Strawberry Reservoir is one of my favorite places to fish, the power squadron is not there and there are very few brave souls willing to forsake the cold water to waterski or wakeboard on the reservoir. This makes fishing a lot more peaceful and enjoyable for me, I don't have to worry about my line getting wrapped up in a 300 hp motor on another boat, taking $15 worth of lures and possibly stripping every foot of line off of my reels with it. Now don't get me wrong, I enjoy water sports, but not when its close quarters to my boat when I am fishing.
Strawberry can be a very diverse and challenging place to fish, the water and fish holding areas can be very diverse, and can change overnight, the wind is almost a constant, and with the drought that has plagued our region the last few summers the water level can also fluctuate quite a bit.
So were do I begin, I fish from a 2010 Smokercraft, Milentia 19.5' boat, the boat is rigged with a 150 HP Mercury Optimax motor, a 6 hp Mercury kicker motor, and a 72 lb thrust 24 volt bow mount electric motor, I have two Cannon Mag 10 electric downriggers and two sonars (fish finders).
The first species I will talk about in this post is Kokanee salmon. Kokanee or Kokes as a lot of fishermen call them were introduced into Strawberry by the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources, (DWR). The Kokanee have done so well in Strawberry that they are now naturally reproducing in the reservoir, they are also trapped by the DWR during the spawn and they are milked, and the fertilized eggs are placed in the state hatchery to grow and later to be planted into other reservoirs around the state that do not have naturally reproducing Kokanee. There is an annual migration of mature spawning Kokanee on most of the tributaries surrounding Strawberry, they can also be easily viewed at the Strawberry visitors center just south of Highway 40, in late August early September.
The main lures I use when fishing for kokes is the hootchie, or squid, you can purchase these lures from Rocky Mountain Tackle (RMT), Shasta Tackle or Kokanee Creek tackle, all can also be purchased from Sportsmans warehouse, Cabelas, or Fish tech. The best colors to use this year I have found are Purples, Bright pinks, and orange. I will also use needle fish in varying colors or the RMT spoons. In front of the lures I use the RMT dodgers or the Sling blade dodgers in matching colors, or just plain silver with a flash imprinted on them.
I will also upgrade or personalize my squids with a Mack's lures smiley blade in the matching color of the squids when the bite has slowed or just for added attraction. I place a small colored bead on the line between the squid and the Smiley blade so that it spins correctly.
I will also tip the squids with Berkley Gulp maggots, in either Pink, Chartreuse or white, the squids are tandem hooks, I have found if I place one maggot on the first hook and two on the second I get more action from the back end of the squid, and action catches fish. I will also shorten the manufacture's leader to a length of 8-12", this causes the squid to dance even more, because without the dodger the squid imparts no action of its own.
I prefer the Scotty downrigger releases for ease of use and simplicity, I use the micro release's for the Kokes and most trout, Flaming gorge Lake trout I use the magnum ones, but that's for a later article.
I fish the Strawberry side of the reservoir, now anyone new to Strawberry may ask, what do you mean, well Strawberry was once two separate reservoirs Strawberry to the west and Soldier creek to the east, I believe in 1985 the dam separating the two was destroyed and the reservoir was then all considered Strawberry.
I have found that most of the bigger Kokanee are located on the strawberry side, some may argue this point but I would wager a bet that most of the bigger kokes are traditionally caught on the Strawberry side. Most of the kokes I have caught have been on the east shore, just south of the Ladders area by Highway 40, or around the Island that is north west of the ladders and south of Chicken creek, and between Mud Creek and the Ladders. I have also had considerable luck near the mouth of the Channel headed to Soldier creek, just east of renegade.
I start my fishing day by driving over the areas that usually produce Kokes, I look closely at my fishfinder and look for schools of fish, I am not talking about singles, doubles or triples, I am talking about multiple targets on the screen, I call it lighting up the screen, once I find the school, I drop my kicker motor or my electric motor and set a speed between 1.4-1.9 mph, I put the bottom pole hooked to the down rigger releases in the center of the school, the second stacked pole is placed ten feet above the bottom pole, I will start with different colors of lures and squids for each pole trying to get a pattern started, once a pattern is established I will change all poles to a specific color or type of lure and continue to harass the kokes into hitting the lures, making S turns thru the school and making large U turns again and again thru the school.
Once I either lose contact with the school or they scatter, I start searching again as described, or I just hunt for them as I troll picking up Rainbows and Cutthroats as I search, (using the same gear and lures as I was for the Kokanee,) I have found that if I am catching smaller class Kokanee I will go deeper to get to the bigger fish, if that does not work I go shallower, if both seem to pick up the same age class fish, I will move from that school and find another with the older class Kokanee.
Cutthroat and Rainbow trout can be caught while trolling for Kokanee with the same gear you are using, but if you change the bottom pole out and put a larger (5") Rapala, Flatfish, Quick fish or a Rattle trap fished between 50-60' your likely to catch the bigger Cutts and larger Rainbows, some reaching into the 10# class. It can be boring and a little tedious to hunt the big ones but it will pay off with persistence, that's why I suggest stacking the poles so you can still remain actively catching fish while still hunting the elusive 10# lunker.
Rainbows and Cutthroats can be caught from shore using powerbait, night crawlers, and a variety of other baits. My preferred bait of choice is the chub minnows, (not redside minnows) with just enough weight to get the bait out into the deeper water.
Best areas I have found for shore fishing is just north of the Renegade marina and at the inflow of Indian Creek just west of Renegade, the Ladders can be good, as well as just east of the main marina on the Soldier creek side of the reservoir.
If your ever on Strawberry and need some help, call me on the Marine radio, The name of my boat is EFishNSea.
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