Strawberry 7-9-05

[Kent]

One thing I have learned fishing Strawberry is that if one jig, one lure, or one color works for awhile be grateful, because often after an hour or so, whether jigging or trolling, it will catch few fish; however, if I change to something else the new item will often immediately start catching fish. If one wants fresh minnows Strawberry is hard to beat. I usually net my minnows at the marina before I head out fishing. I have also netted them in The Narrows. I'm sure there are many other places that one can find them. The only problem with Strawberry is that the cutts have targetted the red shiners and they are now few and far between. It seems like a couple years ago I could catch 90% shiners (I prefer shiners to chubs), now I catch probably less than 10% shiners, and the ones that I do catch are often extremely small. There is no limit on how many non-game minnows that one can have in their possession; however, if you happen to keep a game fish you can receive a ticket. I have been checked a couple times to make certain I haven't kept any trout minnows. Most of the time I don't get any trout minnows at all, but there have been a few trips (seems to be in the fall) when I have netted a few trout. When I find one in the net I immediately return it to the water. I have had a few trips when I couldn't find any chubs or shiners to net, and I have had a few other trips when I have gotten over 100 minnows in a single cast of the net. If I happen to find a large school in water under about 2 feet deep it is prime netting conditions. It also works almost as well if the minnows happen to be near the surface in deep water. I have tried a minnow trap a couple times. I have caught a few in my minnow trap, but they work better if one is fishing from the shore, rather than trying to get the minnows as quickly as possible to be used in a boat.
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