03-03-2019, 06:54 PM
Randy, Shawn and I fished Strawberry yesterday. We arrived at The Strawberry Marina to a temperature of about 25, which is 50 degrees warmer than an earlier trip I had up there. It sure was nice not getting numb fingers just getting dressed and ready to leave the parking lot.
The normal exit from the parking lot to the boat ramp has snow piled so high that I took the snowmobile the long way around and headed down the hill east of the lodge. Tied two sleds behind the snowmobile and Randy climbed on the back of the snowmobile and we headed about a mile from the marina. It was a big shock to Randy when he climbed off of the snowmobile and sunk in the snow and about a foot of slush to about his crotch.
I drove back and met Shawn a little ways from the marina and headed back. When Shawn and I arrived back, to where I had dropped off Randy, we found him drilling his first hole. I was planning on stopping where the water was not deeper than 30'. I should have used my GPS because we discovered the water was just over 50' deep where we were.
Shawn and Randy decided to fish next to the snowmobile and after fishing nearby for a few minutes I decided to hike to shallower water. After walking about a block through the deep snow and slush (which would have been much worse had I not put on my snowshoes) I finally found water that was 32’ deep.
Because it was so warm, Shawn and I didn’t put up our shacks (Randy always puts up his shack, before he drops his first line). It snowed all day and we finally put up our shacks in the afternoon (Shawn because his clothing was getting soaked and me because it was hard to see my fish finder screen when it was constantly covered with water drops).
I ended up with my best day on the ice at Strawberry (I landed 45 with the largest going 24 ¾” and a really heavy cutthroat). Randy and Shawn didn’t fare as well but they both caught plenty of fish.
About 4 PM I packed up and drug my sled back where they were fishing. I was worried to find that one of my holes, that I had drilled earlier, not far from Randy, was flowing water out of it like a gushing spring. Needless to say, there was a large area around it that was a slush monster. It was worrisome that this included the area where the snowmobile was parked. I decided I better try getting the snowmobile away from there a short distance without Randy joining me and without pulling the sleds. Without experiencing any difficulties (thanks Kim for your advice) I was able to make a wide turn and park the sled about a 100’ away from our sleds. We sloshed through the snow and deep slush, attached our sleds and hoped for the best. Again, the snowmobile had no problems, at all, with the less-than-desirable conditions and we made it back to the marina without any difficulties. In the meantime, Shawn had pulled his sled most of the way back to the Armada and before I had a chance to drive back to him, with the snowmobile, he had joined us in the parking lot.
Driving home was quite the adventure. It was nearly impossible to see where the road was as we made our way back to Highway 40. We had to look for the marker poles they have put along the road, so that they know where to plow, and be sure to stay between them. Highway 40 was also snow covered, and slick, almost to Heber City. We passed a pickup pulling a loaded trailer that was hanging over a guard rail and being kept from going into the canyon by the trailer still being in the road.
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The normal exit from the parking lot to the boat ramp has snow piled so high that I took the snowmobile the long way around and headed down the hill east of the lodge. Tied two sleds behind the snowmobile and Randy climbed on the back of the snowmobile and we headed about a mile from the marina. It was a big shock to Randy when he climbed off of the snowmobile and sunk in the snow and about a foot of slush to about his crotch.
I drove back and met Shawn a little ways from the marina and headed back. When Shawn and I arrived back, to where I had dropped off Randy, we found him drilling his first hole. I was planning on stopping where the water was not deeper than 30'. I should have used my GPS because we discovered the water was just over 50' deep where we were.
Shawn and Randy decided to fish next to the snowmobile and after fishing nearby for a few minutes I decided to hike to shallower water. After walking about a block through the deep snow and slush (which would have been much worse had I not put on my snowshoes) I finally found water that was 32’ deep.
Because it was so warm, Shawn and I didn’t put up our shacks (Randy always puts up his shack, before he drops his first line). It snowed all day and we finally put up our shacks in the afternoon (Shawn because his clothing was getting soaked and me because it was hard to see my fish finder screen when it was constantly covered with water drops).
I ended up with my best day on the ice at Strawberry (I landed 45 with the largest going 24 ¾” and a really heavy cutthroat). Randy and Shawn didn’t fare as well but they both caught plenty of fish.
About 4 PM I packed up and drug my sled back where they were fishing. I was worried to find that one of my holes, that I had drilled earlier, not far from Randy, was flowing water out of it like a gushing spring. Needless to say, there was a large area around it that was a slush monster. It was worrisome that this included the area where the snowmobile was parked. I decided I better try getting the snowmobile away from there a short distance without Randy joining me and without pulling the sleds. Without experiencing any difficulties (thanks Kim for your advice) I was able to make a wide turn and park the sled about a 100’ away from our sleds. We sloshed through the snow and deep slush, attached our sleds and hoped for the best. Again, the snowmobile had no problems, at all, with the less-than-desirable conditions and we made it back to the marina without any difficulties. In the meantime, Shawn had pulled his sled most of the way back to the Armada and before I had a chance to drive back to him, with the snowmobile, he had joined us in the parking lot.
Driving home was quite the adventure. It was nearly impossible to see where the road was as we made our way back to Highway 40. We had to look for the marker poles they have put along the road, so that they know where to plow, and be sure to stay between them. Highway 40 was also snow covered, and slick, almost to Heber City. We passed a pickup pulling a loaded trailer that was hanging over a guard rail and being kept from going into the canyon by the trailer still being in the road.
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