Strawberry 2/17/07 SLOW

[Kent]

Being able to get away from the crowds at Strawberry isn't always good enough. Got invited to be the guide for a group of guys on snowmobiles. I wouldn't blame them if they don't invite me back again. I failed miserably in getting them into fish. I thought the first area was slow (5 fish for the entire group in about 2 hours), but little did I know that would be the hot spot for the day and we probably should have stayed there. Only one other fish iced after that first spot. I caught two fish (reeled in by a youngster) and only missed one other fish, and very few other fish were missed by the other anglers. We fished lots of places around the Renegade area and saw very few fish on the fish finders. Helped drill a couple holes for a couple older teenagers, because their hand auger was so dull they couldn't get through the ice with it. Somehow they apparently got a hole in the ice earlier in the day and I saw that they had kept a cutt in the slot. I asked them how long the cutt was and they proudly announced that it was 19 inches. I told them that cutt could cost them about $100 if they got caught with it. They said, we thought that we could only keep one over 22 inches. I explained that was true, but they couldn't keep any between 15 and 22 inches. Sure wish everyone would read the fishing regulations before they go fishing. Ice was about 2 feet thick, and very little slush on the ice. The sled and I went airborne when I came across a pressure ridge over by Haws Point (I managed to stay on the sled, but it was a wild ride), but other than that no problems at all.
[signature]

[Theekillerbee]

That's too bad Kent. I was hoping you guys would find some active schools of fish today. Seems like this winter has been hit and miss. Been wanting to get back up there, but the latest reports havn't been too encouraging....[]
[signature]

[Jigler1]

[]I fished CCW, and over towards the old dam site, about two thirds across from the marina. Had the slowest action ever. Caught five all together. Caught a 15 incher at 55 feet, across from the marina. I first thought I'd broken the Koke code but was disappionted, sort of. Then I went back to CCW and fished in 28.5 feet and caught a couple more. I was spoiled last year with those 30-36 fish in 6 hours. This year has been really slow, I mean slllooowww! Hope it picks up a bit. The fishing was great, the catching not so good.
[signature]

[Bigcat]

I can't figure out what is going on up there this year! I haven't even bothered posting any reports from my last 6 or 7 fishing trips to Strawberry over the last 6 weeks because they were so uneventful. We averaged about 2-3 fish per person over 4-5 hours of fishing. Using everything in the box for jigs and different bait. Last year on the ice it was considered "slow" fishing if everyone in the group didn't catch 8 or 10 fish each and a good day was 15-20 fish each.

Seems like there are not many fish on the finder this year and even more strange than that is the fact that only about 2 in every 10 fish seen on the finder seem to even want to hit. I can watch them on the finder come and check out the jigs on both of my poles and then swim off. The ones that do hit only give you 1 or maybe 2 chances at them. In past years you could swing and miss 7 or 8 times and they would still give you a chance to hook them.

I can't figure out what the deal is. We have fished 5 or 6 different locations and depths from 15 feet to 46 feet and nothing seems to work. The water is up about 8-10 feet from last winter and maybe it has moved the fish into new areas of the lake. But nobody seems to be really getting into them. Anyone have any idea's what happened to Strawberry. I have never been anxious for the ice to melt but this year I am ready for it so I can get my boat on the pond and go on a fish hunting mission to see where they are!
[signature]

[bkidder]

we're actually having our most consistent year at strawberry ever... for ice fishing. my brother and i have been keeping a tally and according to my spreadsheet we are averaging 14-15 fish per trip. im at 14, he's at 15 per trip. thats about where all the trips have been for us, nothing too high, nothing too low. just consistent.

a snowmobile has made a world of a difference. im heading out of town, and am pretty busy getting stuff ready, but pm me and i'll let you know what we've been doing up there. ive left posts on a few trips, but some i havent had the time.
[signature]

[lavaman]

I think that in general, it's been a slow ice-fishing season EVERYWHERE.
Likewise, I haven't even bothered posting several of my trips, because they are not worth posting!
Something might be contributing to the slowwww winter, it could be any number of factors.
[signature]

[road]

Hi Kent how was the ice by the springs at Haws? I am surprised you didn't get into any near them. Glad you managed to stay on the sled through the whole affair.
[signature]

[Ghoti_Hook]

Well, these reports make me feel a little better. Fished in the general marina area and we had zero bites for about three hours. We then headed over to the Ladders spectacle (lots of people) and fished for another hour or two and had one on that got off and one other hit (two small taps in a row then gone). We didn't see ANYONE catch a thing all day. Hopefully next season can pick up a bit.
[signature]

[Kent]

I have never fished by the springs over there through the ice. I know that some anglers do well there, and I was tempted to try it. I guess that we should have tried it because we certainly couldn't have done any worse than we did where we fished. I have been invited to try again with those guys (not sure if I will get a chance this ice season). Very kind of them to give me another chance after failing so miserably this trip. I guess they remember last year when I got them into more fish -- either that or they are just nice folks.
[signature]

[jazz]

I hit the berry on Saturday with my daughter and her boyfriend. We had a great day. We did'nt get fishing until about 10:00. I ended up with 15. One was a 24 and a half incher. We lost track but the group caught quite a few fish. I ususally get there much earlier but this was a last minute trip put together by my daughter. I was really surprized that the fishing was that good that late in the day. Sorry you other guys did not fare as well. We must of just lucked out and hit a good spot. We fished until about 2:00 and headed home. We had some young kids with us and they had enough by then.
[signature]

[road]

Don't be to hard on yourself Kent. You've fished the Berry often enough to know how she can be. We who fish her regularly get used to the success we have. Then we have a reg. fishermans day and we think we lost the touch. Sounds like your friends now how to say tomorrow is another day and we'll hit it again.

I'm waiting for day when the make a sonar that you can run from a sled. Then there will be fewer days like ya just had. Can't catch um if ya can't find um. And she has a lot of places to look in.
[signature]

[wiperhunter2]

Thats why they call it fishing and not catching[] but i know that doesn't make you feel better. If those guys are any kind of fishermen they already know that, besides there is always next time.[cool]
[signature]

[Flycasting]

Same here. Our last trip we managed maybe 12 between the 3 of us in 5 hours. If you can find the fish this time of year, they can be caught, but they seem to dissapear. []
[signature]

[ice_sled]

Fished Strawberry today. Caught 8. All were in the slot except one. 21.5 inch cutt. All fish caught at 24 feet on a small jig tipped with spikes. They didn't want my cut'r bugs today.
[signature]

[Flycasting]

21.5" would still be in the slot. []
[signature]