Annual trip up north. Strawberry/Starvation Reservoirs this time.

[wolfs4evr]

996 miles later and week gone back home, showered, fed, slept in a real bed...

Madi and I took off on the 7th for Strawberry Reservoir east of Provo. +/- 430 miles there. One day up/set-up camp, 5 full days to fish and one day to tear down and make the trip back. In the middle of it a trip to another lake to check it out since we were up in that area (Starvation Reservoir).

Was a totally awesome time. Dealt with lots of different weather situations I am not use to but that is how it goes and what one gets when one wants to get out of 100+ degree weather. Rain for hours on end multiple days, fog on 2 days, lightning/thunder and bailing to the nearest marina to get off the boat, etc. Weather was always something. Most days the weather, for the most part, was perfect until sometime after 12. Something always popped up after 12 making most days a little shorter on the water than one would want. Somewhere in the 40s in the AM and the low 70s in the afternoon.

We were on Strawberry to target Kokanee Salmon and on Starvation to target Walleye. Nothing in this state for the most part and the Kokanee would be new to both of us. We have caught plenty of Walleye in Montana on my dad's boat but never boated one in our boat.

I call the trip a total success. We caught Kokanee which is what the whole trip was all about but the Walleye on the other lake were a little more elusive and the one I did catch I donated to a couple of older gentleman back at the marina cleaning their catch of rainbow.

I took a whole lotta pics so off we go....

The fun part... Making it all fit.





Just before the lake things are looking a little sour... Luckily this downfall didn't hit our campground. But it did provide a little look into our future [:/]



Ahhhh camp! Google maps with earth view was my friend! There could not be a better spot to camp. I spent a few days looking over the 4 campgrounds/marinas around Strawberry Reservoir to find the perfect spot for us before making reservations back in February. The vicinity of the campground to the lake wasn't as important as the ability of the spot to protect us weather wise. Wind, rain, etc plus enough room. Loved our spot at Soldier Creek campground.







Of course besides a TON of foreign to me tackle that had to be purchased to catch one of these things I gave in in the last moments and bought 4 Kokanee rods at Sportsman's Warehouse in Provo on the way up there. I put a couple Okuma line counter reels I already had on the Okuma SST 7'6" Kokanee UL action rods and just removed a couple BC reels off my Bass rods for the Lamiglass 7'6" Kokanee light action rods. I spent x amount already on everything else I might as well have the correct rods to catch 'em.



The Chipmunk situation was waaaaaay out of hand. lol Madi went into Chipmunk overload as soon as her feet hit the ground. In the afternoons it was impossible to look anywhere and not see one.

[url "https://youtu.be/FSeGNEuEQek"]https://youtu.be/FSeGNEuEQek[/url]





Day one... Off in the fog. I had to stand up the entire drive to the other side of the lake since my windshield was so fogged over. I could see far enough to run wide open but had to stand...



Wiping the windshield down only lasted seconds...



After getting to the other side of this lake it came time to set up all this tackle I have never used before like Snap weights, dodgers, Pro-Cure scents, squids, hoochies, spinners, planer boards, Kokanee rods, etc. Never touched/used one of these items before. Seen on TV but that is about it. Less than an hour later success! My first Kokanee Salmon! Caught on one of the planer boards that I have never used before.



The fog was still clearing and made for some nice scenery.



Madison's first Kokanee wasn't far behind. Also caught off one of the planer boards.



Back in camp day one behind us (lots of Cutthroats were also caught/released. No pics.). Was pretty darn sweet to just hook the boat up on the trailer and make the short run to camp without taking anything down, putting anything away, etc. Madi even rode in the boat up to camp.



The hardest part of the whole trip... Trying to figure out battery usage verse amount of time I have to charge since quiet hours in most and in particular this campground start at 10pm. I don't have a kicker so the only way for us to catch Kokanee was to use the Terrova trolling motor since I can't go below ~2.5mph with the big motor. (I ran 1.5mph with the TM the entire trip which equaled about 4 1/2 to 5 on the power setting/level out of 10 levels. I never killed the batteries so unsure of how long I could of gone in a day.) 6-8 hours or so was the average amount of time we were able to fish. Not due to batteries but due to weather. In a way the weather helped driving us back to camp and allowing all that much more time to charge. Day 1 and 2 the batteries never achieved a full charge by 10pm. Day 3 at the other lake I didn't use it much so I was able to get caught up and a full charge by 10pm. Day 4 was our shortest day on the water due to lightning followed by 6-8 hours of rain and I was able to get a full charge and day 5 was the best day for weather and we went over 8 hours using the TM without any loss of power. I'm thinking I was close to the max but one never knows.

Love my Honda EU2000 generator. 3rd year of taking care of us camping and never misses a beat.



With day one success comes day one rewards! I can't believe how stupidly bright orange these fillets are. Also how delicate a Kokanee is. I could push a finger through the meat with almost no resistance to it. One has to be reallllly gentle with these fillets.



One of these soaking in water for hours.



A little bit of this along with some lemon juice.



Equals...



And then...



Find a flat sandstone rock by the water's edge, wrap it in tinfoil equals the perfect way to do baker potatoes in the BBQ.



The deer were also plentiful in the campground.



Day 2 couldn't be nicer.





The biggest Kokanee Salmon of the trip at 3 1/2 pounds came off a planer board also.



Kids these days... She was what is this, how does it work, I want to make a call and see it work... lol



Day 3 took us to Starvation Reservoir. Less than an hour drive. The weather was sketchy at camp but what else was there to do but drive to the other lake on schedule and see what there is to see once the sun came up. We got rained on but not that bad. Pretty darn glad I put a Bimini on the boat earlier this year.



Not what we were after but a fish is a fish to a kid.



What we were after though pretty darn small... The only one caught.



I let this 3 1/2 pounder kick my tail...





Greedy Perch and baby SMBs taking full size crank trebles completely in their mouths.



Trolling right along...



What chased us off the lake around 3:30 in the afternoon.



1 Perch, 2 SMBs, 1 Walleye and more Rainbows (nice ones at that) than one would know what to do with at Starvation. Since I wasn't finding what we went there for I decided only one day there verse the two I had planned.

Day 4 back at it on Strawberry.





Thursday/day 4 back on Strawberry was our best day. Madi limited in no time and I was close. We caught our first/only double on the inner deeper rods. Quite the circus event... All I could do was hope we landed both. Once I had mine in to the snap weight all I could do was slide the rod back on the deck and grab the snap weight off the line. Hoping I didn't lose him doing that. Then get 'em to the boat. Somewhere in the middle of that Madi was at her snap weight and I grabbed that off for her. Got mine to the boat and netted and then hers. Our only double and landed both! By 10 I shocked/scared her by saying lets go in for a Salmon lunch. She is use to when we are fishing we are fishing... But seeing as how we were doing good catching I figured time to do some more eating. Plus someone forgot to pack lunch... lol Also I was managing catch verse release verse take home verse 4 fish limit possession, etc.

Kokanee are good on planks and the fry pan... Especially when camping!!!




Charged the batteries for a bit and back out around 1. Not a ton later the weather rolled in and for a change I said screw it and was going to stay seeing as how the last two days out the weather looked bad and by the time we made it to camp and had the boat covered the weather turned to ahhhhhhh. Bad call. Lightning, etc. Closest and imo best place was Aspen since the winds also kicked up fassssst. Semi protected cove/marina across the bay from our marina/campground. We were the only ones around essentialy and had Soldier Creek side of the lake to ourselves so just parked the boat at the ramp and got off it till the lightning stopped just to be safe. Saw a window and cruised to the other side eventually. Not a big window.... By the time I was heading to the truck the rain started. By the time we were in camp it was dumping. Got the boat covered and then enjoyed the bordom of rain for the next 6-8 hours. We only got one more after going out the second time.



Madi was dumping rain off our tents awning every couple minutes until we dropped it...







Friday/day 5 fog again and THICK. I had to idle out to the fishing area...



I had my planer board out and hers and was just about to let the centers out when hers took off. The second biggest Koke of the trip right off the bat.









It didn't start to clear until after 10am. Was pretty darn earie being out there. Using a TM for propulsion it was quiet and one was all alone... lol

[url "https://youtu.be/dEAOejMoNlc"]https://youtu.be/dEAOejMoNlc[/url]



Nap time...



Got greedy for the last dinner camping...





I could write a book on the joys and tribulations of waking up a 15 year old blonde haired thing at 4-5am when it is in the mid 40s temp wise in the tent... Pretty much 30 minutes every single morning shot due to no, mumbling, my neck hurts, whining, it is too early, it is too cold, etc, etc plus it took 1hr 15 Saturday... I had the entire camp packed minus her...



Some of the type of stuff used to catch Kokanee.







Since we don't have downriggers this is the only way to get our lines down. Snap weights in various weight. Kind of a wing it on depth but there is charts to help roughly estimate desired depth verse amount of weight needed verse amount of line out ,etc. Do whatcha gotta do. A little bit of a pain but not so much.



Love my Ecoboost truck!!!!!




Since we ate two the last evening there here is the 6 that made it home and into the garage freezer for special occasions.




Tom
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[BigE]

[cool]Very nice report. I loved all the pics.
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[StarsnStripers]

Great trip my friend! thanks for an awesome report! You can almost set your watch by the wind/weather in utah! 1-3pm time for camp nearly every trip!
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[Erawk]

Thanks for the very detailed, and always entertaining reports. The pictures are great.

Way to get out of your fishing comfort zone and into a more (or less) comfortable climate zone.
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[albinotrout]

Loved the tale and the pics. You got a dose of out wonderful mountain weather.[laugh] Strawberry is known for wind early in the day. When I fish it i am usually there at day break and then off by 10 or 11 when the wind picks up. If I camp there I am back on around 6 pm or so when the wind dies down and a lot of top water action with the bows and cutts. Looks like your learning curve with the koke gear was pretty narrow for catching them so fast. Starvation is a great place to fish. The starvation steelhead (rainbows) grow fast there and really put up a fight. When I go I usually get a mixed bag of bass, perch, small walleye, and trout. A nice slime. Recently the perch crashed and it looks like they are on a comeback. Lots of little ones starting to show back up. I usually use my toon on starvy and strawberry.
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