Strawberry report 2/4/06

[Bigcat]

A friend and I got a very late start today and didn't make it to the lake til 1:30. After a long walk in snowshoes we were fishing by 2:15. About 16 inches of powder on the ice and about 3 inches of slush which wasn't an issue with snowshoes. The fish were ready to play when we arrived and the first hour and a half we could hardly keep our jigs in the water. However we were hook set challenged for most the day and did a lot of swinging and missing. We lost several at the hole as well. We ended up putting 21 on the ice in 3 hours of fishing with most of them coming in the first hour and a half. After that it was dead til we left almost at dark. The fish were still there and I could watch then on the sonar and would even come up to my jig and follow it up and down the water column but very few hits. I tried all different kinds of jigs, baits, and scents but they were definetely in an inactive feeding mode by 3:45. We caught fish suspended at 13 feet and on the bottom. The bite was VERY light as usual. All slot cutts with none even over 20 inches. Beautiful afternoon on the lake. Saw lots of snowmobiles but doubt wheelers could make it, at least where I was fishing. By the time we got down Provo canyon the wind was blasting and then rain by the time we hit the freeway and then snow by American Fork. Turned nasty real quick.
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[fishin4fun]

I also hit the Berry today with an uncle, cousin and my son. We hit the marina around 6:45 and that place is flat a joke on the weekends! HOLY COW! We went across the bay and plopped down in 35' of water. Looking back by the marina, it looked horrible!

Fishing was amazing an non stop until about 11 a.m. and then the old Berry switch was flipped and it went beyond dead. We left at 2 p.m. The parking lot looked horrible, with people lined up down the road for a 1/2 mile. What a joke. I'll keep to my weekday fishing up there.

We caught 50 among the 3 adults and my son picked up 3. Usual stuff worked, with mealies winning over minnow chunks. It was a great day on the Berry, except for the parking and some morning fog. People were lost all over the ice and doing circles. You could see about 20-30 ft in front of you.

Oh, yes, the S.... is here. About 4-5" where we were with only 8-9" of powder. Sleds handled it great though. []
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[Out4Trout]

[cool]Oh, c'mon, Kirt you mean you don't like the "grand opening at Cabelas?" If you don't like that kind of fishing then that would make you a "fishsnob" for going somewhere else out of the way and not telling the hundreds of others here on this board EXACTLY where you were with GPS coordinates and everything![][]

Yeah, I decided long ago not to hit the marina area on weekends after the 2nd week in Jan or so, 'cause by then, everyone and their dog starts to fish it. Lucky for you you had the sled so you could escape the zoo and get to some great fishing and a little tranquility. I'm gonna get me one of those in a couple of years.

Nice report. Did you guys get any nice ones (i.e. over the slought)? And, how thick is the ice now, 24" or so?
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[kirklan]

Got to the marina around 7:30 just in time to get jammed into a parking spot. Unloaded the wheelers and went down on the ice to find a ton of slush and touchy situation with getting stuck in the slush. After dinking around the marina till 11am we realized that fishing there was a waist of time and headed out across the ice. Got to the chosen spot without much trouble and started fishing. Iced 23 fish between 11 and 4:30. Could have had more, but my ice fishing was a little rusty and I lost a lot of hookups. 3-20 inch fish and numerous 16-19 inchers. Had a good time.
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[Bigcat]

Thanks for the report. It seems that the key continues to be getting away from the heavily fished areas to do much good. Glad you got into them after moving.
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