11-30-2023, 04:31 PM
Last year Jon and I went to Strawberry on Black Friday. The weather was crazy warm for that time of year with little or no wind. Jon suggested we make the trip an annual tradition. We both knew the conditions would never be like that again. This year the lake got even.
The weather forecast for Black Friday was snow with winds up to 45 mph. It was supposed to clear out by Friday afternoon, so we opted to go on Saturday. As we passed Deer Creek, we called the Strawberry Store and a nice lady said there were no trailers in the main ramp parking lot and there might be snow or ice on the ramp. We decided to go anyway, we could always stop at DC on the way home.
We decided to look first at the new ramp at Chicken Creek East and there were 3 empty trailers in the lot! The snow had all blown off the ramp so we put on the top and got everything ready for a battle with the cold wind. We launched a little after 10. I’d been thinking we made the right choice to come, but as we were launching one of the 3 boats returned to the ramp. Either they had limited out, or it was ugly out there.
We wanted to fish near Haws Point, so we headed across the lake. Air temp in the low 20’s, water 40ish, and the wind chill in the single digits. By the time we got to the area we wanted to fish, the windward side of the boat looked like it had been hit by an ice storm, we had made a boatsicle! Fortunately we were reasonably well equipped with the top up and a big buddy heater.
Our goal for the trip was 2 limits of rainbows for a last smoker batch of the year. The first 2 hours were pretty rough with some wind gusts over 20 and a few cold weather type equipment problems, but we managed 3 bows in the well and a handful of cutts released. Jon suggested we hit a nearby cove to get a little less wind. As we entered the cove, the wind on the main lake started to drop. By the time we got out on out third loop around the cove we had 6 bows.
With the winds now generally around 10 mph, the fishing became easier and the catching improved. We were releasing bows and cuts by about 2 P.M. With our main goal accomplished, I said “Jon, are you read for a good hot lunch?” he laughed and said: Sure!” To his surprise I opened a compartment and pulled out a 1000 W power inverter and a small microwave. We had hot chicken pot pies for lunch!
The fishing continued decent and steady. About 4 we decided not to test the colder evening hours and headed back to the ramp. The last challenge was ice on the trolling motor shaft kept me from stowing it normally, so I removed it from the mount and laid the L-shaped unit in the bow. I remember leaning our over the bow, looking down into the cold water and thinking I sure wouldn’t want to fall in there!
Overall it was a bumpy but good trip. We kept 8 healthy rainbows between 15 and 17 inches, released (or lost at the boat) 4 or 5 others. We estimated about 2 or 3 cutts released for each rainbow. The largest cut was just under 20”. They hit light and dark tube jigs, SnG’s, and dodgers and pop gear with SnG’s. We used both chub meat and crawlers to tip all our offerings. The best speeds were 0.8 to 1.1 MPH for the rainbows and a little faster for the cutts. All the fish came in the top 15 feet of the water column.
Until it snows heavy it should still be good up there, if the wind isn’t too bad!
With having to fight the wind and waves we got no video and only 1 picture. It was taken in the safety of my back yard as I started cleaning and I almost forgot to take that one.
![[Image: IMG-1896.jpg]](https://i.postimg.cc/xJf8p50m/IMG-1896.jpg)
The weather forecast for Black Friday was snow with winds up to 45 mph. It was supposed to clear out by Friday afternoon, so we opted to go on Saturday. As we passed Deer Creek, we called the Strawberry Store and a nice lady said there were no trailers in the main ramp parking lot and there might be snow or ice on the ramp. We decided to go anyway, we could always stop at DC on the way home.
We decided to look first at the new ramp at Chicken Creek East and there were 3 empty trailers in the lot! The snow had all blown off the ramp so we put on the top and got everything ready for a battle with the cold wind. We launched a little after 10. I’d been thinking we made the right choice to come, but as we were launching one of the 3 boats returned to the ramp. Either they had limited out, or it was ugly out there.
We wanted to fish near Haws Point, so we headed across the lake. Air temp in the low 20’s, water 40ish, and the wind chill in the single digits. By the time we got to the area we wanted to fish, the windward side of the boat looked like it had been hit by an ice storm, we had made a boatsicle! Fortunately we were reasonably well equipped with the top up and a big buddy heater.
Our goal for the trip was 2 limits of rainbows for a last smoker batch of the year. The first 2 hours were pretty rough with some wind gusts over 20 and a few cold weather type equipment problems, but we managed 3 bows in the well and a handful of cutts released. Jon suggested we hit a nearby cove to get a little less wind. As we entered the cove, the wind on the main lake started to drop. By the time we got out on out third loop around the cove we had 6 bows.
With the winds now generally around 10 mph, the fishing became easier and the catching improved. We were releasing bows and cuts by about 2 P.M. With our main goal accomplished, I said “Jon, are you read for a good hot lunch?” he laughed and said: Sure!” To his surprise I opened a compartment and pulled out a 1000 W power inverter and a small microwave. We had hot chicken pot pies for lunch!
The fishing continued decent and steady. About 4 we decided not to test the colder evening hours and headed back to the ramp. The last challenge was ice on the trolling motor shaft kept me from stowing it normally, so I removed it from the mount and laid the L-shaped unit in the bow. I remember leaning our over the bow, looking down into the cold water and thinking I sure wouldn’t want to fall in there!
Overall it was a bumpy but good trip. We kept 8 healthy rainbows between 15 and 17 inches, released (or lost at the boat) 4 or 5 others. We estimated about 2 or 3 cutts released for each rainbow. The largest cut was just under 20”. They hit light and dark tube jigs, SnG’s, and dodgers and pop gear with SnG’s. We used both chub meat and crawlers to tip all our offerings. The best speeds were 0.8 to 1.1 MPH for the rainbows and a little faster for the cutts. All the fish came in the top 15 feet of the water column.
Until it snows heavy it should still be good up there, if the wind isn’t too bad!
With having to fight the wind and waves we got no video and only 1 picture. It was taken in the safety of my back yard as I started cleaning and I almost forgot to take that one.
in cheek) trip... Glad it turned out to be good fishing even if the conditions were a little north Atlantic for ya... Thanks for telling us the tale... later Jeff