Slot Busted!

[LOAH]

Though I had been planning all week to try out some central lakes, a strange force pulled me toward Strawberry at the last moment. It was calling me and I went with it.

On the way up, I had to stop and check on a beaver pond that I like, but I was surprised to see that it has almost silted full and what was a great hole last year had turned into a very shallow mud bog. There were still some tiny fish in it, but it just wasn't the same. Oh well, time ticks on.

Upon arrival at the Berry (Soldier Creek Dam), the tube was pumped up and I spent about a half hour casting from shore before shoving off. While casting, a large bait ball of small fish came swirling by and I picked up a 9 inch cutt with nubby fins.

A few minutes later, I had a footlong rainbow thrashing around, which pulled a larger cutthroat in to investigate. Seeing a great opportunity to sight fish, I was able to pick him up for a couple of photos before sending him on his way. He was only 20 inches.



He wouldn't hold still.



Now to find his big brother. Off I went in the tube to fish over deeper water. Some dink rainbows played with the worm I drifted, but they were nothing special.

Just after throwing a rainbow kastmaster way out toward the middle, my attention was required on the worm rod and I left the KM to sink for a bit. When I was able, I grabbed the KM rod and thought I had let it sink too long since it was bent way over and wasn't shaking. Snagged, I thought.

Well, started to reel myself toward the snag when I felt what seemed to be a head shake. Score! Something heavy was on and it actually took a bit of effort to bring in. I knew it was a cutt since it didn't really fight hard, but it didn't want to budge either.





Once it came to hand, I knew I had a slot buster. When held against my rod, (mfg marked at 22") it hung over about an inch.

Finally! It's been a long time since I was able to bring home a cutt from the Berry and I was starting to lose my faith in the place. What a relief!

So with that hurdle cleared, I half-heartedly fished while kicking back to point A. The river looked nice, so I parked at the gate and made the walk to the spill bowl where I saw some impressive browns that wanted nothing to do with me. Eventually I got one to strike the rainbow kastmaster in the wash of the outflow, but it escaped before coming to hand.

I did see a giant beaver in the river though. It swam directly under where I was standing, several times, as it had a lodge in between the boulders. I tried to get some underwater video, but the beav was too weary of my presence. Oh well. Enough of this, time to head back home.



One last stop was made at the mouth of Provo Canyon, just for fun, but nothing else came of it. No biggie. It was a nice day and I was glad to bring home some delicious pink flesh to share with my family.

Happy Fishing, Humans.

[ibenick]

Man you catch some nice fish! Great report.

[uintahiker]

Nice fish! Keep up the TR's!

[paraAdams]

LOAH, Thanks for the post man. You always do a great job of making me wish I were out fishing.

Question for you about the Strawberry River. I fished it for the first time this week, and had a great time. I accessed it from the Pinnacles area, and it seemed like quite a drive to the dam from there. So I actually stopped just beyond Timber Canyon and fished upstream with a hopper dropper combo. Have you fished that river much? Is there any good fishing closer to the dam? I usually throw flies so that's what I'm most interested in using.

Thanks again!

[LOAH]

The spill bowl below the dam is usually where I fish, when I do. You can use marabou jigs there to pick up the brookies or usually a gold blue fox does the trick for a few browns.

There are some really nice fish in that hole, usually hard to catch. About a mile down from the dam, there are numerous beaver dams and plenty of good pockets in between. There are also rainbows and cutthroat in this stretch.