The Berry BEST for Last (Sunday)

[EvilTyeDyeTwin]

Always have had a love hate relationship with the berry over the years....having never fished the fall season up there I decided on Sunday to go up there with BFT's FlyFishingLover and FishingLunitic.

Arrived at Haws Point at 7am or so.....just in time for the sunrise.





Around 9am the action started to turn on. Threw a jig out there and kept getting hook ups...but none to shore. After 4 fish lost I tested the sharpness of the hook and the verdict......dull as a bowling ball!

So I put on a new hook and sure enough....got into the biggest fish of the day! A 19.8 inch Cutthroat Trout. This guy was fat and quite a handful.



Knowing that if fish take a jig they will take a fly....so I switched up the gear....and got 2 Rainbow Trout....one at 13.6 inches and the other at 11in.



The 2 boys were out on Float Tubes not getting anything so FFL wanted to try Chicken Creek West. I threw a few more casts and nailed a 18.5 inch Cutthroat on the fly!



At the parking lot I got a great view of the fall colors at the berry.



While driving to CCW we almost nailed 3 deer crossing the road....and the momentary slow down allowed me to snap a picture of the colors along the road.



Within 10 fly casts at CCW I got a 18.5 inch Cutthroat Trout to shore. A guy on the beach came over and said that when I showed up and started flinging flies he thought I would be wasting time...he also added that he has never seen a fly fisherman at the berry before...hummmm he must not fish the place that often.



The wind kicked up and the action was DEAD! So I snapped some pics of the colors and took a 3 hour nap on the beach.








The lack of action was discouraging.....so we bailed over to Soldier Creek to fish for some bows.


Got a bunch of takers on the fly.....but most got off. While stripping in the only Rainbow Trout I landed at Soldier Creek a bunch of Red Salmon came cruising by....oh I was just wishing that the bow would let go so I could get one of those guys....but never that never happened.


At sunset we bailed back to SLC.....FFL got 3 fish, FL got 1 and I got 6. I got one on a pearl pepper tube jig and 5 on the Olive Mini Bunny.
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[SBennett]

I am impressed you are measuring your fish with an engineers tape.
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[EvilTyeDyeTwin]

I think some of the old timers on here would love the measuring tape I have....VERY large marks, very big and accurate. At the same time I hardly take it out thanks to the weight of that thing!
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[kandersonSLC]

As always, great report and awesome photos. I debated all weekend whether on Monday to hit Soldier Creek (hoped to pick up some chironomid tips from FG) or Mirror Lake. Looking at the upcoming weather, I opted for Mirror Lake because it is likely the last opportunity for this year. It was beautiful but windy (thus cold), and I caught a lot of fish with wet and dry flies, but none as big as yours. Maybe Strawberry will remain accessible for a few more weeks.
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[flygoddess]

Chironomids are not the meal ticket right now for Strawberry or Soldier Creek. Not saying they can't work, just real slow.
My weekend was full of Rainbow and Cutts up to 25". But, I was using a Type II in the wind and Intermediate on the calmer waters. Fishing 20' to 50'. Caught the big one about 50' off the boat launch.
Always on just flies[] I don't know or want to know any other way[]
Saturday night was just too windy, tried drifting with a drift sock on the boat but only yielded one. Sunday started of calm but 10 wind picked up. lasted all day, but I do better in chop.
Monday started off calm but by 11, was full blown all day. Only managed a few hours and not as many fish as Sunday, but enough to keep me interested.
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[flygoddess]

This guy has never seen a fly fisher? What do we look different? I bet he sees it all the time but didn't realize it.
Nice job! I love shore fishing Strawberry and Soldier Creek. When they are cruising the shore you can really nail them.
Keep up the great work!
Got the crap scared out of me walking the dog last night. Looked up and was staring face to face with the biggest Doe I have seen! It was about 20 feet away. She and her three LARGE young ones headed for the trees very calmly. Cool as heck.
Then say a BIG cow moose dead on the side of the road coming down the canyon...so .
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[TyeDyeTwins]

Well fly fishers do cast differently so yes you could say that they do look different. Cool deer stuff..............as for the moose I have been chased by them too many times to feel sorry for them. Shame the meat is wasted out there though. Don't get me wrong I would rather see a hunter with it than a car.
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[flygoddess]

I watched a show about Alaska. The cops found a dead (shot and skinned for food) Cow. As you say, I get the food factor, but there were two calves wandering around. That was their mom and the cop had to put the two calves down because of it. That just gets to me, but such is life, right.
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[TyeDyeTwins]

In no way was I endorsing poaching. Sounds like a poaching story to me.
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[flygoddess]

That was poaching and I agree totally, but I was thinking the dead moose on the side of the road might have had babies too.
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[FishingLunatic]

Definately was my second worst fishing day of this year but it was enjoyable goin up with u guys and seein gorgeous fall colors and such. Oh well, u don't know what awesome fishing days feel like without this type of day especially for me lol.
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[TyeDyeTwins]

Man you guys must have pissed off ETDT because I didn't see a single pic of you ugly bass excrement's[] (now that I cannot say "turds" after the word "bass")

The berry can treat you bad sometimes but don't give up. I gave up on that place but DuckDog1us got me a 26 incher and a 22.5 inch slot buster and I fell in love with the berry once again.
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[FishingLunatic]

Lol I think flyfishinglover just chose not to take pictures and I didn't even really catch 1. I was in my tube and I finally caught probably a 19 or 20 inch cut and was about to grab him but then he made my pole totally bend down ( very small pole) and he took off to the bottom and got my line tangled all around my flippers so he got off.... Yeah dude I love strawberry certain days. A few years ago back in like 2008, me and my dad went in the fall and no joke, the average bow was like 24inches...We hate fish and let them all go but any1 else would have been a way happy camper!
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[flygoddess]

[quote FishingLunatic]Lol I think flyfishinglover just chose not to take pictures and I didn't even really catch 1. I was in my tube and I finally caught probably a 19 or 20 inch cut and was about to grab him but then he made my pole totally bend down ( very small pole) and he took off to the bottom and got my line tangled all around my flippers so he got off.... Yeah dude I love strawberry certain days. A few years ago back in like 2008, me and my dad went in the fall and no joke, the average bow was like 24inches...We hate fish and let them all go but any1 else would have been a way happy camper![/quote]


I hear that!
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[FishingLunatic]

It's true...I'm not sure if it got fished out of the big ones or what happened but it sucks. Now it's fun to go up there for cut throats but u can't count on big bows anymore. One of the reasons we used to not just stop at deer creek was because strawberry used to be worth that 40 min extra drive for those 20+ inch bows. Now 20 inches is huge for a bow up there when before it used to be below average or at least for us.
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[TyeDyeTwins]

There are those that can catch the big bows with consistantcy. So I submit that the average fisherman might not get as many as they used to. Fished out? Not buying that. Consider the size of the berry......think of how many places they can hide. Then as I said there are those that catch them consistantly right. Might just have to do with where and how they fish....[]

My thoughts is you managed to stumble upon the good bows for one year but they changed, went somewhere else in the vast lake. Think about how many fish at very little size they stock in there......that is probably what you are running into all the time now. Just those pesky little buggers that haven't grown up to the size you want is all.

So put your time into the water and you will find the bigger fish.
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[Flyfishinglover]

http://s1055.beta.photobucket.com/user/f...sort=3&o=0
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[Flyfishinglover]

I just upload them now man lol

http://s1055.beta.photobucket.com/user/f...sort=3&o=0
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[FishingLunatic]

You're probably right in that there still are some but I think it really has gotten overfished. It wasn't just 08 that we used to catch big fish. Every year before then was like taking candy from a baby to catch 20+ inch bows. Now that I think about it, 2009 and 2010 there still were some but it wasn't prime like 2008...it was like a declining athlete.

I think that fishing has gotten more and more popular over time and that most of these "big bows" got caught and kept and the ones left are more scattered now. Up untill this year I used to go like 10 times or so per summer and we always had a boat. I've noticed more people fishing than there used to be.

The problem isn't when one or two people keep their limit but more and more often now is the group with 6-10 people halling out close to 40 fish. That's the major change from now versus back in 2008...we used to be practically the only people on the lake on a sunday in 2008. In particular,the rainbows in particular are sterile so once those big ones are caught, they aren't replenished and even old ones that don't get caught will obviously eventually die (not sure how long they can live).

I also don't have links directly but I remember in 2010 and 2011 gill nettings were done and if I recall there weren't any 20 inchers bows which might indicate that it has lost a lot of the big ones.

I'm not one to complain cause I love challenges as well but when we used to catch these 20-24 + inch bows it wasn't just in 1 spot. We had many spots we would go...some more private that not to many people go to and some that are common.
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[FishingLunatic]

Oh yeah and congrats on your day at yuba! I saw your thread and also heard EDT talking to use. I remember he said u caught like a 31 inch pike that weighed 7 or so pounds and then like a 21 or so inch walleye + a bunch of sun fish. Must have been a blast?
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