Strawberry way 2 many boats and no posts.

[liketrolling]

Fished both sides SC and Strawberry side. don't know how many days I'm getting old.
a lot of boats fishing and no  one post.    I wounder what the kokanee think when they see all the dodgers coming at them.
go there one day and find them go back the next and you have to find them again.  It is hard to out think them.
The water is starting to warm up so you will just have to find how deep they are. on the SC side they have been deeper.
My fishfinder will show me if they are on top are down.   and if they are coming under the boat.  
Catching big and little kokes on both sides, but the strawberry side will get some bigger ones.
I don't think a lot of boats are catching a lot of kokanee.    finding how deep they are is easy but finding what they want is hard, what works one day may not work the next.   also if your using a sling blade dodger you need to get the right bend on the dodger, don't be afraid to keep changing till you find what works. and if you are not in the kokanee just  go to sleep. (cuts are not fun to catch)  You may only have 2 hr to catch 12 kokes because they go to sleep.

my speed has been 1.3 to 1.7  with all the boats hope they don't have long set backs, they may lose a dodger, and planer boards may get run over

Need a change going to Flaming gorge.

[fryman1]

I would post more but with the new board I always have issues with my login. I was up there today. Late start for most folks as I was in the water at 7 and there was already boats out there all over the place. Guess you have to wake up at 4am. Fished til 1230 and not one Koke. The Cutts and Bows were sleeping too.
We caught one Cutt and one Bow the first hour and just one more Cutt late morning. Tried all colors On squids and changed out different squids and all depths plus planers. Mostly fished from 20- 35 where I could see some fish on the finder. Wondering if they were chubs. Tried different scents. Been catching them at Jordanelle and limiting on them at FG. My go to area between the knolls and sage hollow was
baron. I guess everyone already knew the kokes were not in that area. Most of the troops were all lined up between the marina and haws. Maybe I should have got in line. 3 weeks ago just one Koke. I know it is early but I think Strawberry just gets pounded too much and the great fishing 2 years ago thinned out the herd for last year and this year. Last year was only good for me late summer when I could get my fish hawk down to measure where 54 degrees water holds the plankton. 54 was on the surface this morning. Seems like they are scattered all over the place out there. One of my passengers made the comment that the fish are not schooling because of Covid.

I did enjoy my first day koke fishing with the ipilot terrova 80 thrust. Sure was nice to have more control of my boat. It’s got the sonar too so now I can run a second fish finder in different settings. Cut through the wind real nice in autopilot and I was learning how to record routes. Well great day for fishing. Should be better days for catching in the weeks to come. I can’t remember a time going out and not getting at least one Koke if not 4 or 5.

[BSF]

Thanks for sharing guys, I hope to get up to Strawberry soon.

Robert, let us know how you do at Flaming Gorge.

[Jig-fisher]

I joined the herd today.  Was on the water around 7 am.  The ramp was already busy and lots of boats on the water.  Fishing was very slow.  Tried many patterns and different set ups.  I finally found the schools of kokes and they were stacked together thick, but I could not find any that would hold on.  I did have several brief hook-ups and pops out of the riggers and the planers, but only one cutt early came to the net before I found the concentrations of fish.  You were right about they being picky.  Most fish on the finder were between 10 and 25 ft with most around 15.  Frustrating day.  Wind came up and most boats left.  We tried casting the shallows for cutts and or bows and caught one bow later in the morning. 

I purchased a new fishfinder this year with downscan and sidescan.  I really like the sidescan.  The schools of kokes show up well on it and I can move the boat around for another pass after seeing them out to the side.  Didn't help with the catching, but is a huge upgrade from what I had before.  Nothing like the livescope, but pretty good so far.  Here's my wife with the cutt.

[elkantlers]

I was there today as well. Fishing was slow until I figured out the kokes were at the surface. A down rigger at 8' and we had 4 kokes in about 2 hours as well as 20+ cutts.
The wind finally pushed us off.

[impactfisherman]

Fished both sides SC and Strawberry side. don't know how many days I'm getting old.
a lot of boats fishing and no  one post.    I wounder what the kokanee think when they see all the dodgers coming at them.
go there one day and find them go back the next and you have to find them again.  It is hard to out think them.
The water is starting to warm up so you will just have to find how deep they are. on the SC side they have been deeper.
My fishfinder will show me if they are on top are down.   and if they are coming under the boat.  
Catching big and little kokes on both sides, but the strawberry side will get some bigger ones.
I don't think a lot of boats are catching a lot of kokanee.    finding how deep they are is easy but finding what they want is hard, what works one day may not work the next.   also if your using a sling blade dodger you need to get the right bend on the dodger, don't be afraid to keep changing till you find what works. and if you are not in the kokanee just  go to sleep. (cuts are not fun to catch)  You may only have 2 hr to catch 12 kokes because they go to sleep.

my speed has been 1.3 to 1.7  with all the boats hope they don't have long set backs, they may lose a dodger, and planer boards may get run over

Need a change going to Flaming gorge.

Replying on my phone not sure how this will work- I spent the past 3 days camping and fishing at the berry, same thing every day- vote was good until about 8:00-8:30. today actually stayed good until about 9:45, caught 8 kokes each day. Soldier Creek side. The key the past couple days has been planer boards for us. most kokes weren’t very big but did get into 4 really nice ones 18-19 inches. colors and dodgers and scents were different each day so no points saying what we used because we used everything. changed things every 10-15 minutes until we hooked up and then just replicated what they bit on. 
I do agree lots of boats I keep saying I’m going to stop fishing on saturdays but I still seem to end up there each weekend.
Also wanted to thank Like Trolling for having me out on his boat the beginning of the week it was an awesome experience your a great guy and really know your stuff!

[brookie]

We have been doing okay. Fished Monday, Tuesday and Thursday this past week. 8 Monday, 7 Tuesday and 11 Thursday. First thing in the morning has been best (start at 0530). Then it slows. I have come in around 0930 and then the wife wants to come down from camp. She got 3 both Tuesday and Thursday between 10 and noon and lost several nice ones Thursday.

Best colors have been orange or pink and that changes day to day. Best depths have been 15 and 19', thought the water is warming and we may need to go a bit deeper soon. I have used a long leader between dodger and hoochie, will shorten as the season progresses and they go deeper.

This has all been on the Strawberry side. I haven't fished SC for 3 weeks - fish were disappointingly small over there. Thursday we got into some bigger fish - 19" and 3 lbs. I will be back this week.

[Mildog]

I was up to the Berry for a get-away from the valley trip We got there Friday afternoon, I fished for about an hour late afternoon, to look around a bit. I got a few cutts and hooked one nice Koke, Long Line released it. Wind started blowing pretty good so I headed in. It rained and blew from the east and lighting and thundered Friday night. Got out not very early about 7 am Sat morning got away from the flotilla to a spot that has produced in the past, Got one about 18" in the first 3 minutes at 5 feet. I thought here we go. Then NADA for a about 2 1/2 hours, just a couple cutts, but even they seemed off. That's fine with me they are a nuisance anyway.
I was marking both Kokes and Cutts I am sure but they did not want the many offerings I tried, other than the first Koke we got at 5 feet. I tried multiple depths from surface down to 35 feet. One other hookup at 15 feet. Had to run in to meet some visitors at camp. A buddy wanted to run out and try, Not my favorite time to fish but we went out anyway, nothing for a couple hours at several locations. Decided to try where I hooked the one the afternoon before, bang, we landed 3 in about 15 minutes and lost a couple more. 15 to 18 feet was where we hooked them. We worked it for another half hour or so, NADA. The wind started blowing and we had to head in to social distance with the group. I talked to a guy that had been there since Wednesday, he had gotten limits every day, he got 0 Kokes Saturday. He was out at first light until about 12. He also commented how even the cutts seemed off and he could not get any Kokes to hit?? I felt pretty good for getting the four, from the boats I talked to Saturday was pretty slow. I'm sure some got them, but watching the flotilla it was all over the place as if everybody was trying to find them. Stormed and blew again Sat night. Ran out for about an hour and a half this morning, could not pick up any Kokes caught 4 cutts wind started blowing and it was time to pick up camp to head back. Talked to one boat that had been having some luck "last week" he had been out since first light until about 11:30 he said he got one Koke.
So from what I saw and heard, it seemed slow to me. I have fished harder, but for the amount of effort and areas covered it was tough for me. I have better spots with willing Kokes and not as much crowding and no cutts to deal with, so it will most likely be a while before I hit the Berry, until I need a crawdad bash. That will be a couple of good times this summer!

[Hookinup]

Thanks everyone for the reports....  My experience Friday sounds similar to all yours...  
Frustrating for it not be fast yet.....
Frustrating having big crowds already......
STILL GREAT TO GET OUT!

[WET1]

I would post more but with the new board I always have issues with my login. I was up there today. Late start for most folks as I was in the water at 7 and there was already boats out there all over the place. Guess you have to wake up at 4am. Fished til 1230 and not one Koke. The Cutts and Bows were sleeping too.
We caught one Cutt and one Bow the first hour and just one more Cutt late morning. Tried all colors On squids and changed out different squids and all depths plus planers. Mostly fished from 20- 35 where I could see some fish on the finder. Wondering if they were chubs. Tried different scents. Been catching them at Jordanelle and limiting on them at FG. My go to area between the knolls and sage hollow was
baron. I guess everyone already knew the kokes were not in that area.  Most of the troops were all lined up between the marina and haws. Maybe I should have got in line.  3 weeks ago just one Koke. I know it is early but I think Strawberry just gets pounded too much and the great fishing 2 years ago thinned out the herd for last year and this year. Last year was only good for me late summer when I could get my fish hawk down to measure where 54 degrees water holds the plankton. 54 was on the surface this morning. Seems like they are scattered all over the place out there.  One of my passengers made the comment that the fish are not schooling because of Covid.

I did enjoy my first day koke fishing with the ipilot terrova 80 thrust. Sure was nice to have more control of my boat. It’s got the sonar too so now I can run a second fish finder in different settings. Cut through the wind real nice in autopilot and I was learning how to record routes. Well great day for fishing. Should be better days for catching in the weeks to come. I can’t remember a time going out and not getting at least one Koke if not 4 or 5.

  I'm right in there with ya. I wasn't able to get on the water until 8:30 Sat due to having to get the boat de-conned. Fished until 1:30 and was the first time I can remember getting skunked. Fished both sides and from the surface to 45 feet running 4 rods, even tried long setbacks. Threw the book at them and struck out. I try to watch other boats as much as I can to see if they're catching just for some more info but I never saw another boat land a fish. Doesn't mean they didn't I just didn't see it. Never saw a dodger flashing above water and never saw anyone waving a net around. I hope it gets better before I have to secret a tracker on Robert's boat.