01-20-2006, 02:57 PM
[cool][#0000ff]Hey, I think I have given all of you Strawberry experts plenty of time to rack up some scores before I jump back in and show you how to fish it. I'll have you know that in the "olden days" I was top rod on that lake both with a fairy wand and with spinning tackle. I guess it is now necessary to reassert my eminence.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I love Da Berry, but have not wet a iine there since moving back to Utah in mid 2004. Shameful. Onliest excuse I got is that there is too much water to fish and not enough time. Lousy excuse for not fishing one of the best lakes in the whole country.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]There was a lot of discussion on the chubs and shiners last night, and what the various stats meant. It was pointed out that the "ideal" forage size for minnows was under six inches. Since that is about the outside growth range for shiners, they stay vulnerable througout their entire life span. The chubs, on the other hand, are ideal munching size only during their first year or so, and then grow large enough that they are susceptible to predation by only the largest cutts. Once they reach 8"-10", chubs don't have as much to fear.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]That does not mean that big cutts don't eat big chubs. There are quite a few recorded cases this past year of cutts larger than 24" barfing up chubs up to 10" long. The bigger cutts are seldom taken by DWR in their nets, however, because the mesh size is only about 2". There are some bigguns that get their toothy jaws entangled in the net and provide specimens for examination.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]There are some big fish hunters on Strawberry that fish with dead chubs larger than 6". They do not catch as many fish, but they do hang some toads.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Another interesting point made by Alan last night was that keeping a biggun is not necessarily bad for the lake. At that end of the size scale, most of those fish are doomed to die during the next spawning cycle anyway. There were lots of large dead fish in the streams after spawning last year. Of course, it is always good to get the spawn of the largest growing fish in the gene pool.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Good observation on the chart, regarding the mammal munchers. Alan readily admitted that the sampling was minimal and that the numbers could vary one way or another. I would have suspected that the big fish would also be dining on rodent ragout, but that did not turn up in their netting results.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Up in Montana, the locals used to catch some big bull trout using the skinned out hind quarters of the ground squirrels in the area. What a deal, hunting your bait with a .22. I wonder if that would work in Da Berry. Actually, tubes and grubs (and marabou jigs) work so well anymore, why would anybody want to go to the trouble of messin' with meat?[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I love Da Berry, but have not wet a iine there since moving back to Utah in mid 2004. Shameful. Onliest excuse I got is that there is too much water to fish and not enough time. Lousy excuse for not fishing one of the best lakes in the whole country.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]There was a lot of discussion on the chubs and shiners last night, and what the various stats meant. It was pointed out that the "ideal" forage size for minnows was under six inches. Since that is about the outside growth range for shiners, they stay vulnerable througout their entire life span. The chubs, on the other hand, are ideal munching size only during their first year or so, and then grow large enough that they are susceptible to predation by only the largest cutts. Once they reach 8"-10", chubs don't have as much to fear.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]That does not mean that big cutts don't eat big chubs. There are quite a few recorded cases this past year of cutts larger than 24" barfing up chubs up to 10" long. The bigger cutts are seldom taken by DWR in their nets, however, because the mesh size is only about 2". There are some bigguns that get their toothy jaws entangled in the net and provide specimens for examination.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]There are some big fish hunters on Strawberry that fish with dead chubs larger than 6". They do not catch as many fish, but they do hang some toads.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]Another interesting point made by Alan last night was that keeping a biggun is not necessarily bad for the lake. At that end of the size scale, most of those fish are doomed to die during the next spawning cycle anyway. There were lots of large dead fish in the streams after spawning last year. Of course, it is always good to get the spawn of the largest growing fish in the gene pool.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]Good observation on the chart, regarding the mammal munchers. Alan readily admitted that the sampling was minimal and that the numbers could vary one way or another. I would have suspected that the big fish would also be dining on rodent ragout, but that did not turn up in their netting results.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]Up in Montana, the locals used to catch some big bull trout using the skinned out hind quarters of the ground squirrels in the area. What a deal, hunting your bait with a .22. I wonder if that would work in Da Berry. Actually, tubes and grubs (and marabou jigs) work so well anymore, why would anybody want to go to the trouble of messin' with meat?[/#0000ff]
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