Heber City — Big news, trout anglers—the ice at Strawberry Reservoir is leaving the shoreline in many places. And the inlets to the reservoir are opening up.

On May 11, the ice was just starting to leave the shoreline at Strawberry Reservoir.

Photo by Scott Root

That means some of the best shore fishing you'll find for trout—anytime, anywhere—is about to begin.

(Strawberry is just off U.S. Highway 40, about 25 miles southeast of Heber City.)

Scott Root, regional conservation outreach manager for the Division of Wildlife Resources, says fishing from a float tube or from the shore can be great at Strawberry as the ice starts receding from the shoreline.

"Casting spinners, jigs and other lures that imitate a minnow—in the open water next to the ice—can be very effective," Root says.

Root says you'll often find trout cruising near the ice and in the open water between the shoreline and the ice. "Flies, streamers, leech patterns and marabou jigs, and several other types of flies and lures, can be very successful on cutthroat and rainbow trout this time of the year."

Complete "ice-off" is expected in the next two weeks. But right now is a fantastic time to catch hungry and large trout at one of the country's best trout-fishing waters.

Root visited the reservoir on May 11. "Several fish were caught on May 11," he says, "but the 'big bite' should begin this weekend as more water opens up.

"Hopefully," he says, "fishing will remain hot for an extended period of time."

You can see some of the action Root saw by watching the video below.

Special rules

As you visit Strawberry over the next few weeks, please remember that the following rules are in place to keep plenty of cutthroat trout in the reservoir:

• You can have four trout and kokanee salmon in your daily limit. But not more than two of those fish can be cutthroat trout under 15 inches long. And not more than one of the fish can be a cutthroat over 22 inches in length.
• All cutthroat trout from 15 to 22 inches long must be released immediately.
• Trout and salmon cannot be filleted, and their heads or tails cannot be removed in the field or while transporting the fish from the field to other locations.

More information is available on page 30 of the 2011 Utah Fishing Guidebook. The free guidebook is available at wildlife.utah.gov/guidebooks.

More information about fishing at Strawberry Reservoir is available at wildlife.utah.gov/strawberry.