Strawberry from Shore

This week, the cooling trend of late had me wondering about Strawberry Reservoir.  The trout are known to stay in deeper water while the summer sizzles, but they really hug the shorelines in the fall.  Needing a trip within an hour or so from home, it fit the bill nicely and I was off.

Normally from shore at Strawberry, the action is slow, yielding only one or two fish per hour, if that.  A few times in the past, I've been able to find a good school and follow it while catching a handful of dinks, but my usual Berry experience is full of casting, waiting, casting, and more casting with an occasional fish coming in.

The fish are usually pretty long and it's almost a sure thing to get into some 20+ inch cutthroat, but to find the slot buster (over 22" / slot = 15-22") is not as common for the bank tangler.

This trip would be slightly more productive than most others, in terms of catching quantity, but I failed to find a slot buster this time out.  A couple of fish came close, but it just wasn't meant to be.  Still a fun day though.

Here are some pics:

This snake was my longest fish of the day.  21.5", but skinny and kind of roughed up.  A good percentage of these fish have been caught before.

My first stop was the bay just north of Pine Hollow.  Parking on top and hiking down to the rocky areas, it wasn't long until some fish were thrashing on the end of my line.  Plenty of structure to work around here.

My second stop was the cliff area near the dam.  I found some fish there too.

This one went over 20", but it wouldn't stretch out to the mark on my rod.

These Bear Lake (strain) Cutthroat have some teeth.  I've cut my finger many times while handling them.

So it wasn't a spectacular day, but I have to say that I'm pretty satisfied with the catching, as compared to most outings I have at the Berry.  The fish are pretty close to shore right now and fishing points is a sure way to find schools passing through.

Happy Fishing, Humans.