Anglers want bite of 'Strawberry Turnover'

If there was such a thing as a "best" time to fish Strawberry, there are many who would say it's now.

It is, as Byron Gunderson of Fish Tech Outfitters explains, the time for the famed "Strawberry Turnover" — a time when cooling surface waters create a current in the lake that brings from the deep such things as algae and big fish.

"Longer nights and colder surface water start the turnover," he notes. "Under the cover of the algae, the big trout start coming to the surface. They cruise just beneath the surface looking for their favorite food at this time of the year — minnows.

"Minnows give the fish the little extra reserves they need to carry them through the long winter."

Last week, a group throwing flies from a boat and from pontoon boats reportedly caught between 20 and 40 fish within about two hours. The weekly report from the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources says that some anglers are catching and releasing between 40 and 50 fish per day.

Following are Gunderson's recommendations for fall fishing at Strawberry:

— Trollers can put the lead-core line away and go with monofilament outfits pulling a lure, like a Rapala or Lucky Craft minnow. Needle fish and flies also work well.

"To improve your chances, let out more line than you might normally release to put the lure farther back from the boat," he notes. "It may be necessary to put on a small sinker to get the lure down a little."

— Fly fishermen will do better by switching to a slow sinking or intermediate sinking line. The bigger trout will be caught early in the morning among the weed beds.

Try fishing close to the surface in water that is 35 feet deep or deeper in the middle of the day.

Some of the better patterns are copper or red Crystal Killers in sizes 4 or 6. Minnow imitations like White Zonkers or rust orange streamers also work well.

— Bait fishermen will find the best success using dead minnows or night crawlers suspended below a bobber in deeper water.

Anglers can expect fishing to remain good until the surface freezes over. Then, once again, it will be time to change techniques.

Here are some other recommendations:

East Canyon — Fishing success is fair for cutthroat. Anglers from shore reported having best success using Power Bait or spinners.