Strawberry Reservoir

On Wednesday I went up to Strawberry Reservoir with my friend JR and his son Justice. The goal was to explore the Strawberry Narrows with a small motorized raft. I have always wanted to fish this section of the reservoir so I was pretty excited to see how the fishing was!

We got on the lake around 0730-0800 hours. The lake was picture perfect and seemed to be the perfect day for fishing. We started by trolling various lures behind the raft as we made our way into the narrows.

 

JR started off by catching a nice rainbow with a multicolored Blue Fox lure. I had never used one of these lures, but was happy to see it work!

The narrows had several areas that seemed to be ideal for fishing.

We docked the raft on a small island and fished for a little while. Surprisingly, none of us got any bites so we decided to get back in the raft and float by the steep cliffs.

Finally, I started getting bites on a salt and pepper tube jig, tipped with a red worm. I was able to land a nice rainbow while trying a vertical jigging method. I let JR and Justice try tube jigs as well. They also got some bites but were unable to land any fish with a tube jig. 

You can see the tube jig in this photo. I've found success on various fishing trips with yellow, green, and silver/blue tube jigs. Salt and pepper tube jigs are my favorite though!

JR and his son Justice caught a large cutthroat trout with a gold Jake lure. I was somewhat surprised to see a large cutthroat take the Jake lure, but then again, they are a bread and butter lure that every angler should have in his tackle box. You can catch fish with silver Jake lures as well.

Cutthroat trout are awesome fish because they are aggressive and often put up a good fight as you reel them in. They can also get very large!

Too my surprise, we also caught a total of 6 chubs. I did not know these non-game fish were in Strawberry Reservoir. We caught the chubs on a gold Jake lure and the multicolored Blue Fox lure. 

Our day got cut a little short when this crazy lightning storm swept over the lake. Lets just say the little trolling motor was no match for the wind and white cap waves. JR and I got a good workout as we assisted the motor by paddling through the wind! All in all it was a great day out on the water.

JOE'S TIP OF THE DAY

Fishing for trout in the summer months can often be difficult. As the water heats up, the trout dive down to the deeper, colder parts of the lake. With this in mind, try rigging your line with baits suited for deep fishing. As always, morning and evening hours can also help as the temperatures are lower then midday.