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I need to learn what people are doing to get these double digit fish counts at strawberry.
I arrived at 7 a.m. and started fishing back and forth between mud creek and chicken creek. Picked up the same cutthroat 6 times in about 2 hours of fishing. caught 3 trolling pop gear and a worm at about 20-22 ft down, caught 3 trolling a gold Jake's tipped with a power maggot at about 10 ft down. 1.7mph seemed to be the only speed working. 2mph was to fast and 1.4mph was too slow, I only got bites at 1.7mph+-.
Then tried over in renegade at around 10 a.m. and was only able to get 1. The wind on the renegade side was really bad. There were some huge bait balls marked on the fish finder but never had a chance to target them with the wind blowing me around.
I would add more pictures but like I said, "it was the same fish 6 times."
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[quote Blackham]
I need to learn what people are doing to get these double digit fish counts at strawberry.
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I can't speak for everyone, but for me, two words "vertical jigging".
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Hey blackham, it sounds like you may be fishing a bit too shallow already. I'd stay deep out over the bay until later in month, the fish are out over the deeper water and down about 30-35 feet. If you can get your lures down there and cover some water you'll have some really productive days. Plus you may pick up a kokanee which is a lot more fun than a cut or rainbow. I usually troll at 1.7-1.8 mph. Run some dodgers and squid if you have them, or rapalas and swim baits work well too. Make sure you tip your lure with about an inch of worm or a piece of chub or shiner and it will drastically help. A lot of times it doesn't matter what type or color of lure you have as long as you've got it tipped. All of this has worked well for me and I've had some 100+ fish days trolling in the summer. Best of luck out there!
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When you say out in the bay, do you just mean open water, or should i be looking for any certain types of area (I don't need to know your secret spot) just what to look for. I was fishing in about 50 feet of water, but only saw fish between 20 and 30 feet.
I think jigging is a myth. I've tried jigging. White, greens, black. tipped with worm, shad, shiner, chub. small, large. with all types of crazy scents. I always hear jigging, and i just can't figure it out.
I learned how to fish from fathers and grandfathers, who were trollers. I love those guys to death, but it has left me knowing one way to fish. I need to get out with more people who know different techniques.
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I fished Strawberry on August 25th & August 28th. I was looking for big fish (there has got to be some up there somewhere?) so I was using large 11" flashers with large squids traveling 2.2 mph. I caught 26 & 24 cuts respectively. I was fishing with down riggers between the old dam up past Bear Point over in front of the 2 Chicken Creeks - kind of an "L" shape. I was fishing in 50 - 70 feet of water and catching the fish 30 to 45 feet down. The first hour of sun light seems to be the most productive for me. With the exception of one fish (22.5 inches) all the fish caught were 18 -20 inch slot cutts - otherwise pretty nice fish & they even put up a semi good fight for a Strawberry cutt.
I went up again yesterday, Sept 8th, this time starting out in Meadows and using the same tackle. I caught 3 slot cutts near the mouth of the Narrows. At 10:15 a.m. I headed over to the area mentioned above and caught 1 more. Total for the day - 4. I am not sure why the difference? Maybe the place was hammered over the long weekend. I stopped fishing due to the wind in the p.m. otherwise it was a great day to be on the lake.
I also enjoy trolling, it is my favorite way to go fishing. However, I would not discount the vertical jigging. I have had some phenomenal days jigging while ice fishing (actually caught my largest fish out of strawberry while jigging); not sure why the same technics would not work this time of year.
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One popular trolling run is to troll from hawes point to the mouth of the narrows and then head north up to bear hole, then cut straight across the bay back towards hawes. If you find an area where you are catching fish just keep trolling back through it. Finding the hot lure for the day is usually the hardest part of fishing. Pink squid and apex are going to be your best bet in the summer. I love trolling in the summer and its the most productive way to catch fish during the hot months, but I do like to jig in the spring and fall. The guys that are good at jigging know the lake and know where the fish hold up. If someone doesn't know any hot spots to try then jigging will be frustrating.
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One way to find those hot spots is to troll until one locates a school of fish, then anchor up and jig.
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I was at Strawberry on Monday the 7th and trolled mostly in Strawberry Bay. I was using a florescent orange/red dodger and night crawler on braided line. Obviously on the surface. I headed toward the East Portal and then east to Haws Point. I caught 20 total Cutts. All were in the slot except 3 small planters. I got off the water around 12:30pm because of the wind. I was up there on August 29th and only caught 7 so I was happy with the results. It was a great day except for the wind.
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