# Fun Day to the East



## LOAH (Sep 29, 2007)

Before Saturday morning, I had never floated Strawberry from my tube. What's more, I'd never caught a fish on my fly rod from my tube.

I went to the Soldier Creek side near the inlet and set off, into the weeds. As soon as I got out of the muck, I let a black egg-sucking leech fly. I let it sink for a moment and then started a slow and steady kick-troll. It was only a couple of minutes before I had my first taker, a dink planter bow. Despite the size, still a personal landmark.










Being a rookie from the hatchery, it didn't look very appetizing, so back it went. For the next few hours, I kicked around staying in the channel the best I could while pausing at times to cast with my spinning rod. That was pretty uneventful except for a small bump near the HWY 40 dike.

The fishing was stale, so I made my way back toward the area that I started in and tried some deeper water after switching to another fly.

Kicking about 30 feet off a pretty steep shoreline, I cast out and had stripped out quite a lot of line when finally, I got a good strike. Lifting the rod tip, I set the hook for a romp with a worthy fish. I knew right away that it had some size to it, but I didn't notice a lot of thrashing. It was pretty far away from me and it was staying deep, but it let me guide it in somewhat easily until it got on top.

Once it broke the surface, it actually gave me an impressive battle for a few seconds. At that point, it seemed to give up and let me pull it up to my tube on its side. If I had a net, the fight would have been over at that moment. Since I don't have a net, I had to reach out and grab it to help it onto my apron. As soon as I touched it, it woke up and fought ten times harder, making a run toward the bottom while demanding line.

Now I felt that key sensation of having to really fight a big fish on the fly rod. Previously, my biggest on the whip was about 13 or 14 inches. This fish was very different and much more enjoyable. I was glad I didn't bring a net. :lol:

After letting it run a few times, I was able to get it on my lap. I had to really hug it at first to keep it from tangling itself up in the mess of line that I stripped in during the retrieval. I stretched the apron out under the fish to see how much fish would be left after the numbers ended at 20". I was pretty sure that it was out of the slot, so I broke out the tape and got a real measurement of 23". Bingo. 8)










I sure love those Berry cutts. Deeeelicious! I only get to eat them a couple of times per year, it seems.

So that pretty much made my day and gave me an excuse to leave and try somewhere else.

Deciding where to go next was a tug-of-war between Currant Creek Reservoir and Jordanelle. I've never floated the 'Nelle and felt open to fish for multiple species, so I set my sights for Rock Cliff as I got back to shore and packed up.

It wasn't until I got into my car that I changed my mind on a whim and drove to Starvation.

:? What?

Yeah, Starvation. It has always seemed somewhat unappealing to me, but I already accomplished whatever goal there was for the day and possibly getting skunked in the desert didn't sound too bad.

Starvation is full of walleye apparently and I understand that they usually like submerged structure. What better structure, I thought, than the pillars of the Freedom Bridge and the very rocky shoreline on both sides?

Unfortunately, I arrived to a scene of choppy, wind-blown water, so the tube and fly rod would have to wait in the car. The contrasting colors of water vs land and sky at Starvation is still nice to behold:





































I've caught some walleye in my exploits, but that was usually by accident, so I wasn't exactly sure how I would attack. Rod number 1 had a Lucky Craft and number 2 was a slowly sinking worm rig.

The worm was placed on the far side of the closest pillar while I cast my pointer in all directions. After about an hour of switching between several lures, I provoked a small eye to bite on a blue fox, of all things. :wink:










The worm rig got stuck on the bottom and I never restrung it. Instead, I scrambled across the rocky shoreline to stop and fish every 100 feet or so. Several more walleye of similar size ended up in my hand as a result and even a couple of dink smallmouth.










Finally getting into some fish was nice, but I wasn't catching anything big enough to keep for dinner and the afternoon was growing long. Currant Creek seemed like a nice place for an evening float and I could more than likely get some more practice with the long rod.

After petting a couple of small rainbows from the creek on the way up, I arrived with approximately 2hrs of sun over the horizon. It didn't take me long to get into the water. There were a few people on the shoreline near the inlet that reported really slow fishing and as soon as I got out a ways, I knew why.

The weeds were everywhere, rendering most of the North half practically unfishable. My legs had to do some serious work to get me deeper, but the weeds were still just as thick in places I know are at least 20 feet deep. The surface of the water was deceptive since it covered the tops of the hidden stalks of vegetation. I haven't seen the weeds this bad before now. At least the channel was navigable.

Finally, I reached some decent water and worked the fly for about 20 minutes before getting a connection:










Not a bad fish for Currant Creek and it had the heart of a warrior. 

About an hour later, while on my way back to the shore, I hooked one more for the cooler:










When I got to shore, I saw that the previous shoreline group had left and been replaced by a small family. They were using powerbait and nothing was happening, so I explained the weed situation to them and gave the father a couple of dry flies to try behind a bubble. That setup seemed like the only thing that might work in that area, considering. I hope they caught a couple.

Once again, the fishing wasn't on fire, but I still had a great day. It was nice to experience new waters and it was great to get out on the tube again.

Happy Fishing, Humans.


----------



## Nor-tah (Dec 16, 2007)

Nice Cutty LOAH!!! 23 inches on a fly rod is SAWEET! Its about that time to start tubbing the berry. What was the temperature like up there?


----------



## LOAH (Sep 29, 2007)

Nor-tah said:


> What was the temperature like up there?


I have the Nylon/PVC Cabela's waders, so I like to wear a couple of insulating layers to keep the sweat off my legs. I was comfortable the whole time I was in the water. I started when there was still frost on all the plants.



SilverSmitty said:


> I'm glad you didn't get skunked up there and didn't run into any rattlesnakes.


I was kind of bummed NOT to see one. Obviously I wouldn't want _too_ close of a look, but I think they're cool looking.

I enjoyed it there though. I'll definitely be back for some bigger eyes, someday.


----------



## REPETER (Oct 3, 2007)

Another great report, thanks LOAH. Super jealousy about that nice cut on the fly :mrgreen:


----------



## .45 (Sep 21, 2007)

Good going LOAH !!!  

When your story got to Starvation, I was wondering about taking the float tube out there.. :? ......During my drive-by's I have not seen the lake calm very often. 

Good variety of fish LOAH, and your pic's are coming in very good !!


----------



## netresult (Aug 22, 2008)

Nice report, and great pics LOAH! Thanks for sharing.


----------



## orvis1 (Sep 7, 2007)

Sounds like you got out for a solo trip and hit a few lakes in a day. That was a nice cutty and a on a fly rod it brings a tear to my eye..... :mrgreen: We need to get out before that nasty ice monster takes over the water!


----------



## XxFIREBOYxX (Jan 9, 2008)

orvis1 said:


> Sounds like you got out for a solo trip and hit a few lakes in a day. That was a nice cutty and a on a fly rod it brings a tear to my eye..... :mrgreen: We need to get out before that nasty ice monster takes over the water!


Thats a GREAT cutt! !! ! it looks like a hopper pattern you were using were you using anything else or just that?!?!?!?!!?

I can't wait for the ICE to come! ! ! Fired up my auger, set up my tent and got everything packed and waiting! ! ! ! :mrgreen:


----------



## Ifish (Aug 22, 2008)

Very nice! I love to tube Strawberry! The perfect day was elk hunting in the morning and tubing in the evening. I've never had a cutt outside the slot. Nice report and thanks for sharing.


----------



## LOAH (Sep 29, 2007)

XxFIREBOYxX said:


> it looks like a hopper pattern you were using were you using anything else or just that?!?!?!?!!?


Actually it was an olive sculpin with a cone shaped, brass beadhead. After the black egg sucking leech, it's all I used.


Ifish said:


> I've never had a cutt outside the slot. Nice report and thanks for sharing.


Keep after it. Once you taste one of the really pink cutts from the berry, you'll have a new obsession...If you cook it right.


----------



## bucksandducks (Sep 11, 2007)

Sounds like a fun productive day. That is a beautiful cutt. Good day.


----------



## Greenguy88 (Sep 7, 2007)

Atta boy brotha! Looks like your gettin the hang of the long rod! Thats quite the impressive cutty! I havent caught a fish quite that big on the whip yet. Nice work at Starvation and CC as well, I have yet to fish either of those two. Let me know when you wanna go kick around somewhere!


----------



## JAT83 (Sep 9, 2007)

Awesome report, nice pics too! That makes me want to ditch work and go fishing right now!


----------



## hunterfisher (Sep 14, 2007)

Another great report to check of the list LOAH.


----------

