"Ice Off" at the Berry?? ... 5-16-08

[Old_Coot]

[font "Comic Sans MS"][size 2][#002850]Wanting to see what all the ruckus is about fishing Strawberry’s “ice off”, Bait_Caster and I decided to spend the day on the Berry today.

First off, I am now pretty sure that fishing “ice off” does not mean fishing it from a boat. Rather, I suspect that the fantastic “ice off” fishing that everybody speaks of is when the ice has just started to reseed from the banks and the fish are concentrated around the edges. Once the ice melts off the lake, I think the fish start to scatter and it’s over.

As such, today, on my first ever so called “Strawberry ice-off adventure” was a flop to say the least. We didn’t get skunked but pretty close to it.

We launched at about 6:30 and zipped over to the Renegade area where we thought that the day was going to be fantastic because BC plopped in a tube tipped with a worm and immediately, he had a very nice 25 incher in the boat.

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Shortly after that, I nailed a couple cuts too. But that was the end of our catching for the rest of the day. Not another bite the rest of the day. We fished Horse Creek, Salamander Bay, the Ladders, and even the Narrows. We used Pointers, Woolly Buggers, Marabou Jigs, tubes, grubs, bait hooks, Mepps, and even Lill-Jakes. But after those first three ... nada.

There was a fire going on west of the lake over the hills a ways. I suspect that it will be on the news tonight.

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For those of you who don’t know, BC has a new boat (new to him). I snapped a shot of him in his boat when he wasn’t looking.

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I talked him into a photo of his truck and boat too for memory sakes.

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Anyway, I had a good time getting back out on the Berry in a boat but was pretty disappointed in my first encounter with “ice off”. I think next year, I will see if it is any better from the bank while ice is still “on”

So, what's YOUR definition of "ice off"?
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[kidsnme]

To bad that "ice off" was not hot for ya. I have never been able to hit it at the right time. The fire you saw is a burn the forest service is doing up in Sixth Water up to the top of Diamond Fork canyon.
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[MGB]

Thanks for the report Ralph. "Ice Off" is a bit over rated. Ice off is a small window of opportunity when the catching is red hot. I would rather fish Strawberry in July or in the fall when the catching is red hot for weeks.

I will be at the Berry for three days next weekend, can't wait to hit the soft water up there.
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[OCF]

We at least it was consistant over the entire lake. I fished the Soldier Creek side today. I arrived at the marina at 7:00 a.m. and fished until 2:00 p.m. only caught two - both 17-inchers. Caught both of them early in the a.m. - no bites the rest of the day. I used just about everything, RMT spoons, LC pointers, squids, tube jigs, rapalas, and needle fish -- on the surface and down deep.

The weather was beautiful, clear, calm and warm - this may have been the problem. Water temp was 37.3 degrees. There was a skim of ice over the reservoir first thing about 1/8-inch thick. Talked with two other guys camping at the marina - they stated the fishing was better yesterday when it was overcast & there was a little chop on the water.

The courtesy docks are installed. The restrooms are closed.

I am not impressed with ice-off either. The two guys stated the ice came off last Tuesday.
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[Old_Coot]

[#ff0000]"I would rather fish Strawberry in July or in the fall when the catching is red hot for weeks."[/#ff0000]

[font "Comic Sans MS"][size 2][#002850]That is exactly what I plan to put in my fishing diary Mike.

I was talking to Wade over at Angler's Den. He is of the opinion that the three best times for Strawberry are "a small window at ice off, July (after the trout have returned from spawning in the streems in June), and October and November.
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[OCF]

I would agree with your statement. I actually think it peaks around July 4th and gradually drops off as the summer progresses & then picks back up in October.
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[line_dangler]

To me, ice-off does not necessarily mean a lake free of ice. Good ice-off fishing, in my experience, has been when the ice ha chunked up and begun to move and clear-off the lake. This can sometimes be a dangerous time to fish, but it is the hot-action time.

My experience has mostly been at the Gorge. I know the trout, especially the lakers cruise right in the 0-5 foot range, just under the chunks and floats. Then, the firts 2-3 days after it is good, then it is not the "ice-off" hot action as was. I have caught many lakers (but not huge ones) this way with a small bucktail hairy jig, that sinks slowly.

My opinion is that the fish take the chunks and floats for "safe structure" and feel very confident and aggressive feeding around it. I have never put my head in water that cold to look up how it looks from below, but maybe the fish use the chunks as stalking points or something. Look at me here, trying to figure out what goes on in fish brains about the size of a penny and smaller.

With that I will also agree that ice-off is a narrow period of time, but the action can be great. I don't get too many opportunities to fish this period at the Berry. The end of April and May-June provide few fishing days for me.
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[piscispursuit]

I'm no expert - but my fishing journal (6 yrs running) indicates that the best time to fish after ice off starts about 3 weeks after the ice is actually gone, after the water has had a chance to clear a little and the temperature has started to climb into the mid-40s. I noted the last three years that the water was quite turbid probably due to runoff entering the lake right after the ice, during this time catching was slow. However, when it cleared a bit we had some big catch days, especially just before the spring spawn started in earnest around the first week of June or so. My 2 cents.
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[davefishman]

I fished strawberry today as well. I arrived just before noon and fished for about 4 hours. I caught 3. I miss the ice. It is nice to catch fish on a fly rod again though.
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[Old_Coot]

[font "Comic Sans MS"][size 2][#002850]I watched some guys floating tubes fishing with fly rods. On guy was using a leach pattern fly and caught three in the 30 minutes that I watched him.
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[DAFISHWHISPERER]

i went today and didnt catch anything until i moved over by renagade and caught ten fish kept to bows rest were cuts i was using worm and a marshmallow and put garlic powder on it and then i used rainbow power bait both worked about 10:00
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[bottomwatcher]

I totally agree with piscispursuit. June is always better for me, but..........I am still going to hit it on tues.
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[fshslyer36]

I rarely have a day when we dont catch 50+ fish between us and usually a big bow first thing in the morning last year we caught several bows over 4 pounds
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[TS30]

3 of us also fished it today. I don't even know the name of where we fished. It's off the road in the bay in between Strawberry Marina and Hawe's Point. Fished out of our pontoons starting at about 630-ish. I didn't expect the fishing to pick up until about 10-11, but it was opposite. It was hot early for all of us. I brought 2 to net, had 3 others on that either broke me off or got off during the fight, and several other hits all within the first hour. Very similar for my buddies. It was slow going after that, although we occasionally picked off the occasional fish here and there.

We each finished with 5 to net, and we fished until about 4.

For what it's worth, I have a friend who went yesterday and fished minnow or leach patterns toward the bank from his pontoon yesterday and supposedly slayed them. I just think it is about being in the right place at the right time. Today, unfortunately, we weren't. Last year, I caught 22 fish with not one being under 19 inches my first day at the Berry.

Ice off is the "hip" time to fish the Berry....but realize, fish will be caught consistently out of the lake all year. It is a great fishery. And 410,000 8" rainbows will likely increase the catch rates for a time at least whenever they are planted.
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