Hey everyone I know the ice off isn’t for another month but I’ve wanted to fish it te last two years just never got the time to go up. What would be the best bait or rapalas or flys to use this coming ice off?
I’ve had success with black mariou jigs in the past. Just cast them toward the ice and retrieve.
I’m going to try and learn to fly fish this year and I thought ice off would be a fun time to practice a bit but I’m not sure if it is a tried and true method. I would be interested to see if
anyone else thinks a good idea or has tried it. And if people do it what’s the best approach?
Ive read a lot that just streamers and wooly buggers work good. My biggest focus will probably be on the fly up there this year. Thanks for te input though
I would love to help you with that.
Ice off, try an intermediate or slow sink line in shallows. A floating line can work also, just use a longer leader.
Buggers, Leeches and Baitfish flies, but don’t forget the nymphs.
That’s great information. Thank you. If i were to use floating line how long of leader do you think would work best?
Start off with a 9’ maybe, then adjust from there.
Thank you for your help Flygoddess.
Ice off is a real hit/miss situation. Even a day either side of the right day can make a big difference. But how is that any different than the rest of the year?
All I am saying is if you go to fish “ice off” don’t hang your fly fishing hat on the results of any given day/season.
With that said throw buggers up onto the ice, wait up to a minute then drag them off and retrieve the real slow and oh by the way… HANG ON.
Good luck and if you want to hit the berry this year look me up.
Sounds like Old Troller is the expert on ice off at Strawberry. Maybe give him a shout when you head up.
As has been said, black maribou jigs, wooly buggars, and rapalas all work great. Don’t be affraid if the water is shallow. Lots of people look at me funny when fishing open water thats only to my knees, but then see me pulling up BIG fish. Love ice out but it’s a tricky time to fish. I have done amazing one day, call up all my buddies to go up the next day to only get a few hits. Hit me up come the end of april
Thanks for all the input. I’ll be trying it all up there.
I’m terrible at Strawberry, but I’ve heard and used every bit of advice above, and that’s what I caught the few fish I did on.
I also got a couple cuts with spinning gear, casting a clear bubble (totally full of water) a long way down the bank, with a big black wooly bugger behind it. Long cast, slow sink, easy retrieve from deep to shallow, long medium slow presentation. Crank a little faster if you feel the bubble hit bottom.
My favorite time of year at the berry is ice off. Since i bought a float tube and fly rod 15 years ago, I can’t wait for the ice to pull off the shore. I’ll fish in the tube near the edge of the ice once it pulls off shore 100 yards or so. I’ll use a medium sink fly line in the shallows during the early season, until the fish move to deeper water. Then I switch to a fast sink line that will get the fly down 20’ or so. Shortly after ice off the lake “turns over” which will bring the hot spring fishing to a dead halt until the water clears. White, black, orange, rust, or mossy green wooly buggers or streamers are all really good. Most of the time the fish seem to like a little flash in the tail or body. When I first started fishing the berry, I would use 9ft of 6lb tippet, but lost too many big bows. Have had much better luck with 8lb tippet. big bows hit hard enough, they will sometimes break the line when they hit the fly (what a rush!) Been catching a bunch of bows in the 12" range. With some catch and release these little guys will be brutes in a couple years. If you want to get the fly in a little deeper water(especially if u are casting a fly and bubble), a bead head wooly bugger will get down a few feet more. If u hit the lake on the right day, the fish will turn your arms to rubber. 50-60 fish days are a definite possibility! 
have fun, its a blast!
I’ll echo what everyone else is saying. Wooly buggers are the ticket with a fly rod. I will drop a large pheasant tail or prince nymph off of the bugger maybe 12 to 18 inches and will get half of my hits on the nymph. Also, if a big fella hits your bugger and misses, there’s a good chance you’ll nail him with the trailer hook – not an ideal way to catch fish, but it will instantly add 10lbs and 10 minutes to the fight – really fun.
Spin fishing is also awesome with marabou jigs, or if you’re into traditional crap, Blue Fox spinners are pretty damn easy to use and very effective. Silver or gold, sizes 0 to 2 have been good for me over the years. Rapala’s are also always a good choice. If you find yourself in a position that you can actually cast your hook onto the ice and let it fall, you’re more likely to catch them in my opinion. Just like panfish, I feel like they hide under the ice edge and wait to ambush anything that comes by. Maybe not, but my absolute best days have been with this method. (lost a few hooks when they snag up on the ice, but it has always been worth it.)