# Strawberry Last Week plus Early Ice Tigers



## LOAH (Sep 29, 2007)

Last week, my hopes were to catch some of the great action people had been reporting from Strawberry Reservoir. My previous attempts to get out there this fall had been thwarted, so it was good to finally make it.










Finding fish was difficult, even marching a couple of miles' worth of shoreline. A few bites were missed and a total of two fish were caught, both cutts under the slot.

Here's a 20 inch Berry cutt:










And a smaller one:










It was a cold, windy day and I fished several areas of the lake before calling it quits. Wading way out to hip-high water at the Ladders, I hooked up twice and both got off. They pay tube is covered for the season at the Ladders, so there was no fee. That's always nice.

On my way home, I stopped and fish Daniel Creek in a few spots. The browns were stacked in spooky little pools where culverts spill.



















That was fun. Getting out was much needed.

__________________________________

This week, I saw some photos of thin ice on a lake I like to catch nice tigers at. It had been a few days with cold nights since then. By my thoughts, that ice would be ready for me by Saturday and off I went.

The ice was scary, so I didn't go out very far at all. Better safe than sorry.

One rod had a Cut'r Bug with a shiner dangling from the hook shank and the other had an orange Shrimpo with a meal worm. Missed three bites from the Shrimpo.

It took awhile, but I got a bite on the minnow rod and set it to a really solid fish on the other end.

The fight took quite awhile as I had to just wait while it took drag several times. It wasn't set very loose, but only using 4lb test, it was just tight enough to ensure that it wouldn't snap on a run.

Right away I knew it was big and started rolling video:






Measurements were taken. 24.5" long and 4lbs, 14oz.

Nice fish. Not my best, but it was just what I needed. The rest of the day didn't matter after that.










Nice spread:










The fishing remained slow and bites were rare. My next catch was a smaller male of about 17" with great colors.










Still a nice fish, but nothing like the first one.

The next one was even darker and over 20":










Gorgeous fish. That was it for total catches though. Only a few bites and three to the deck. The last two were on consecutive drops.

It was a beautiful day with temps above freezing, not too much wind, and it mostly sunny.

_More pics and details on my blog._

Happy Fishing, Humans.


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## Size Matters (Dec 22, 2007)

Great report and Awesome photos as always.8)


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## dank80 (Oct 31, 2007)

That's a heck of a tiger! The others weren't too shabby either. Nice outing.


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## swbuckmaster (Sep 14, 2007)

What wew pretty fish


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## Igottabigone (Oct 4, 2007)

Great post LOAH!


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## RYsenTrout (Jun 6, 2012)

Love those colorful males. Nice pics!


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## 30-06-hunter (Sep 22, 2013)

When he came up out of the hole and started flopping around I was waiting for him to smack the camera with his tail, very nice tiger for sure. Does this spot start with the letter "H" or "S"?


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## Packfish (Oct 30, 2007)

That my friend is nice- but that ice is a bit thin for me. Used to do that- I couple of dunkings- one right beside a DWR officer made me rethink that whole ordeal.


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## outdoorser (Jan 14, 2013)

Thanks for sharing!


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## Jackalope (Oct 30, 2007)

Beautiful tigers, I've always wanted to ice fish there, but never wanted to make the drive.


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## LOAH (Sep 29, 2007)

.06, neither. Check your pm's.


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## Longgun (Sep 7, 2007)

8) NICE!

testing me arent you... ;-)


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## Dunkem (May 8, 2012)

Nice as always Loah! I love daniels creek,never anybody there,and a fun creek to try different stuff on.


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## steve.henstrom (Dec 4, 2013)

Really great fish that video really got me excited for ice fishing this year thanks for posting this


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## nateysmith (May 13, 2013)

Those are some awesome pictures LOAH. I really enjoyed the video. I have just gotten into fishing these past couple years. It really is truly relaxing and I think I need to start exploring more waters after reading your blog!


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