Strawberry 7-2-05

[Kent]

Got to The Strawberry Marina about 6:45 AM. Launched the boat and put my casting net on the bow. My plan was to net some minnows around the paid rental slips. Noticed that there were minnows around the docks by the boat ramp. Made one cast of the net in deep water and got nada. Made a second cast in shallower water and got about 100 minnows. Moved south and west of the marina and fixed my son up with a whole minnow and I tried jigs and a Jigging Rapala. I got a few bites and hookups on jigs, and my son was getting a few more than me on minnows. Moved out into the center of the bay out from the marina to a place I had previously marked on my GPS. Caught a couple right off and then no more. Moved north of Mud Creek and caught a few, but it wasn't hot fishing there either. Wind started blowing a little about 11:30 AM, so we tried drift trolling. We caught several with my son using leaded line and a dodger trailed by a crawler on a rebarb hook. I was using leaded line and nothing other than a whole minnow. Tried trolling with the kicker and caught several more using the same set ups. Later moved over by Mike around The Ladders. Jealously watched Mike and his friend catch about 7 or 8 fish in the short time that we were there. Managed to wrap my line, not once but twice (I am a slow learner), around the prop while moving the boat with my line still out. Also managed to become a general nuisance to Mike with my boat dragging the anchor into him a couple times (sorry Mike). It is truly amazing to watch mike jig at Strawberry -- he knows his stuff and is extremely successful at vertical jigging. Our final tally was 14 cutts for my son and 9 cutts for myself. Largest was about 22 1/2 inches. I also had at least 1/2 dozen break off (usually during the hook set), I need to start using heavier leader. Here are a couple pictures.
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