I asked a similar question to this about Flaming Gorge last week.. Now, I would love advice regarding Strawberry.
I am going to Strawberry on Thurs. 6/26. I will be staying in Aspen Grove since it is not as crowded, there is shade, and hopefully it is not as windy. I have a 16 ft aluminum boat..25 HP motor. Is the Soldier Creek side of Strawberry a good place to fish and will the waves get crazy there? I am going to be targeting Kokanee for the 1st time ever. I will try my best. My father-in-law will be with me and my step son. I don't want to look like a total newbie out there.
Thanks! [fishon]
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I just spent last weekend fishing the area that you are talking about and did very well. I fished the opening where the channel (narrows) meet soldier creek and I trolled right down the middle. I used a downrigger at about 35 feet and did pretty well. one thing i've learned about fishing strawberry/soldier creek is that it will be windy at some point every single day on the lake, some days it is worse than other and some days its not even boatable. on Sunday 6/22 we had calm water from morning until about 3:30 so that was a great day. Good luck and you shouldn't have too much trouble getting into some fish out there.
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I like the solider creek side cuz if the wind dose sneak up on you. You don't have to cross the main bay. I have went strait out from the marina below the road that goes to the damb and did well. I don't have down riggers so I go for what ever will take my bait I'm just happy to catch fish
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Thank you guys!
Very good info and extremely helpful. I will have my father-in-law and my 14 yr old step son with me. I am happy to just be out, but Junior gets pretty bored when he doesn't catch anything and goes batty from excitement when he does. Good times. Haha.
Take care![fishon]
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there are usually a lot of bows on that side to keep you busy[cool] good luck I bet you do good
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Here's a webpage I snaked from another member on here...it has a lot of good tips and science to back up the claims.
http://www.fishwithgary.com/kokanee_univ...part1.html
As far as the salmon fishing at Strawberry right now, based on other posts on here and also my personal expereience so far this year, it has been awesome.
In my opinion:
It doesn't matter which side you fish, you can catch kokanee. The bay side seems to have a lot more cutthroats that seem to be willing and you may have to "weed" through them to find some salmon but it is very doable and it's fun to just catch fish at times. There is a triangle that goes from Hawes point, to the ladders, to the marina that if you follow those general lines it puts you in an area to catch kokanee (as a general rule). We found some last week just North of Hawes point out in the middle. All salmon were caught on a dodger and a squid tipped with a maggot (the maggot is a must). However, I did hear of some caught on an osprey.
As far as the Soldier Creek side, IN MY OPINION, there are less willing cutthroats and the majority of the fish will be kokanee. The opening of the narrows is a great place to fish but can be a little crowded on busy days. Not only with fisherman but with people passing through as well. If you come from out of the narrows and head North toward the main marina, that is also a good run that has produced. There is a hump that is out closer to the middle and you need to stay between the shoreline and the hump. All the fish I have been catching have been in water over 70 feet or more (I'm not fishing at 70, but the depth needs to be that deep or deeper). Also, like was mentioned, straight out from the main marina across to the other side where the road goes to the dam is also another good run. And don't forget to fish from the Aspen Grove marina (once you hit the main bay) straight down towards the mouth of the narrows.
I have found most of the fish I am catching at 25-40 feet and am trolling at about 1.2-1.9. I use a dodger and a squid all tipped with a maggot in white or pink. Colors have been anywhere from pink, green, and orange squids, and dodgers in bahama mama, orange shatter, and even a straight purple with pink stripe.
Let me know how you do and if you have any more questions don't hesitate to ask!
Good Luck and have fun!!
Someone always wants proof so here is a couple of pictures from the last two trips.
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Thank you, thank you. [bobhappy]
Very informative. I feel like I am learning a lot of good information every day. It will be nice to get out tomorrow night and put my knowledge to the test. I need to get experience under my belt. In no time, I will be in here giving advice and putting in reports that all make sense to all of you more advanced BFTers!
Take care.
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Thanks! I wouldn't mind catching some bows. I am fresh out of fish for my smoker.
Take care. [fishon]
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So far, I have ordered small Scotty downriggers for my boat with 4 pound Cannon balls. I have ordered Gulp maggots in pink and chartreuse. I have ordered pink and chartreuse glow dodgers. A pink squid, a wedding ring in orange and gold, and a kokanee killer in chartreuse. Its all that I can afford for now. I am finding out that this hobby can get expensive.
I think this gear will work... I will see.... [fishon]
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That gear should all work great. 4 pound weights seem a little small, you might get a little more blow back so your numbers may be off just a little...you might have to let down a few more feet to account for the blow back.
As far as your tackle, that should work great. Did those scotty's come with releases?
It all starts adding up real quick! You find yourself looking for sales and buying as much as you can when things do come on sale. Putting everything together and watching it all work is well worth it in the end!
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Hey TheScout,
Again, thanks for all the help.
Yeah, the Scotty downriggers came with the Scotty release clips. They were lake troller clamp-on downriggers. I may end up not liking the clamps. Eventually, I may mount them sideways on my gunnel. The downriggers have 100 ft of 150 lb test steel cable. They were half price ($50 each) on ebay and still in the box. Scotty recommended not going over 4 lbs on the weights. I have read about blow-back on the downriggers and it makes sense. I will brush up on my trigonometry and in no time will be able to calculate how many more feet of line that I need out. I also bought Okuma level wind reels with line counters to help on counting the depth.The Scotty's have a manual crank system and no depth guage. 1 crank = 1 foot. That seems like it could get inaccurate quick.
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Who said math class would never pay off!! Joking aside, you definitely can calculate exactly what's going on underneath you. Also, with a little time on the water you will be able to figure out your equipment and know what is working and what isn't. Try something for awhile and if it doesn't produce then change something. Either drop down farther or raise up some, change lures, change speeds, change something until you find something that works. The fishing is good so you should be able to find something that will work.
Those okumas don't happen to be coldwater reels do they, because I LOVE LOVE LOVE my coldwaters!!!
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Just a friendly reminder to leave the heads on the fish you clean at the berry - tis the law - quite a few signs around the state that regulation but sometime easy to forget when your cleaning your fishies..
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Thanks! I will keep that in mind.
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Thanks!
No the reels are Okuma Magda Pro Line Counter Levelwind Trolling Reels. I bought them on Amazon for $40. Those coldwater ones do look nice though.
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Does leave the heads on only apply to species with a slot?
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I believe that is all fish to include kokanee.
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Often your finder will let you know if your ball is at the right depth. Of course this depends on your finder and being able to see down there.
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In black and white. From page 36 in the guidebook:
Quote:Strawberry Reservoir, Wasatch County
Trout and salmon may not be filleted,
and the heads or tails may not be
removed in the field or in transit.
[red]⫸[/red][orange]<{[/orange][yellow]{{[/yellow][green]{{[/green][size 4][blue]⦇[/blue][/size][blue]°[/blue][#8000FF]>[/#8000FF]
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[quote PACMEN]Often your finder will let you know if your ball is at the right depth. Of course this depends on your finder and being able to see down there.[/quote]
[font "Calibri"]Your right, most times you’ll paint your balls on your graph. This was a thick school of chubs I was graphing up at the berry this weekend. You can see the downrigger balls (solid line across the screen) set at 12’ and 15’. Not as convenient but affective none the less.[/font]
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