Another big catch at Strawberry — a 17-pound, 6-ounce trout

Matthew Beckstead knew a big fish had taken his silver flatfish. It would take a good 10 minutes or so, however, before he realized just how big the fish was . . . a 17-pound, 6-ounce rainbow.

The fish was caught on Sunday from the Soldier Creek area on Strawberry Reservoir. It is the second major catch to come out of the reservoir in three months.

Sherm Holdaway of Orem caught an 18 -pound, 2-ounce rainbow trout through the ice at Strawberry in April.

That fish is believed to be the largest taken out of Strawberry since the reservoir was emptied and restocked almost 15 years ago. Only a handful of fish over 12 pounds are taken out of the reservoir each year.

Holdaway was also fishing on the Soldier Creek side of the reservoir. He was fishing with a frozen shiner minnow.

Beckstead's fish would be the largest taken on an artificial lure.

He said he was trolling deep with a downrigger around 6 p.m. when the fish hit.

"I knew it was big as soon as it hit. We'd caught seven fish earlier and none hit like this fish. I told Mark (Christensen) that this was going to be a big fish," he said.

The fish was 29 inches long and, said Beckstead, "One of the prettiest rainbows I think I've seen."

Beckstead was involved in an electrical accident several years ago and lost both hands. He said when the fish hit, he picked up the rod and reel and worked the fish for a while, but it was too much for him, so he handed the outfit to Christensen.

"Together we brought the fish in. My guess is it took 10 minutes or so. It was a team effort," he said.

Beckstead said he fishes Strawberry frequently and that this is by far his largest catch. Prior to this fish his biggest was a 6-pound rainbow.

He added that when the temperatures start to heat up he switches to a downrigger in order to get the lures down to the cooler waters.

Elsewhere:

BEAR LAKE: Best fishing for cutthroat. Trolling along the east side from the Scout camp to South Eden was producing some nice fish and good numbers. Troll with downriggers at depths of 35 to 60 feet down with smaller spoons such as needle fish or Rapala-type lures. Yellow and/or green have the most popular colors. Also, jigging along Cisco Beach in about 60 feet of water right on the bottom was producing both cutthroat and lake trout.