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View Full Version : Strawberry and Starvation tips and tricks request



Jaxx
10-02-2007, 11:39 AM
Thanks to Alex's crawdad thread it got me itching to take the family fishing at Strawberry in the next next couple of weeks. One day at Strawberry and one day at Starvation . I have never fished either of these lakes and any help would be appreciated. We will be fishing off the shores. Where should I go to get away from crowds? Are the fish biting in the cold weather? What bait? Special regulations or rules? Good locations.

I am taking my wife and 3 small girls. They like it when we catch fish and complain when we don't, like most girls.

If I can cook dinner that night with what we caught it will make my wife even happier, so what are some good recipes for fish and crawdads that you guys have? We usually just put some butter and garlic salt inside the fish, wrap it in tinfoil and grill them, so good.

Almost forgot. We will be staying in Midway. I definitely want to do Strawberry. Are there any lakes you would recommend besides Starvation, mabey Soldier creek area. We wanted to catch some crawdads with my home made trap, we'll see how it works.

LOAH
10-02-2007, 10:09 PM
Strawberry is a risk with a troop of females that aren't hardcore about fishing. Don't get me wrong, the payoff can be HUGE! It's just that, unless you troll from a boat, you'll likely wait around all day (with the nagging in the background) for one or two fish. The restrictions are pretty stiff there and enforced with a "no mercy" mentality by the local agencies. Any cutthroat trout (red slashes under the jaw) between the sizes of (and including) 15-22 inches must be immediately released.

You can keep rainbows up to any size, but only 1 cutt over 22" and 1 cutt under 15".

Now before you get frustrated trying to understand that regulation, just know that the DWR has plenty of reason to set the slot limit like they have. The Utah Chub is a nuisance and will take over the biomass if left unchecked. The Bear Lake Cutthroat that are in the berry are good predators and feed heavily on the smaller chub while they're younger. The most effective feeding habits come from cutts over 15 inches, typically. The fish over 22" are regulated to one fish per creel limit because at that point, they would be considered of "trophy" size and they are still good pest control...Wouldn't want everybody to walk away with four 24" fish. It wouldn't last long with the heavy pressure that Strawberry sustains year round.

Sorry to ramble, but I used to hate the slot until I learned a little more about "why". It's to secure a healthy fishery for years to come and they won't feel the need to bomb the lake with rotenone (poison) to kill off all the chubs.

Now...If you actually go there with your family, I'd say go to the Soldier Creek Dam and park for free next to the pump shack. Arrive as early as possible. Give you wife and kids some rainbow powerbait and let them hope for a rainbow while they wait. While they're occupied (you must act fast), put a dead minnow (purchased from a store or trapped...pm me, if you want) on a tiny treble hook (size 16 is good) by hooking the barbs through each eye socket and under the jaw from inside the mouth.

Now walk slowly along the steep, rocky shoreline while keeping your eye on the water out to 15 feet. Most likely, you'll see a big cutt cruising the shallows for an easy meal. At this point, all you do is gently toss your minnow out about 10 feet in front of your victim and wait with your bale open. Don't do this unless you're confident that the fish is out of the slot. This method kills fish. If the fish is hungry, it'll swim up, possibly make a couple of passes, and swallow the minnow while swimming away with it. Give it plenty of line while it swallows. After about a minute or so (or when you feel like the minnow is down the throat), shut your bale and let the slack in the line pull almost tight. Now firmly jerk back and set the hook. The hook will rip out of the minnow and into the side of the monster. Make sure your drag is set so that you can pull line out without breaking it, but still firm enough to tire out a fish while you reel.

The fish won't get away unless the line breaks. I use 10lb test pretty much everywhere and I've still had some break off.

For smaller fish, use the powerbait and a worm about 3 ft under a bubble about 20 ft out...over the weeds.

Here's a cutt I caught this year at this very spot with a minnow:

http://i170.photobucket.com/albums/u260/justisaurus_bucket/bigcutt.jpg
__________________________________________________ ___________

For another spot that might be more family friendly, try Currant Creek Reservoir. Just keep driving past Strawberry on HWY 40 and go through the canyon until you see the gas station on the left side (about 10 minutes). Right before that gas station is a road that cuts up to the left. Take that road all the way to Currant Creek. It's a great fishery filled with Colorado River Cutthroat Trout. The average size of fish I've caught is around 14" with some around 18" or more.

The steep side fishes the best, but it's kind of hard to get to (no road access unless you hike down about 200 ft through sage). All you really need to do is rig a worm about 18 inches above a weight (I like a heavy bass casting sinker) tipped with a chartreuse power egg. I also like to put another hook with another worm about 12" above that one. A leader is optional. If you tie the hook directly onto the main line, let it sink and keep it taught...The fish will usually set their own hook when they bite.

I have a blast every time I go to Currant Creek and there are no special regs for the reservoir. Just the statewide 4 trout limit. I caught a bigger fish there with my minnow technique, too.

Sorry for the info overload, but my Dad came to town for a visit and I tipped a couple back with him. :blahblah:

Good luck and take care.

Here are some CC pics:

http://i170.photobucket.com/albums/u260/justisaurus_bucket/5-1.jpg

http://i170.photobucket.com/albums/u260/justisaurus_bucket/4-3.jpg

http://i170.photobucket.com/albums/u260/justisaurus_bucket/6-1.jpg

http://i170.photobucket.com/albums/u260/justisaurus_bucket/3-5.jpg

http://i170.photobucket.com/albums/u260/justisaurus_bucket/2-6.jpg

icthys
10-03-2007, 08:13 AM
Strawberry should be great fishing from here till ice over. The fish are loving the dropping temperatures and are moving out of deeper water. You will find fish cruising through the shallows looking for bait fish, crawdads, and leeches. I would guess you could do well fishing on shore with buggers and leech flies plus flies imitating small chubs. I'm just a fly fisherman so I don't know lures very well but rapalas and a lure called a pointer I think will do well. Again, any lure imitating the chubs. Don't be scared to try a mouse pattern :nod:

Jaxx
10-03-2007, 08:54 AM
WOW! thanks for the tips. I was going to try to get by Dad's boat if he hasn't winterized it yet. If not I now have some very good tips. Depending on how the kids and wife are doing I might take my float tube out and try some fly fishing. I'm very noob at it but still find it fun.
Thanks again for all the info guys.

Jaxx
10-03-2007, 10:57 AM
I was just looking at the Proclamation online and found this:

CURRANT CREEK (Wasatch County) (from Water Hollow Creek upstream to headwaters, including all tributaries to Currant Creek Reservoir, but not the reservoir itself)
ARTIFICIAL FLIES AND LURES ONLY.

LOAH
10-03-2007, 06:16 PM
Yep, Currant Creek, not Currant Creek Reservoir. No special regs on the lake.

marc olivares
10-03-2007, 06:52 PM
wow Loah, great info!

:2thumbs:

accadacca
10-03-2007, 08:11 PM
LOAH, your detailed reports are reaching the "epic" status. :popcorn: :haha:

Jaxx
10-04-2007, 07:37 AM
Yep, Currant Creek, not Currant Creek Reservoir. No special regs on the lake.

Cool thanks for the info. I can't wait to try out your minnow setup!

packfish
10-04-2007, 09:33 AM
Should be able to do well if youi are casting minnow imitating lures from shore on the berry otherwise the minnow set up would be your second best option.
The restrictions on the berry should be enforced harder than they are.

Jaxx
10-04-2007, 10:21 AM
I actually got a boat, no trolling, but it should get us to some deeper spots. I was thinking of trying LOAH's minnow trick with my kids just on a bobber so the minnow bobs in the water. That way we will be watching and keeping the line tight so we don't get any cutt's swallowing it and killing one in the 15-22 inch range. Of course we will also be doing worms, spinners, and powerbait. I also bought some crawdad traps at Cabela's so I will be trying those as well, I was going to drop them off in some shallow water.

LOAH
10-04-2007, 07:32 PM
If you use a minnow under a bobber, you should use a baitholder rather than a treble hook. That way you actually set the hook rather than pull it out of the fish's mouth.

I've not had much success that way, but I'd be interested in seeing how you do.

Then again, if you have a boat, drag a rapala around. Trolling almost guarantees action.

Good luck with whatever you decide to do.

BTW...That minnow rig that I explained earlier works pretty much anywhere there are big, predatory fish. Most of my biggest fish came from the minnow method.