Fishing Forum

Arrived at the Strawberry marina around 7:00 a.m. Headed south out of the marina to the far bank (several bays west of Haws Point). Started fishing around 8:00 a.m. in 27 feet of water. Saw very few fish and none of them were feeding.

Picked up the gear around 11:00 a.m. and headed over to where the "old dike" used to be. Fished in 24 feet of water. Again few fish, they were feeding however, the strike was lite. I decided to try something radical. Put on a big Radical Glow tube jig and a minnow & dropped it down the hole. I could see the jig and minnow near the bottom (first time I have been able to see this deep in Strawberry). Jigged the minnow aggressively (just short of ripping the minnow off). Caught 15 cutts using this method between noon and 2:30 p.m.

It was interesting to watch the fish. They would target the minnow, once the minnow was pulled from the hook it would settle to the bottom. The fish would then pick up the minnow off the bottom so that the head was hanging out of one side of his mouth and the tail was hanging out of the other side. The cutt would then shake it's head like a shark for 10-20 second and then the minnow would disappear. All the while I am watching this, I am still jigging my tube jig very aggressively. The cutt then turns and attacks the tube jig. I must have seen this happen 8 - 10 times. I went through two packages of minnows & when I left there were no minnows visible on the bottom. If the fish got off on the way to the surface, you could drop half way back down & he would attack it again for a second hook up.

Next time I go up, I am going to drop a chub minnow (by it's self) on the bottom and leave the bail open on the reel. Let the fish have it for 10-20 second before setting the hook. (The problem is, they may get hooked too deep?)

All of the cutts were in the slot: >19 and < 22 inches.

The weather was beautiful & no wind.
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I had the same experience at otter creek last year we saw the fish swallow up our jigs. I am gonna have to try that method at the berry with the minnows.Personally i would not wait to long for them to hold it they might end up swallowing it too deep .
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Thats really cool!!! First good berry report in a while!! If you use a circle hook you wont have a problem especially if you are watching the fish eat. Just make sure you dont set the hook like with a jig. Just a medium fast steady pull and you will have a side of the mouth hook up. I like the size 6 ones.
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Did you fish with only the jig at any point in time? Just curious if a 5" radical glow tube jig in chartreuse is the ticket when jigging profusely. Or if the minnow and the minnow only is what attracted the fish? Maybe it was the huge bait moving so rapidly in the water? Any insight would be much appreciated. Thanks again for the great report
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I always had a minnow on the jig to start out with. The minnows were the medium size sold at Sportsmans. After the minnow was knocked off, I only had the jig going. So I am not sure what did the initial attracting the jig, the minnow or the huge combination?

I was just thinking, one reason I was able to see so deep in the water was from the light the Radical Glows were giving off. I think they have their own miniture nuclear power plant in them. I think they definitley had something to do witht he attraction - my 2 cents.
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Using a large chub on a circle hook has always been my goto method for bigger cutts on the berry the circle hook will prevent most deep hookings just fish it like you would for a kittyfish i use size 1/0 hooks with half of a 4 inch chub they seem to prefer the head half but both sides will work. i just fish the rig within a foot or so of the bottom hope that helps ya a lil
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We've seen something similar to that in the past at the Berry. Just allowing your jig to settle to the bottom would trigger a strike when otherwise the fish would just cruise around your lure. We watched it on an Aqua-Vu, or wouldn't have believed it. Just as soon as the jig would hit bottom, they were all over it.
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I am excited to try some of these methods! A friend of mine and I are going to head up there Friday after work and pull an all nighter!
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I would be curious to know how you do - if you do not mind.
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