Strawberry Ice report

[Urbanforester]

Fished just North of the marina on Saturday. Ice was not very thick and multi-layered. The top layer was about 2.5", then there was about 2" of slush, then another 1" of ice. That is the least amount of ice I have ever been on. There were two big groups of people already out on the ice when we arrived in the marina parking lot so we set up just to the East of them. Noticed many fishermen in Mud Creek as we drove past.
We kept close to shore in 15-20 feet of water and I kept my snowshoes on the whole time to help disperse my weight.
It was pretty cold so I remeasured the top layer throughout the day. I believe it was getting thicker as the day progressed but I did not hear the ice cracking as it does when it is expanding.
My fishing partner and I averaged about 1 fish per 30 minutes, just enough to keep us interested.
Fun, but a bit frightful.
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[HookJaw_Brimhall]

We were fishing right next to you guys. We saw you waltzing around in your snowshoes [sly].
We caught about 30 between 8 of us. Actually I was really surprised that the fishing was so slow. Usually the first trip is the best of the season for us. This was the worst day (As far as fish caught) that I have had on the Berry in probably 10 years.
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[jason-searle]

All you guys that are fishing the marina are nutts why not fish mudd creek or CCE its safe ice and the last trip i went on 3 of us iced 40+ fish. Come on use your heads you dont want another dead body in strawberry do you. BE SAFE OUT THEIR AND JUST REMEMBER TO HAVE A BACKUP PLAN..
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[HookJaw_Brimhall]

I have never had an excellent day at Mud Creek. 30-40 fish day is pretty good for mud creek. In the Marina we usually ice at least 50-60 fish everytime we go. I have seen several 100 fish days in some areas of the marina.
I thought the ice would be plenty thick, but we were wrong and the fishing sucked. Guess we probably should have gone to mud creek.
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[davefishman]

Am I correct in assuming that Mud Creek requires a 4wd vehicle? Every time I see the turn off it does not look like I can make it.
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[HookJaw_Brimhall]

They plow the road down to the parking lot, but it's still covered with snow and pretty slick. I would think that if your car handles the snow pretty good, you should be fine. The road looked fine when I passed it a few days ago.
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[jason-searle]

Hookjaw you know that you cant catch 40+ fish at mud creek i was fishing CCE. Did you catch your monster last year at the marina? cause that was a nice CUTT.
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[HookJaw_Brimhall]

Yeah, I was thinking that 40 fish for Mud Creek was quite a few. [:/]
I fish the Marina every year. I have been all over the lake (Soldier Creek included) and the Marina produces the most fish everytime. Back in the day Soldier Creek used to be the hot spot for me, but the last few years it hasn't been very good.
Yes, I caught the big cutt in the marina and we also caught about 20 cutts over the slot last year in the marina.
When I say the "marina", I don't mean right next to the ramp. We usually walk about 1/4 mile to get to our spot.
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[jason-searle]

Im heading up tomorrow in hopes to catch a few out of the slot any suggestions on what to use to catch the big ones
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[MGB]

I fished behind the Strawberry Marina Store Sunday and had the same luck as you, 5 hours on the ice and caught 10 fish plus lost a few. Fished in 20' of water. I wanted to go out future but didn't dare. Give it another week and it should be a lot safer.
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[135guy]

We fished behind the marina store today and had similar luck. We caught ten between us in about 3 hours. The ice is 3.5 inches with about 2" of slush on top. Not too many people out on the ice. We fished in 10-20' of water. A good all in all even though the fishing was a bit slow. The roads are good into the marina. We had 4WD but, didn't need it used tubes tipped with a minnow. Glow did the best for us.
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