Strawberry 10-17-25

[Kent]

A little late giving a report but figured some may benefit from it.  Obfishkenobi and I fished Strawberry in the Renegade area.  The catching was constant from early morning until we quit around 3:30 PM.  As is often the case at Strawberry, I marked few fish on the fish finder.  I spot locked in an area that has treated me well, in the fall, in years past.  We fished one rod with a bobber (tube jig was only down ~3-4') and we then usually dropped one jig straight down.  Getting a bite on the bobber rig was a given, on every cast, and often almost as soon as the bobber hit the water. 

We caught four rainbows and two slot busters.  The largest we caught was at least 21" (we only measured one fish, and it was 21"). 

The wind was constant and approaching white-cap stage.  After fighting the wind for several hours, I moved us partially into a bay, which was a little protected from the wind and the catching continued.

Nearly all of our fish were caught on cut-bait chubs from Lost Creek.  Just before we quit fishing, I didn't want to open another bag of chubs, so I tried 1/2 of a crawler and also caught fish on them.  

It is fun to fish Strawberry in the fall, because it rarely disappoints and they fight much harder in the cooler water.

Another enjoyable outing with Shawn.

[obifishkenobi]

A little late giving a report but figured some may benefit from it.  Obfishkenobi and I fished Strawberry in the Renegade area.  The catching was constant from early morning until we quit around 3:30 PM.  As is often the case at Strawberry, I marked few fish on the fish finder.  I spot locked in an area that has treated me well, in the fall, in years past.  We fished one rod with a bobber (tube jig was only down ~3-4') and we then usually dropped one jig straight down.  Getting a bite on the bobber rig was a given, on every cast, and often almost as soon as the bobber hit the water. 

We caught four rainbows and two slot busters.  The largest we caught was at least 21" (we only measured one fish, and it was 21"). 

The wind was constant and approaching white-cap stage.  After fighting the wind for several hours, I moved us partially into a bay, which was a little protected from the wind and the catching continued.

Nearly all of our fish were caught on cut-bait chubs from Lost Creek.  Just before we quit fishing, I didn't want to open another bag of chubs, so I tried 1/2 of a crawler and also caught fish on them.  

It is fun to fish Strawberry in the fall, because it rarely disappoints and they fight much harder in the cooler water.

Another enjoyable outing with Shawn.

Thanks for hosting me Kent, as always it was fun, Kent keeps an accurate count with his clicker and his personal count for the day was 83 and I didn’t even try to keep count but was catching them at the same rate as him, so our total count was over 160 for the day, believe it or not it was not our fastest day, we have approached 200 fish in the past. Kent is a master of fall cutthroat fishing at Strawberry. I’m going back on November 1st. To put some kids on fish.

[BSF]

A little late giving a report but figured some may benefit from it.  Obfishkenobi and I fished Strawberry in the Renegade area.  The catching was constant from early morning until we quit around 3:30 PM.  As is often the case at Strawberry, I marked few fish on the fish finder.  I spot locked in an area that has treated me well, in the fall, in years past.  We fished one rod with a bobber (tube jig was only down ~3-4') and we then usually dropped one jig straight down.  Getting a bite on the bobber rig was a given, on every cast, and often almost as soon as the bobber hit the water. 

We caught four rainbows and two slot busters.  The largest we caught was at least 21" (we only measured one fish, and it was 21"). 

The wind was constant and approaching white-cap stage.  After fighting the wind for several hours, I moved us partially into a bay, which was a little protected from the wind and the catching continued.

Nearly all of our fish were caught on cut-bait chubs from Lost Creek.  Just before we quit fishing, I didn't want to open another bag of chubs, so I tried 1/2 of a crawler and also caught fish on them.  

It is fun to fish Strawberry in the fall, because it rarely disappoints and they fight much harder in the cooler water.

Another enjoyable outing with Shawn.

Thanks for the report Kent. I took a couple of my grandsons to Soldier Creek on Saturday and had a great time, but had to leave early so they could watch the BYU vs Utah game. One of them caught a fat 23.25” slot buster. 
On a side note. Thanks again for taking me to Pineview last week for some fun Crappie fishing.

[BoatBallast]

Thanks for the report on this. I'm curious about your rig. Is it just a jig head in a 3" tube with a piece of chub meat? Is it a fillet cut into strips the short way or is the body cut into steaks or something else? I've never fished like this.

[obifishkenobi]

Thanks for the report on this.  I'm curious about your rig.  Is it just a jig head in a 3" tube with a piece of chub meat?  Is it a fillet cut into strips the short way or is the body cut into steaks or something else?  I've never fished like this.

I use a slip bobber with bobber knot to adjust the depth above a barrel swivel then a short leader to my favorite white with red flake Maniac Gizzila on a 1/8oz Maniac jig head; my other rig is a 2.5" white tube jig on a 3/8oz. tube jig head. For bait, I fillet off one side of a chub then salt both sides of the chub, cutting off and discarding the head and tail then vacuum sealing several of them in a package before freezing them. I bring one or more packages fishing and use a pair of scissors to cut the salted chub into 1/2" by 1/2" pieces that I tip my jigs with.

[Kent]

A little late giving a report but figured some may benefit from it.  Obfishkenobi and I fished Strawberry in the Renegade area.  The catching was constant from early morning until we quit around 3:30 PM.  As is often the case at Strawberry, I marked few fish on the fish finder.  I spot locked in an area that has treated me well, in the fall, in years past.  We fished one rod with a bobber (tube jig was only down ~3-4') and we then usually dropped one jig straight down.  Getting a bite on the bobber rig was a given, on every cast, and often almost as soon as the bobber hit the water. 

We caught four rainbows and two slot busters.  The largest we caught was at least 21" (we only measured one fish, and it was 21"). 

The wind was constant and approaching white-cap stage.  After fighting the wind for several hours, I moved us partially into a bay, which was a little protected from the wind and the catching continued.

Nearly all of our fish were caught on cut-bait chubs from Lost Creek.  Just before we quit fishing, I didn't want to open another bag of chubs, so I tried 1/2 of a crawler and also caught fish on them.  

It is fun to fish Strawberry in the fall, because it rarely disappoints and they fight much harder in the cooler water.

Another enjoyable outing with Shawn.

Thanks for hosting me Kent, as always it was fun, Kent keeps an accurate count with his clicker and his personal count for the day was 83 and I didn’t even try to keep count but was catching them at the same rate as him, so our total count was over 160 for the day, believe it or not it was not our fastest day, we have approached 200 fish in the past. Kent is a master of fall cutthroat fishing at Strawberry. I’m going back on November 1st. To put some kids on fish.

Shawn is too modest.  He caught way more fish than I did that day.

---

Thanks for the report on this.  I'm curious about your rig.  Is it just a jig head in a 3" tube with a piece of chub meat?  Is it a fillet cut into strips the short way or is the body cut into steaks or something else?  I've never fished like this.

Shawn gave his perspective, and I will add mine.  I prefer 2 1/2" tubes and if I could only have one color it would be the whitest white that I could find.  I fillet my chubs, mix them in powder salt and vacuum seal them. When they are salted they never freeze solid; however, one must remember even though they aren't frozen solid they are still at zero degrees when they come out of the freezer (don't ask how I learned that lesson).  I use shears to cut the fillets in small chunks.  I have learned that it is better to use small chunks, sometimes two small chunks, than using larger chunks.  I hook more fish with smaller chunks and use less bait.  I don't pay much attention to which way I cut the bait, but narrow strips seem to work well.    

I tie directly to the hook (I never use a swivel to attach directly to the hook, but it is a good idea to use a barrel swivel between the main line and the leader).  I pull my leader so the jig hangs horizontally.  

If I am using a bobber, I prefer a slip bobber and this time of year they are often within a few feet of the surface.  If they are deeper, I adjust the slip bobber to let the jig drop deeper.  I also like to drop straight down, off of the boat, or I will try casting and bouncing or slowly dragging the jig back to the boat.  When they are high in the water column, like they are now, I will sometimes cast and immediately start reeling back to the boat.  At times, one method will work better than another.

[BoatBallast]

I appreciate the info on your setups! Very interesting.

I've never used a slip bobber. Why do you prefer those over one of the clear plastic bobbers?

[obifishkenobi]

I appreciate the info on your setups!  Very interesting. 

I've never used a slip bobber.  Why do you prefer those over one of the clear plastic bobbers?

I prefer slip bobbers that are green or orange over a clear bubble because it is easier to see, I also really like the bobbers that are weighted on the bottom because they set up nicer standing straight up in the water, another note with slip bobbers is that a plastic bead or corky between the knot and the bobber provides a good indicator that your jig has dropped down and set up properly. A fun fact this time of year is the trout attack the bobber and often time I will give it a short jerk to draw their attention to the jig underneath.

[up2nogood]

Thanks for the report ,hoping to get-up to Strawberry tomorrow for some fly fishing .

Little bit different fishing with an indicator , but I have in the past used the slip bobbers , I prefer the yellow when fishing chironomids , but this past year we have went to the Oros fixed indicators , much easier to use for setting different depths . Although we only fish water 12-14 foot , and set the indictor to fish the chironomids a foot off the bottom , so the indicators are usually set for 11-13 foot at the most . Fishing with 9-10 foot fly rods , it's usually pretty easy to land fish with a fixed indicator .

[BoatBallast]

I appreciate the info on your setups!  Very interesting. 

I've never used a slip bobber.  Why do you prefer those over one of the clear plastic bobbers?

I prefer slip bobbers that are green or orange over a clear bubble because it is easier to see, I also really like the bobbers that are weighted on the bottom because they set up nicer standing straight up in the water, another note with slip bobbers is that a plastic bead or corky between the knot and the bobber provides a good indicator that your jig has dropped down and set up properly. A fun fact this time of year is the trout attack the bobber and often time I will give it a short jerk to draw their attention to the jig underneath.

Thanks for this!  I'll have to pick up a couple of slip bobbers and give them a shot.  Do you use one of those flexible plastic bead stops on the needle threader thing or do you use those pre-tied slip knots as a bobber stop?

[obifishkenobi]

I appreciate the info on your setups!  Very interesting. 

I've never used a slip bobber.  Why do you prefer those over one of the clear plastic bobbers?

I prefer slip bobbers that are green or orange over a clear bubble because it is easier to see, I also really like the bobbers that are weighted on the bottom because they set up nicer standing straight up in the water, another note with slip bobbers is that a plastic bead or corky between the knot and the bobber provides a good indicator that your jig has dropped down and set up properly. A fun fact this time of year is the trout attack the bobber and often time I will give it a short jerk to draw their attention to the jig underneath.

Thanks for this!  I'll have to pick up a couple of slip bobbers and give them a shot.  Do you use one of those flexible plastic bead stops on the needle threader thing or do you use those pre-tied slip knots as a bobber stop?

I use the pre-tied bobber knots.

[Kent]

I appreciate the info on your setups!  Very interesting. 

I've never used a slip bobber.  Why do you prefer those over one of the clear plastic bobbers?

I prefer slip bobbers that are green or orange over a clear bubble because it is easier to see, I also really like the bobbers that are weighted on the bottom because they set up nicer standing straight up in the water, another note with slip bobbers is that a plastic bead or corky between the knot and the bobber provides a good indicator that your jig has dropped down and set up properly. A fun fact this time of year is the trout attack the bobber and often time I will give it a short jerk to draw their attention to the jig underneath.

Thanks for this!  I'll have to pick up a couple of slip bobbers and give them a shot.  Do you use one of those flexible plastic bead stops on the needle threader thing or do you use those pre-tied slip knots as a bobber stop?

I have used both.  The flexible plastic bead stops slide through the rod tip well, will stay where you put them on your line, but they have a tendency to break apart after many casts.  I often put two of them on (back to back) when using them.  The pre-tied slip knots have a tendency to catch in the rod tip and also have a tendency to slide up the line more than the plastic ones.  I also use the rubber stops.  They work about the same as the pre-tied ones.

[Gone Forever]

I would like to weigh in on slip bobbers and stops because I use them a lot, almost exclusively.
The biggest advantage of SB that I like is the adjustability of the fishing depth and the castability.  With a regular bobber and 5' of line below it can be pretty hard to cast well, but a slip bobber allows you to reel the knot onto the reel and still cast a mile while having the depth set as deep as you would like, I've slipped 40' and more, deep.

I have an assortment of slip bobbers. (SB) They come in various "float capacities" meaning the longer, thinner ones are good for 1/32 and 1/16 oz jigs but a 1/8 jig can pull them under if they are the type with a weighted ring on the bottom.  The ringed SB cast better, but the added weight restricts jig size.  The wider, more egg-shaped bobbers work for up to 3/8 oz jigs and the biggest for up to 5/8oz jigs.
I use slip bobbers for both lake and river fishing because of how rapidly I can change the depth and how well I can cast the rig.

Knots...Knots are the heart of the system and good knots matter.  There are some rubber stops that I have used but they hang up in the guides while casting more than the knots, same for the little plastic bar with holes in them.  I prefer the knots. I now tie my own so that i get what I want.  I use 30lb test braided casting line, the old kind that is really woven around a core.  I have found that this line, when used for knots, slips the least on the thin monofilament main line.  If you are buying, buy authentic "Thill" brand.  They are also the makers of the best slip bobbers.  Their knots are way better than Cabela's, BPS or Sportsman's.  All of those knots, no matter how hard you tighten them will still loosen and slip needing to reset often which can be a real pain if you are set deep. What makes that so bad is that the knot is the first part of the rig to go on the line so if you have to replace you have to completely re-rig.
I will sometimes put two knots above the SB in case one goes bad I have the other to use without re-rigging.
I don't know if Tube Dude has a write-up on this, but I would not doubt it one bit if he has written the most comprehensive article about it and would be willing to share.