Haven't been out to the berry for a couple years and decided that since I need to take the 11 year old scouts camping anyway, we might as well enjoy some fishing at the berry while we're at it.
I have an 18 1/2 foot aluminum boat with 150hp motor on it, so we can get anywhere on the lake pretty fast.
Does anybody have some advice for some easy fishing for the boys? I talked to them and half of them have never even been fishing (SHAMEFUL !!!) Anyway, I was planning on keeping it simple and having them do some Jigging with 3" white tube jigs tipped with worms. I might bring some chub minnows to use as well, in case the worms don't work.
If that doesn't work, we'll troll a bit with various lures.
I know a few places to try, but for the life of me, I cannot find anywhere that is consistently good. Sometimes I find 'em, sometimes i don't.
If somebody could PM me a good location to try, it would be greatly appreciated.
We'll be getting there Friday evening and fish until dark, then get up nice and early Saturday and try our luck..
Hopefully we have some good luck and hook those kids on fishing for life !!!
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Where are you camping? Strawberry, Soldier Creek or out back?
As the weather warms, I prefer the channel between Strawberry and Soldier, using just what you said.
Reports are that Kokanee are hitting nicely, I would concentrate on 30-50 ft of water near the river mouth using a dodger and squid combo.
Don't forget the crayfish, 11 yr old scouts love to catch, play with, torture and throw at each other crayfish, which are thick in the reservoir. Use a piece of chicken neck or back on a string about anywhere, but rocky areas are best.
While camping be sure to have the boys who need to, do the meal planning for [#0000ff]rank advancement, along with toten-chip and firem'n-chit[/#0000ff]. Also, teach them their knots and while fishing you can go over [#0000ff]fishing merit badge[/#0000ff] and if any of them catch a fish they will be almost there for that merit badge.
[#0000ff]Weather is also a good Strawberry merit badge[/#0000ff] while camping as the weather can change several times and most types of clouds are visible at one time or another during the day.
Since you have the boat, lay out the course and have each boy dock the boat to get much of [#0000ff]motorboating merit badge[/#0000ff] out of the way. Perfect for afternoon when the fish have stopped biting.
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[quote LuvThemCuts]
I know a few places to try, but for the life of me, I cannot find anywhere that is consistently good. Sometimes I find 'em, sometimes i don't.
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Neither can anyone else, because they move around during the season and also the water levels vary during the year and from year to year. Sent you a PM.
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We'll be camping on the Strawberry side as close to the marina as we can. We do plan on letting them go crazy with the crawdad catching. That should be a hoot !! Speaking of which, if we were to get ambitious and attempt a crawdad roast, how would we do it? Do you just bring water to a boil and drop them in? And eat them when they turn red? Are they good plain, or best with butter or cocktail sauce? Or would it be better to not try to eat them? And lastly, what parts do you eat and what sort of tools do you use to open them up? Can you just use your fingers?
We should have a great time, that's for sure !!!
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My scouts always enjoyed a crawdad boil. We always de-vein them first by grabbing the 2 middle fins on their tail and pulling straight down then we put them on ice until we are ready to boil them. I've used spices in the boil with small corn ears and potatoes but I have also just cooked them in water. I like them with butter and I usually just eat the tails because I never can get much from the claws. The kids should have a ball and seem to get a bigger kick out of that than fishing.
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Sounds Excellent.
We're going to tie chunks of hot dog to strings and hope that works. Some of the boys have done it before and they say hot dogs work just as well as chicken.
Looks like it might get a bit rainy, but that's just the way Strawberry is in the summer. At the very least, it will be shady :-)
Has anybody had trouble finding camping spots at Strawberry? I discovered today that you can reserve them online, however, you have to do it a few days in advance of your trip. I guess we'll just hope for the best and maybe we'll get lucky with a spot close to the restroom, but upwind, and close to the lake and the crawdads.
Here's hoping we run into a huge passel of trout. It's just a matter of finding them.
Thanks for all the advice everybody. I'll write a report Saturday night or Sunday to let you know how it all went.
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The campgrounds have been full when I have been up there but we went past the road to the marina and turned west and found a nice spot. We went 3 roads south of the marina road and then west. Have fun.
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Here's my input for what it is worth. I took 7 16/17 year olds up there a couple of weeks ago and had a riot. 3 of them had never fished before. (no wonder the prisons are full). We caught a few fish (19) but more importantly to them, we filled a couple of 5 gallon buckets with crawdads.
Fish: I had the newbies use worms and marshmallows with a weight about 18" above the hook. the more experienced were using flies or worms on clear bubbles. A couple were using green sparkle powerbait, flies or spinners. We had a couple of canoes and once they were exhausted from racing they tried drifting a worm with no weight, and that worked best of all methods. Its made a big difference to thread the worm onto the hook rather than just wadding it up. Everyone caught at least one.
Crawdads: They actually had more fun catching crayfish than anything else. I've taken my own kids since they were 3 or 4, nieces and nephews, my kids friends, and every time they have had a riot. We buy a package of chicken legs and tie them to a stick and then shove the stick down into the bottom in about a foot or so of water so its well anchored. As mentioned before, its best if its a little rocky, but we have caught them in about everywhere around the lake. The crayfish will start coming out as soon as it starts getting dark, and you will start seeing piles of them by about 10:30. We throw them in a bucket, then kill and devein them before we leave. We twist the tail off (can keep the claws if you want an exercise in futility) and throw the rest away. To devein them, grab the middle fin (there are 5) at the base of the tail and twist, and the vein will come right out. I just boil them in salty water, shell them and either dip the meat in butter and a little lemon, or toss a bunch in a shrimp flavored coup-of-noodles.
One more thing: the rainbows come into the shallows after dark and we have caught many of them by tossing out a line with a worm hanging about 18-24 inches below a little red and white bubble.
Good luck with all those boys and I hope this helps some.
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I forgot to say that you should make sure each boy brings a good flashlight so they can see the crayfish. You will catch many on the chicken but you will catch a lot as they scavenge along the shore. We usually have a stick with a chicken leg about every 15 yards or so and just go from 1 stick to the next. Grab them right above their main claws on the body and they won't be able to pinch you.
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Crawfish:
Bring a 5 gallon bucket with fresh water and put a 1/4 cup of baking soda and place the live crawfish in the bucket for about 20 minutes. Change the water if you desire, but this should be enough time to "purge" the crawfish.
Bring a 6 gal pot to a boil adding in 2-3 tsp of salt and a good heap of 'Ol Bay' seasoning along with 2-3 stick of butter.
Boil corn, red potatoes while the crawfish are purging. When the veggies are done, empty the water from the purge bucket and put them suckers in there live and fresh. Cook em until they are nice and red.
When done drain the water, pour everything on the picnic table on newspaper and sprinkle a little more Ol Bay for some kick.
Here's a video on how to eat them.
Enjoy!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EndhxlX7Df8
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[quote LuvThemCuts]
Thanks for all the advice everybody. I'll write a report Saturday night or Sunday to let you know how it all went.
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Which Saturday or Sunday will that report be written?[:/]
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