Hey guys, I’m fairly new to utah fishing. Have never been to strawberry and keep hearing about ice off fishing there. I want to give it a try, can anyone tell me when the ice might be off, and if it is where do I go once i get there. I would appreciate the help. Thanks
Strawberry is a high elevation lake, so ice will not be off yet. It is just softening up at the edges, in fact.
However, even if you have 100 ft of open water, you can catch nice trout there. Large flies like black woolie buggers, jigs, etc work. I got a few last year on green speckled/pumpkinseed/brown/rootbeer tube jigs. A big crawler floated with air or a marshmallow works, Powerbait, spinners and spoons, Rapalas, dark or white curly jigs, etc all seem to show up in the reports.
Trout are a cold water clan and generally only hit the shallows in winter and right after ice off. They are there hunting worms, leeches, and molted crayfish, in addition to whatever minnows, etc.
Still looking for a GOOD spot myself, but I almost always catch one a day…
What size tube jigs are you using? What is the best way to fish them from the shore? I have vertically jigged before with much success but never used tube jigs from the shore. Does it work?
I’ve had my best luck with the 2" tubes with a 1/16 ounce head. My favorite all-time color is the green front half with smoke tentacles with red and black flake. Make sure you use a premium 4# line (I prefer P-Line CXX X-tra Strong in Moss Green) . Throw it out as far as you can towards the ice edge or land it on the ice if you can. Pull it off and let it fall straight to the bottom. Look for strikes as it’s falling. Concetrate on the bottom 18" of whatever depth you’re fishing and bounce the jig but always let it flutter back to the bottom while keeping watch on the line, not your rod tip. Remember most bites will come as the lure is on the downward motion. Also Smelly Jelly or other scents will help the fish hold on longer so you can get a good hookset. Maribou jigs are also a good choice especially for the 'bows.
Went for a drive up there yesterday to check out te conditions. Still frozen pretty solid. The back of Chicken creek west is the only open water I found. 1 or 2 more weeks!
Thanks guys I really appreciate that.
Anyone been to the Soldier Side? It usually comes off there first. Can you drive to the dam?
Another trick to help catch fish at the berry is to lift that jig slowley[sly][sly][sly] then let it drop. If you pop it up you will get fewer bites. Also if you miss a hit keep jiging it slowly all the way in. They will hit until you get him. If you just miss him all together, cast out again ten or twelve feet and go at him again.