Da 'berry 10/10 and 10/12

[Sheepdog]

Plenty of reports coming from Strawberry way, I figured I'd add mine to the mix. My nephew made it worth while with his catch today...

A buddy and I headed out on the boat Friday morning. We were the only car in the parking lot when we arrived. Launched a little before six and headed for the mouth of the narrows. It was easy to see by the moonlight. A huge plume of fog was bellowing out of the mouth. Fish were feeding on top all around us as we drifted. We weren't getting much love on our offerings, a few bites, but it wasn't until the sun started to light up the morning sky that we landed our first cookie Cutter.

We headed up near Renegade and landed a few more. The fall colors are amazing right now. We heard an Elk bugling a ways up in the trees to the South West of Renegade. We debated if it was an Elk or a hunter attempting to call one in. Never got a visual of either, so the debate ended without a resolution.

We hung out in the Renegade area for a few hours to long. When I finally got service on my phone, I got a message from a buddy fishing Chicken Creek East about two hours after he sent it. He said it was going crazy and we needed to get there NOW!

We threw the boat in gear and boogied to Chicken Creek. Pulled up next to my buddy at around 11:30. He didn't hesitate to report somewhere around 50-60 fish boated. "Lost count a while ago!" Followed by, "It's slowed down now."

My friend in the boat with me got his line in the water as soon as the boat was in neutral. He landed another nice cutt on the first cast. Instant Action, a good sign even if we got there after it slowed down. We managed to get another 4-5 in the boat with several hits and misses. We ended the day with only 11 hauled in, and who knows how many lost. Most were cutts right in the slot, with a few healthy rainbows in the mix. A fantastic day at the berry, even if we missed the inundation my other buddy took part in.

The real trophy of this report actually came today. My bro in law took his son up for the weekend for his Birthday. They had a slow day at Soldier Creek from shore yesterday, but decided to try wetting a line from shore just West of Strawberry Marina today. They were glad they did when my nephew cranked in a 21" 5+ lb. rainbow. He was not shy about showing it to anyone willing to take a look in the parking lot and inside the tackle shop. I'll leave a couple pics that show how ecstatic he was with his Birthday present this year.

The first couple are our cookie CUTTers from Friday, then my nephew with his Happy Haul today!
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[utahgolf]

you could show me big slot buster pics of cutts all day but none of them would get me going more than a pic of that rainbow!! Those are the true trophies at the berry, the cutts just get in the way. Nice fish!
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[Sheepdog]

Haha, yeah, I can't tell you how jealous I was. Although this year the cutts seem to have a little more fight in them. Maybe it's just me, but I used to feel like I could predict what was on the end of my line long before I saw it. The 'bows would fight and peel line, when the cutts felt like I was just towing in a log. This year I've called 'bow on more than one fiesta cutt that ended up making for a fun tussle.
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[CoyoteSpinner]

Nice report. That is a toad, and what colors! Gorgeous.

Had a friend just told me about his weekend, similar action to yours, but he had one bow that peeled and ran, hauled it in, then peeled and ran. His bugger was badly bent by the 4th run when he got it in. Not as big as yours, but guess they got some shoulder's to 'em!

[flygoddess]

I have been catching mostly Rainbow at Straw-berry with some in the 22" to 24" range. But, I don't think they were 5+lbs.
Here is one of my flies

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[akammerman]

Great picture. Happy for the kid. I'm sure the hat had something to do with it. []
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[Sheepdog]

I thought the same thing, but not if his dad or grandpa have anything to say about it. They're die hard Ute fans. That says something about my nephew's grit, so yeah, the hat says a lot!
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[TyeDyeTwins]

Did you mean 10/10 and 10/12 or was this in May instead of October?

Fatty bow there bro! Nice!![cool]
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[Sheepdog]

Weird, I swear it said October when I first posted it. Thanks for the heads up. BTW, I was hoping you were replying to my DC invite post. Let's go fishing tonight! You gave me some great bank tangling advice for fishing the dam up there a few years ago. I'd love to return the favor and take you out on my boat if you're interested.
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