I have received several PMs requesting information on how I have been fishing Strawberry, so I thought I would share the information with everyone.
I have been using white, black and crawdad tubes. The last couple trips I have had very little action on crawlers, but I always give them a try sometime during the day. I have been tipping my jig with a small piece of minnow (usually about 1/3 to 1/2 inch long, and occasionally a little larger). BTW - the tail and the head are the premium parts of the minnow. Fish just outside of the weedline in 20 to 25' of water. I occasionally cast and let my jig sink all the way to the bottom and then bounce it back to the boat, but most of my fish are caught straight down. I drop right to the bottom and then bounce it off of the bottom three or four times and then just hold it a couple inches off of the bottom. I will then raise it a foot or two and watch my jig on the fishfinder to see if anything is following it. If there is one following it I will keep jigging it (varying my jigging motion) to see if I can get it to bite. If I don't get a bite I will usually drop all the way to the bottom and repeat the process all over again. Many fish are hanging close to the bottom and they are not visible on the fish finder. On the downward stroke, while jigging, I don't just drop my arm (if the jig isn't visible on the fish finder), but I move it slowly enough that my line doesn't go slack. I watch my line and if my jig stops dropping before touching bottom I snap my wrist (when I remember, unfortunately I more often than not swing my entire arm). Many fish are missed because the angler waits to feel the fish pulling on the line. One must always know where the bottom is, so that one can tell if the jig is stopping because a fish has grabbed it or it is because it is resting on the bottom. One easy way to do this is to drop to the bottom and then reel down the rod tip to just above the surface of the water (Rich, thanks for teaching me this) (there should not be any slack in the line until the rod tip just touches the surface of the water, or an inch or two above the surface (depending upon the preference of the angler and the type of watercraft one is fishing from).
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[
]Thanks Kentofns. If we get a chance to hit the Berry that info could be very helpful. Makes real sense. When we have been ice fishing and put the camera down to watch the action we would get a bite and hit the fish with a hook up and never see the bite on the pole. Makes me believe we have lots of bites while jigging that we are know the least bit about. Fishing is an art. Don't you just love it?
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Thanks for sharing some very important information. Do you catch mostly rainbows or cutthroats?
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Kent,
Do you fish braid for better feel? I have wondered about it but I always use mono and do alright. Also, I have found the bigger fish out in around 35-40 feet of water. More fish shallow for sure though..
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We are catching more rainbows than I have caught for years up there, but cutthroats are by far the most common species that we catch. Saturday we caught 3 rainbows (which is typical this year) and one of the cutts was over the slot and one or two were under the slot.
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I only use braid when fishing for macks, but I know others like to use it. I use 4 or 6 pound clear Silver Thread Excalibur. In freezing temperatures, at least with some braids, they hold water on their surface that freezes and also there is more ice on the eyes of the rod. I also do not use a swivel. I quit using a swivel up at Strawberry a few years back and immediately started catching more fish. Both of my fellow anglers were using a swivel Saturday and they had no trouble catching fish (so this seems to be a personal preference). One reason I prefer to not use a swivel is because it can add some confusion at times on the fish finder.
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Good to know, I dont think there is much stretch in mono with only 25 feet of line out. With a good sensitive rod you are usually good.
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Kent,
Thanks for the info. Typically what size of jigheads do you use?
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Just curious, what does the swivel do to the fishfinder? I have never heard of that. But I use a swivel with my tubes and I have noticed that sometimes the finder does not see the tube and sometimes it see it great. I would love to hear what you have discovered.
By the way, Thanks so much for sharing and all the great posts you do on our site. It is a pleasure to have guys like you that are willing to help others. I know you have helped me from time to time. I would love to get out and fish with you someday.
Thanks
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Kent,
Where do you buy your minnows at? Or do you catch them yourself? Thanks in Advance.
copple2
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[quote jacobl]
Typically what size of jigheads do you use?
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I use from 1/32 to 1/4 ounce (with red Matzuo hooks -- size 2/0 to 4/0). I pour my own jig heads. I also do not have any eyes on my tubes (I know there was a discussion on here on how important it was to have eyes on ones jigs). Although, I have used them before and if I had tubes with eyes on them I would certainly use them.
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[quote chinook]
Just curious, what does the swivel do to the fishfinder? I have never heard of that. But I use a swivel with my tubes and I have noticed that sometimes the finder does not see the tube and sometimes it see it great. I would love to hear what you have discovered.
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[#0000ff]I set my fish finder on zoom and magnify the bottom by 2 or 4 times. I like to keep the sensitivity set so that I can just see the jig (assuming it is in the cone -- which it is unless the boat is moving too much in the wind). The problem with a swivel is that if I can see my jig I can probably also see my swivel. It is just one more thing showing up on the screen that can be distracting or occasionally
with my jig. [/#0000ff]
[quote chinook]
By the way, Thanks so much for sharing and all the great posts you do on our site. It is a pleasure to have guys like you that are willing to help others. I know you have helped me from time to time. I would love to get out and fish with you someday.
Thanks[/quote]
[#0000ff]Thanks I appreciate the compliment. It seems like the last few days many on here want me shot (or worse) for either moderating too much or moderating too little (extremely difficult to please both sides when they have totally opposite opinions)[:/]. It would be a pleasure to fish with you sometime.[/#0000ff]
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[quote copple2]
Where do you buy your minnows at? Or do you catch them yourself?
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I trap or net most of them. I get some of them from TubeDude and a few other members and I have been known (haven't for a few years) to purchase them from Sportsman's. The nice thing about fishing with cut minnows is that they are less expensive (even if you purchase them from Sportsman's) than fishing with night crawlers.
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Kent,
thanks for the info...much appreciated. Any recommendations for taking a group of scouts out there this weekend? We'll just be fishing from shore. I would assume the same jigging method would work if we get near deeper water. We've had success in the shallows this time of year with jake's lures in the past. Thanks again.
copple2
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Kent
As long as they do not use real bullets it's ok if they shoot you[
]. Personally I wouldn't want to be a moderator because you can't please everyone even a fraction of the time. If people really communicated with you they would know you are a all right guy.
The problem I have with minnows is not much of the hook sticks out and it is hard to keep minnows to stay on. What am I doing wrong?
I am taking my son up tomorrow and going to hit it again.
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[quote grzbear10]
The problem I have with minnows is not much of the hook sticks out and it is hard to keep minnows to stay on. What am I doing wrong?
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Without seeing exactly what you are doing I can only make general observations that may or not apply to your situation. I use about a size 1/0 hook on my jigs at Strawberry. Occasionally I will go with something smaller, but when I do I will have more fish get off. I only use a small piece of minnow. The idea is to add some flavoring and scent, not to feed the fish. I freeze my minnows in a bag with a little water to remove the air from the bag. I keep them in a cooler with either Blue Ice or frozen jugs of water and thaw them out at the lake. I usually thaw them out by putting them in my net and thawing them out just enough that a few of them are no longer attached to the block of ice and minnows. Then I put the bag in a cooler with Blue Ice and remove them as I need them. I cut my minnows with a serrated pair of scissors (I think I purchased them from Harbor Freight) rather than cutting them with a knife. This is much easier, less messy and it seems to not mash them as much. The minnows from Sportsman's will also work fine, just remove one minnow at a time and keep the remaining ones frozen or partially frozen and kept on ice. I like my minnows to be partially frozen when I put them on the hook. Hope this helps.
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[quote Weekend_Warrior]Kent,
Do you fish braid for better feel? I have wondered about it but I always use mono and do alright. Also, I have found the bigger fish out in around 35-40 feet of water. More fish shallow for sure though..[/quote]
I am with you WW. Granted I am fly fishing, but I am hammering them in 30' to 40'. Brown, Black and White with PINK and PURPLE thrown in as attractors.
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I was wondering how you locate fish? Do you have spots that you already know hold fish? Look for schools on your radar? Or just simply fish here and there(because Strawberry holds fish everywhere)? Thanks for the info! Quite generous of you to do this post.
MGB is the master at locating fish I don't seem to have the skill and I definitely don't have the patience that he does. I typically head to places that have produced for me in the past or in some cases I have received some tips from fellow anglers. Occasionally, I see fish on the fish finder before I start fishing but often I do not. My experience at Strawberry is that often the fish are hugging the bottom so tightly that few of them show up on the finder until I drop a jig down and get them to follow my jig up to where I can see them on the finder.
I heard it said on here awhile back, "Never leave fish to chase fish". I have followed that advice the last couple trips and it has paid off. Both trips I have been anchored up fishing an area and we have been catching a fish every 15 minutes or so and I have been tempted to move to locate more fish and then I decided to give it a little longer before moving. Each time the catching has gotten red hot (my definition of this is I drop the jig down and jig it two or three times and get a bite -- all within two minutes and often less time).
If I move to a new area and we don't get a bite within 15 to 20 minutes or so I will typically either pull the anchor and just drift for awhile and see if that takes me to some fish or I will totally move to a new location or perhaps shallower or deeper in the general area that I am already fishing.
Some trips when I can't seem to locate the fish I will look around and see if I can see a concentration of boats anywhere and if I do I will motor over and fish around them and see if they are doing very well. Sometimes I don't even bother stopping because I can see that they aren't doing very well.
If all of the above fails to find fish, I have been known to troll around (hopefully, using the electric if it is working that day[:/]) and see if we can locate an active school of fish. If we do, or if I see a concentration of fish on the fish finder, I will throw out a marker buoy and fish that area.
Hope this helps.
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KENT GREAT POST. I use the exact same process and it is very successful for me. I have taken may friend Garth out a couple of times and he has mastered the tecnique you discribed and now I have a tough time out fishing him. Alot of the bites make you think you are just ticking the weeds but it is a critter er I mean a cutter.Thanks again for the info.THEFISHNUT
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