first off, who else was out there this morning at the marina. There were people everywhere like a huge city [cool]. we fished pretty deep than everyone else at about 50 ft. but we were finding some 10-15 ft from the top. I was using my ice camera and couple of the fish would come and look then swim by. cool to watch them play with it and try to bite the meal worm off the hook, and how some would only bite when i was slowing reeling it in. and some wouldn't bite when you would jig it. but i caught 2 , my dad and friend 0 [:/]. Only saw about a total of 10 fish on the camera the whole day from 8:00 - 11:00. after 11 we didnt see another fish on the camera. we left at about 12:30. pretty bad fishing, but a nice day. we fished just out from the ramp. I'm sure the people closer to shore fishing on the bottom did much better. about 6-7 inches of solid ice and 3 inches of cloudy ice. saw some snowmobiles on the ice. How did everyone else do who was out there on the berry?
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Was anyone running snowmobiles straight across the bay towards Haws Point? I'm going up tomorrow and usually like to get away from the crowds, but there is no sense taking the sled up if there isn't enough ice to get across. 7" is plenty, I just don't know how far out safe ice extends across the bay.
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nobody went across the bay, all the snowmobiles were staying close to the shore. i probably wouldnt risk going over there yet. I'd like to get away from the crouds and head out over there too. but i wont be the first one to do it [
], ill wait til i see people going over there. I heard there are warm springs around haws point. The guy at the marina said to give it two weeks before going across the lake, by then everything should be safe. I think i would just stay near the shore and try to find somewhere away from the people. I want to head out again monday, but i shouldn't go alone.
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well somebody did it. i wont be the first. ill be the second lol. to haws point area we go! jk. maybe ill go next week
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I was there with a couple of BFTers. It was also slow for us, although not as slow as your experience. I caught 2, the other two in my group caught 9 and 7.
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Strawberry kicked my butt this morning. One fish and one crawdad.
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The four of us caught 30 saturday there. We were the ones with snowmobiles northeast of the boat ramp. We were in 20 feet of water and they were mostly on the bottom. From 7-8 am, the fish were cruising by like I had ever seen before. I was using a fish tv and a vexilar. It would be interesting to know where they were going. There were hundreds of cutts going through. We caught most of our fish then on glow tubes, ice cutters, and minnows. No slot busters today. After the bites cooled down, we found fish in really shallow water (5-10 feet). Pretty interesting day to say the least.
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Three of us tried Soldier Creek sat from 7 am to 10 with only one light bite each. moved from there to the Ladders and tried a couple spots with no fish. Three big skunks. I'm no expert at fishing Strawberry, but that was the first time we haven't caught fish. Very disappointing, but we will be back to try again another day!
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We went to the Marina today and also only had one bite. It looked like it was slow for most around us but I did see a handful of fish caught. The one bite I had was the only fish I even saw on the flasher all day.
This makes the second time that I have been skunked at the berry this year, went to the ladders the first time. Looks like I need to take the atv's up and try across the lake.
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Same story everywhere on the lake. Fished sat. my nine yr old boy iced one small cut. 14"ish, my wife had two on that got off just below the ice. I caught nothing!! Saw very few fish caught. Every one was moving around alot trying to find active fish, non to be found. Tried all sorts of tackle, glow tube jigs, paddle bugs, minnow, waxies, crawlers very few takers. Strange for the start of the ice fishing season. Very picky fish, with a lite bite.Saw two snowmobiles out on the ice go by.
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I was there fishing near the camp ground and the point. Real slow day, we got 50-60 fish between 12 of us. I only got 7 fish all day!!!
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7 fish in a day sounds alot better than 2. haha i would have loved to catch 7. I think we were just fishing too deep. I was the kid who went out like in 80 ft of water in the middle of knowhere from the marina. i left my dad in the tent at 50ft and he didnt see a single fish move through, and i had a bite out there just below the ice. I'm thinking of going tomorrow morning either to strawberry or deer creek. i should probably go to DC since its 3 minutes from my house, and strawberry hasn't been too great. and that im probably going alone, unless someone would want to fish with a kid lol.[fishin]
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The key to fishing the Berry is to fish SHALLOW. I never fish deeper than 20 feet and we usually stay at about 15 all day. I caught the fish in my avatar in 10 feet of water in the middle of the day. The big fish cruise the shallows in search of little fish. Just my opinion
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We drove by Deer Creek on the way back from the Berry and didn't see any ice. Is the whole lake open water, or just the spots I could see through the fog?
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There is very little ice on Deer Creek. Most of it is on the Charleston side
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How is the ice surface? Snowpack? Can you get an ATV on the ice? How thick is the ice?
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Saturday there was four wheelers and snowmobiles both on the ice south and west of the marina. There was about 2 inches of hardened snow on top of the ice.
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deer creeks bays are beginning to freeze more and more every day. Charleston bay is safe enough to fish from what ive heard since its so shallow. But hopefully the whole lake will be frozen in a week or two depending on how cold it gets.
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