I was one of the people who hit up tent city on new years day at chicken creek east. There were plenty of people catching, a lot of them right next to us and after some discussion I found that we were using identical lures and baits. The only difference was my group of three caught 1 rainbow... and nothing else. There were several groups having 30+ fish days. The weather and ice were great. I just wish I knew what we were doing wrong. We moved around chicken creek a couple times hoping that we had just picked a bad spot. Didn't make a difference. We were using cut'r bugs, paddle bugs, ratfinkees, tube jigs, and other various ice flies, tipped with waxies and night crawlers. Tried aggressive jigging, light jigging, and dead sticking. Between the three of us we tried to cover the water column (we don't have a fish finder/flasher yet) and we could see the fish swim by, but not even stop to investigate the lures and baits. We fished from 8-2. I think that's about ask the details that could matter. Does anyone see something we were doing wrong? I'd also love to tag along with anyone who feels like they've got a good handle on strawberry and is willing to teach me how to properly fish it.
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Buy a flasher your catch rate will triple. Fish are usually on the bottom or within the bottom 5 feet. Sometimes they get friniky and there's nothing you can do. Sounds like you guys just had bad luck that day. 4 of us fished near strawberry marina friday and caught around 60 fish in 4.5 hours.
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What water depth were you fishing in?
I've found that if I'm getting absolutely nothing after about 30 minutes that I should move.
As for jigging technique, there is a lot of nuance with it, but I tend to pound the bottom first, then slowly work upward. I used to systematically do this with success before I got a fishfinder, then with using a finder, I let the marks on the finder dictate technique. Also, if I'm jigging heavily, I'll stop for a few counts and I often see the fish come in then, as confirmed by my finder.
Next, some day are just like that. A buddy and I were there New Years Day too and started out in close proximity. He was getting marks hand over fist and catching like crazy while my first hole had absolutely nothing going on. I then moved and started getting a few and ended up with a respectable fish count, but I was soundly outfished that day as the fish continued to pour through where my buddy was and he has the skills to capitalize.
Lastly, like AFdude said, get a finder. You will get more fish, period.
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We started out fairly shallow, in less than 8 FOW, without a finder that's my best guess. We were able to see clear till the bottom here and watched plenty of fish swim on by. When we didn't have much action there we moved out deeper. The people next to us said around 15'
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[quote KodiakFisher]
... tipped with waxies and night crawlers.
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Some trips to Strawberry night crawlers have worked fine but many trips other baits have worked much better. Ice fishing my first two choices are tipping with cut bait and tipping with meal worms.
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Sounds like I may need to expand my bait choices before heading up to strawberry again. Thank you for the tip!
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I've got some rainbow eggs from the gorge. Anybody have any luck with these ice fishing?
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[quote KodiakFisher]
Between the three of us we tried to cover the water column (we don't have a fish finder/flasher yet) and we could see the fish swim by, but not even stop to investigate the lures and baits.
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If I were fishing Strawberry without a fish finder I would drop my jig to the bottom. Bounce it off the bottom a few times and lift it a couple inches. If that didn't work I would then lift it a couple feet jig a few times and gradually work my way up to the surface, repeating the process.
[quote KodiakFisher]
We fished from 8-2. I think that's about ask the details that could matter.
Try getting there at least an hour earlier. Not always, but often the bite is fast and furious earlier.
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[quote KodiakFisher]
I'd also love to tag along with anyone who feels like they've got a good handle on strawberry and is willing to teach me how to properly fish it.
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We are probably headed there Saturday the 10th. If you (and anyone else who wanted to join you) wanted to drive up you would be welcome to tag along. I also have a fish finder that you are welcome to use if you join us.
[quote KodiakFisher]
We started out fairly shallow, in less than 8 FOW, without a finder that's my best guess. We were able to see clear till the bottom here and watched plenty of fish swim on by. When we didn't have much action there we moved out deeper. The people next to us said around 15'
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I know some have success fishing Strawberry that shallow and some are successful at catching large fish in the shallow water there. My experience, at least for numbers of fish, fishing deeper than what you were fishing is usually more productive. I like to start out in water that is about 18 to 22' deep and often move out to deeper water than that after the early morning bite.
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Thank you Kent. I will see if I can get a pass from my wife to have that Saturday off. What time about would you think of heading up?
I think that another part of my issue is that I have only ever really fished with worms and powerbait up until a couple years ago. So I have little to no experience fishing with jigs.
I might have gone out a little deeper, but it seemed like everyone was avoiding going out much further due to ice conditions
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one thing is I have found is if you have gas on your hands, sunscreen or any foreign substance that gets on your bait the game is ove. After applying sunscreen or such make sure you wash your hands vigorously. if you think that is a problem you can rub your hand with PowerBait? you can wash them later
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We leave the Bountiful area at 5:00 AM and the east side of SLC at 5:15.
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Don't feel badly. I did poorly with jigs for the first few times trying and I also struggled big time for several trips when I first tried ice fishing.
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[quote cdbrc] if you think that is a problem you can rub your hand with PowerBait? you can wash them later[/quote]
I use a dab of smelly jelly on my hands if I get gas or other stuff on them. It seems to work for me.
Also, on sunblock, (anecdotally) products using titanium dioxide as the active ingredient seem to repel fish less than products containing PABA and other chemicals. Many of the products for babies and children use titanium dioxide.
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I went up there yesterday and here are a few things that I have learned from people that have really helped.
1, when you tie your knot on your hook make sure its tied on the back of the eye-hole so it will float level in the water. When the knot is in the front, your hook will float with the head up which is not natural.
2, when you handle your jigs with your hands it leaves a human scent which they fish don't like so you can buy a scent like crayfish to put on the your jig which will attract fish as well.
3, I just switch my line out to Fluorocarbon Fishing Line which has been great because it is more invisible in the water because the sun light won't travel down the line.
4, I have bought this 10 dollar app that shows sonar views of the lake so I can see where the drop of points are and the underwater rivers are which help me find an ideal spot to start fishing.
5, When you buy tube jigs or cutter bugs make sure you take the time to separate the tail on them to give them the best motion under water.
6, when you tip your hook with a worm make sure you ether rip it in half or the end to get the guts coming out so it will attract more fish.
some of these things seem like small things but for me they have made a difference. but I am sure other people have better or more helpful tips that I don't know about but I think the biggest thing is location.
Hope this helped!
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4, I have bought this 10 dollar app that shows sonar views of the lake so I can see where the drop of points are and the underwater rivers are which help me find an ideal spot to start fishing.
Where did you find the app?
Thanks
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Its called navionics, I have an iPhone so i just found it at the app store by searching that name, you can download a demo of it first to make sure you like it first
here is a website link to give ou an idea of what its like,
http://www.navionics.com/en/mobile-pc-app-1
I am still exploring all the features but it has been helpful.
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Thanks for the information.
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