By Dave Webb
September 30, 2023
Fishing was very good today at Strawberry. Fall conditions are setting in and the fish are responding by becoming more aggressive. They hit almost everything. I fished from about 3 to 6:30 and brought eight fish to the net. Six were cutts and two were rainbows. They were all nice, fat fish ranging from about 14-19 inches.
It was warm, calm, and cloudy when I left my home in Springville. When I arrived at Renegade I faced a strong wind pushing whitecaps on the reservoir. Dark clouds to the southwest were moving toward the reservoir. I was prepared for cold and storm so I launched without any problem and started fishing. I couldn’t control the boat with the trolling motors because the wind was blowing so hard. I fired up the big motor and started to troll around the area, looking for concentrations of fish. I was going 4-5 miles per hour but the fish were happy to strike. Action was never red hot but was steady throughout the afternoon.
The water temp was 58 degrees. It will start to drop quickly now. With the cooler water temps, fish can range freely and are often found near the surface. This makes it much easier to catch fish if you don’t have downriggers or other specialized equipment.
During summer fish move into deep water to escape the heat. During fall they forage near shorelines where they can be reached by anglers on the bank, as well as those of us in boats.
My graph showed scattered fish. Had I found a concentration I would have anchored and cast a white tube jig tipped with half a nightcrawler. That assumes the anchor would hold in the strong wind. I fear it would have blown me around, even with a heavy anchor.
When the fish are aggressive, as they are during fall, Rapalas and other minnow-imitating lures work well both trolled and cast. Many anglers like using the Lucky Craft Pointer Minnows. I’ve had good luck with lures in white/silver/gray colors. An orange slash (cutthroat style) seems to help.
About 6 pm the wind stopped and the reservoir was calm. It was very beautiful, with fall foliage peaking on the nearby hills. Strangely, fishing action slowed at that time. I usually find the best action at first and last light on this day the later afternoon was better than the sunset timeslot.
We drove the Sheep Creek Road from Spanish Fork Canyon to Renegade and it was dry and clear. That might change this weekend because snow is expected in the high country. They still had a dock in the water but the restroom was locked. Action often gets better and better as the water cools.
October should offer great fishing. The fish are still active in November but conditions (cold, storm, snow) make it more difficult to fish. I hope to hit the big reservoir a couple more times before I put the boat away.
