Hungry “Cuts” Attack Small Rainbows

As I reported last week, the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources (UDWR) has stocked close to 400,000 eight-inch rainbow trout in Strawberry since the first of October.  Those fish are now swimming in schools around the lake and are being targeted by large cutthroat trout as they gorge themselves before winter.  If you target the cutthroats and not the small rainbows, you just might catch the fish of your dreams.

A couple of weeks ago, I took my oldest son, Don Jr. and my youngest son, Mark on a quick excursion to “fall fishing heaven” (Strawberry Reservoir) in search of 25-inch cutthroat trout by fishing with huge suspending jerkbaits and swimbaits from my bass boat. This was the first time this fall that the three of us were able to slip away from our busy lives and spend time together doing what we love.

Fish Fast Food Heaven

As I have previously reported, the larger cutthroats have discovered the newly-stocked rainbows and are now chasing them around the lake and trapping them on points and in the backs of coves, lake wide.

As we planned our trip, Don Jr. wanted to try a glide bait (a hard, jointed swimbait) that looked a lot like the recently stocked rainbows.  Mark and I chose to use our LuckyCraft Pointer 128 minnows to entice the giant cutthroats to leave their pursuit of small rainbows and opt instead for our five-inch hard baits.

Target Points

Major and minor points were our targets around the lake.  In the first area we fished, groups of large cutthroats were lying in wait for passing schools of rainbows. We found that by making long casts, and jerking our lures one time to get them under the water, then pausing for up to 20 seconds before reeling, the cutthroats simply couldn’t resist eating the lures.

The bite was fast and furious all morning long with several doubles and even a triple being caught. (A double means two anglers at a time have fish on, and a triple means all three anglers have fish on at the same time).

Polarized sunglasses were crucial to our success.  The cutthroats would follow our lures back towards the boat, and when we saw the fish, we immediately stopped reeling, allowing the fish to catch up to our lures.  Interested, they would circle, watch the lures, and then many would be “sold” on the presentation and attack.

We fished for close to five hours and caught an amazing 40-plus fish between the three of us, most of them over 22 inches in length.  We experimented with different baits and different colors but found Don Jr.’s hard swimbait, and our Pointer 128 suspending jerkbaits were perfect for that particular day.

Can’t Resist

The photo to the left shows a close up of a 25-inch cutthroat still reacting to our jerkbaits after recently eating a 10-inch rainbow.  The fish was in the process of digesting the trout and yet still hungrily attacked my lure.

As long as the boat ramps at Strawberry are still free of ice and snow, large cutthroat will be actively pursuing the recently stocked sterile rainbows.  Be observant, watch for birds and note their interest in diving for wounded trout.  In previous years, I have fished from my boat well into the middle of December.

Launch From Strawberry Marina

Remember that the Strawberry Marina boat ramp faces the winter sun and heats up during the day.  Even if winter storms hit, the ramp remains usable until the amount of snow is too great to melt in a day or two.

Also, since the docks have been removed from the reservoir, you don’t have to pay the “iron ranger” to park and to launch, which makes the trip seem that much sweeter.

My only plea is to release the large cutthroats or at least NEVER take more than your one-fish-over-22-inches limit.  The only way we can maintain this fantastic reservoir is to “cherish” it, “nurture” it, and “respect” the efforts by managers as they attempt to keep it on top of the list of Utah’s best trout fisheries.

Please follow and like us: