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I’ve been to Strawberry 3 times this summer over the past 4 weeks. Each time we’ve had 5-7 people on the boat (1-2 are usually kids). We caught 110 fish our first trip, 70 fish our second trip, and 121 fish on our third trip. Each of the 3 trips was no more than 5 hours of actual fishing time. We do the AM half day boat rental. I have never had a day in any other year where we caught more than 55. That’s 300 fish across 3 days. The crazy part is that not a single fish was larger than 21 inches and only 2 of those 300 fish were rainbows. That’s a ton of cutthroat but it sure is a great time.
I love the Berry and it’s a very healthy fishery. I need to learn how to go after Kokes some day to mix it up. I feel like I’m one of the last people to still chase cutthroat via jigging. But I love fishing with a rod in my hand and setting the hook.
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[quote kingfisher82]
I feel like I’m one of the last people to still chase cutthroat via jigging. But I love fishing with a rod in my hand and setting the hook.
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Vertical jigging is my preferred way (when I'm not invited to chase kokanee) to fish Strawberry because, like you, I also enjoy "...fishing with a rod in my hand and setting the hook." We will be jigging again this Wednesday, and yes "...it's a very healthy fishery."
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Another semi-fun way of catching those cutts is to cast/reel in cranks.
I start to looking around/daydreaming and am rudely awakened when one chomps down during the retrieve.
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You are definitely not alone in that preference of vertical jigging ! That is my preferred and almost exclusive method of fishing Strawberry. I say almost exclusive because there have been a few occasions where I threw cranks or drifted and while trailing different offerings that I jigged horizontally along the way. But usually I will choose to vertical jig at Strawberry. I really like active fishing - like you and others, with rod in hand.
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Sounds fun! I think the only time I've seen a 100+ day at the Berry was back when I was a scout. We had 3-4 of us on a little aluminum boat catching chub after chub (pre-poisoning the lake). It was still fun, and we fed a lot of seagulls. We had a pair of pliers on board we nicknamed the "lobotomizers" that we used to kill the chubs, then throw them out for the seagulls.
I'll be heading there this weekend for a couple days of fishing from my 25' pontoon. Any tips on the jigging? I've jigged ice fishing, but not much from the boat. I've usually just trolled and have the downriggers set up on the boat. I also need to try to keep it from drifting too much as a pontoon that big catches a lot of wind.
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Very nice, I have had great days like those. I think it’s time to do something about the slot so all the fish aren’t the same size, and start growing some monsters in there.
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My method isn’t any big secret, other than the spot I like to go to. I use a 2.5 inch white tube jig with a 1/4 ounce jig head. I fish in 60 feet of water and let the breeze drift my rented pontoon boat over my spots. With the I’m fishing near the bottom but with the drift I end up catching them at all depths within the 60 foot column. Good luck.
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[quote remo_5_0]Very nice, I have had great days like those. I think it’s time to do something about the slot so all the fish aren’t the same size, and start growing some monsters in there.[/quote]
Amen...
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