Biologists are finding big fish at Strawberry

STRAWBERRY RESERVOIR — Some of the largest trout anglers have seen in years at Strawberry Reservoir are swimming in the reservoir right now.

And with the ice coming off the reservoir, now is the perfect time to stand on the shoreline and have fun catching them.

An angler fishing from a float tube caught this beautiful cutthroat at Strawberry last year.

Strawberry Reservoir is about 30 miles southeast of Heber City and is easily accessed off US 40.

Alan Ward, Division of Wildlife Resources aquatics biologist at Strawberry Reservoir, provides the following information about fishing for trout in the spring and about the big trout biologists are finding at the reservoir. He also provides tips to help you catch these big fish throughout the year:

The ice will be off of Strawberry soon, and anglers are getting anxious to get out and try some ice-free fishing. Some very fast fishing for large cutthroats and rainbows can be done as the ice comes off the reservoir.

Heavy snowfall and thick ice at Strawberry this last winter postponed ice-off a little longer than normal this year. The ice is receding now. As it continues to recede, look for many trout to be cruising the shorelines looking for food in the warming, shallow water.

To catch these actively feeding fish, try casting and retrieving dark-colored leech patterns, and dark-colored marabou or grub style jigs, in the shallow water near shore.

This hot spring fishing usually lasts about two weeks.

Biologists finding big fish

We're expecting a great fishing year at Strawberry in 2006 because of the large numbers of big cutthroat trout we've caught during our gillnet surveys.

About 20 percent of the cutthroats we've caught in our most recent gill net surveys have been over 20 inches long, and about 5 percent are more than 22 inches long. This is amazing, particularly when you consider that our gillnets are not designed to adequately catch these larger fish.

Before regulations to protect the cutthroats were enacted in 2003, we rarely caught fish this big.

The current regulations protect all cutthroat trout from 15 to 22 inches long. You may keep one cutthroat over 22 inches, as well as two cutthroats under 15 inches.

These regulations were put in place in 2003 to help build a large population of cutthroats that would prey on chub populations that were expanding in the lake. Because of the regulations, the chub population has decreased in recent years, and the long-term health of the fishery looks very good.

Catching big cutthroats

To catch these larger cutthroats, anglers often need to change their tactics and try a variety of fishing methods. Larger fish do not eat the same things smaller fish eat.

If you want to catch one of the many large cutthroats in Strawberry, here are a few techniques you may want to try as the year moves along:

- During the summer, try fishing shallow in the early morning and late evening with dead minnows or lures that imitate minnows. The large cutthroats often move from the deeper, cooler water in the summer to chase chubs and shiners in the shallows.

- In the fall, troll or cast dead minnows or minnow imitations shallow, and at moderate depths (10 to 25 feet), for fast action on big fish. Tube jigs fished vertically, or with cast and retrieve methods, can also produce large fish in the fall, and in the summer too.

Abundant crayfish have been a major component of the large cutthroats' diet, and fishing in rocky areas with lures that imitate crayfish can also be very effective.

Rainbow trout fishing

Rainbow fishing should also improve this year due to larger rainbows being stocked in 2006. Very large rainbows (17 and 18 pounds) have been caught recently, and the opportunities are available at Strawberry for a large trophy.

Don't miss out on the great fishing we are going to have at Strawberry this year. It's close, it's easy, and it's fun!