous paddle bugs. been a firm beliver in em since.worked great at east canyon the other day.
[signature]