Any news on Strawberry? Is it time for the Fall Fishing Frenzy ??

[LuvThemCuts]

Greetings everybody,

My 16 year old daughter told me yesterday that I need to sell my boat so that she can have some room in the garage to park her car in the winter. What a nice and caring daughter I have... [angelic]

As seems to happen every year, I have been ENTIRELY NEGLIGENT in my fishing. I always have intentions to go out a dozen times, but this year I only made it out 3 times to the Berry. Practically got skunked each time. Just 1 fish on each trip.

The first 2 were because I didn't arrive until 10am. The last one is a mystery. I've never done so poorly out at the Berry, and I'm ready for my luck to change.

I was fishing during the hot part of the summer and I guess that slows it down a bit.

I would LOVE to catch a bunch this week. I'm going out with some friends on Wednesday and some other friends on Saturday.

I'll be fishing from my boat. I don't have down riggers, but I do have a good trolling motor and a 150 hp outboard so I can get around the lake pretty quick.

I have no chub meat, so will be using the standard white tube jigs and tipping them with night crawlers and/or shrimp.

I haven't seen any fishing reports from the Berry in the last week and am wondering if nobody is going, or if it's so hot, nobody's telling.. []

Anyway, if you could share a fishing report of a recent trip or two from Strawberry, that would be awesome !!! Shoot me a PM if you have some Trade Secrets you'd like to share with me. My lips are sealed.

Is it fall fishing time, or is it still a bit early? I recall a few years ago on an early November day fishing with a friend. We found a big herd of fish and discovered they weren't chubs. We spent a half hour pulling in two at a time each of 20" cutthroats. We only stopped because our arms were sore. We would have 1-2 fish on almost constantly. We were passing the net and the needle-nose pliers back and forth and just having the most wonderful time pulling in cutt after cutt. I would LOVE another day like that one.

Anyway, thanks for reading my post. Please share some reports and tricks of the trade if you're willing. I'm getting excited for the fall fishing and hoping to slay the cutts this week. I'm an avid catch and release kind of guy. I just love that jerk on the other end of the line..

Thanks in advance for your fabulous reports !!!
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[MasterDaad]

This was my slowest fishing summer at the Berry for everything except Kokanee.

I went Saturday and had a very successful trip though. Over 30 total between three of us fishing from 7am to noon-ish. Early we had our best luck trolling white flies.

Once the sun came up we switched to jigging tubes in chartuese and white tipped with chub meat.

We ended with about 10 rainbows and 20 cutts. One over the slot that made it home to the smoker. Most were 19"-21.5"

I anticipate it will just get better and better jigging for cutts from now until ice.
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[LuvThemCuts]

Any ideas as to how I can acquire some Chub Meat? That seems to be the magic potion at strawberry.
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[MasterDaad]

Well... I get mine on a couple trips to Scofield each year.

I've found the best substitute is carp or sucker meat you can buy at the local sporting goods stores. Sportsman's warehouse and cabellas have it.

Shrimp is probably next best.
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[mtncat1]

i had a good koke year at the berry also ,i didn't catch many cutts this year at all.i wonder how the cutt numbers are this year.
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[TubeDude]

"Any ideas as to how I can acquire some Chub Meat? That seems to be the magic potion at strawberry."

[#0000FF]Most of my chub spots are suffering from low water. Tough year. But I have a few surplus mini-chubs that make great jig tippers. Shoot me a PM if you wanna come by my place in the west valley area of Salt Lake and pick up a trip's worth. Got anything to trade?[/#0000FF]
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[gonfishn]

Made my first trip to the Berry this past Sunday and it started out very slow but picked up. Was on the lake at 7 but didn't pick up my first fish until the wind came up at about 10:00 or so. When we left at 2:30 I had landed 19 and my big bro had closer to 30....he was on fire. So sleep in and learn to embrace the wind and go slay em.
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[Chuuk]

I have always done the elk hunt the first weekend and then hit Strawberry the second weekend of the elk hunt. It seems to be the best time of the year for me, better than ice out on most years. Do not worry about the lack of chub meet, they will slam a white tube jig tipped with any kind of cut bait. BUT, if TD is offering a trips worth of chubs, I would take him up on it.
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[Fishassassin]

Sportsman's Warehouse and Cabelas have chub meat. Worms work well too. Bring a pair of scissors and cut about an inch of worm to tip you're hook. A dozen worms will last a long time this way.
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[PACMEN]

Scissors? Only scissors I've seen on the water is to trim a fly.
Everybody I know just pinches em off.
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[Kent]

[quote Fishassassin]

Sportsman's Warehouse and Cabelas have chub meat.

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Chub meat or do they have red sided shiners? Chubs stay on the hook better than do shiners.
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[gofish]

I went up Saturday. Caught 1 Koke, 1 rainbow and 17 nice Cutts. Many pushing the top end of the slot. 3-1/2" tube jigs tipped with a meal worm. Fished from 7:30- 1:30. Wasn't fast and furious but steady. Great weather, great company and good fishing. Doesn't get much better than that.

GoFish
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[fishluvr]

Fished the Berry Friday night and Saturday morning. Our best luck was jigging white tube jigs tipped with half inch pieces of red side shiners. We had luck in 20 to 50 feet of water, a lot of the fish were suspended all over the water column but for some reason in that area, about 45 feet of water, the only bites we got were from suspended fish at about 30 feet.

The water is still murky with floating mossy seaweedy goo globs but it was fishable still. I catch my own red side shiners but I know you can buy them at Sportsmans Warehouse and sometimes at the corner gas station at the main junction in Heber. Chub meat definitely stays on the hook better and when I have chub meat I use it alongside the shiner meat and see what they are in the mood for that day.

I am relatively new to fishing Strawberry out of a boat and we are still learning new spots. We saw a lot of fish on the finder in the Meadows area but I still need to learn the secrets to getting them to unlock their jaws for high fish count days. We trolled a little while with no luck but again we are not the experts to go to for info on trolling there.

Hope you have good luck and get into a bunch!
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[Kent]

[quote fishluvr]

We saw a lot of fish on the finder in the Meadows area but I still need to learn the secrets to getting them to unlock their jaws for high fish count days.

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Sometimes, when one see a lot of fish on the finder, at Strawberry, they are seeing schools of chubs. I have seen massive schools of chubs up there from time to time.
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[fishluvr]

How do you tell the difference between chubs and trout on a finder and how do you go about locating fish? Do you just slow troll and watch the finder or just have spots that have produced in the past?
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[Kent]

[quote fishluvr]

How do you tell the difference between chubs and trout on a finder...

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If the finder shows huge schools of fish and they are not all at the same depth (kokanee tend to be at the same depth) that is the first indication that they are chubs. If they will not hit a standard 3 1/2" tube that is a second indication that they are chubs. If one drops a Kastmaster, or similar, and jigs it fast in the middle of the school and one snags a chub that is the confirmation that it is chubs. Interestingly, one will also catch an occasional cutt, in the mouth while fast jigging, in a large school of chubs.

[quote fishluvr]

...and how do you go about locating fish? Do you just slow troll and watch the finder or just have spots that have produced in the past?

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I do both, but my first choice is to try areas that have produced in the past, at that same time of year, or where someone has had luck recently and let me know. Often, the fish are hugging the bottom so tightly that they just barely, if at all, show up on the fish finder before I jig for them for awhile.
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[fishluvr]

We had a lot of fish so close to the bottom that never showed up on the finder. For anyone going out and vertical jigging if you are not getting hits mid depth or up off the bottom try dropping your jig and meat/worm right on the bottom and let it sit there for a couple minutes. Several of the cutts we caught this trip were from my tube jig and bait sitting in the mud. Of course I caught 4 crawfish that stayed on the tube all the way up but it helped catch fish, give it a try.
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[liketrolling]

I made this last year to show what chubs look like on your fish finder
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iTgO74n2...e=youtu.be
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[cje04]

Thanks for the video, very helpful.
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