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By Gary Boyden 
As a young boy my parents operated Upper Falls Resort in
Provo Canyon. The resort was located one mile above Bridal Veil Falls. The park
had picnicking, overnight camping, a few cabins to rent and a small cafe. I
was in charge of anything that needed to be done. When my chores were done -
or I should say sometimes done - I was able to go fishing. Actually, I went
fishing every day. One of my favorite pastimes was to sit in the cafe and listen
to the fishermen swap stories. Talking about Strawberry Reservoir was everybody's
favorite subject. As I remember, the fishing at Strawberry was either very good
or very bad. They talked a lot about how demanding the Strawberry was. I grew
up believing that only "real fishermen" could fish the Strawberry.
When I grew older, I was able to fish the Strawberry. My
best buddy and I went fishing there quite often. We must have fished the very
bad times, because we never caught any fish. As a result, I wrote Strawberry
off, more or less. As the years went by, my wife, kids and I fished everywhere
else. We fished Utah Lake, Deer Creek Reservoir, Moon Lake, Fish Lake, Payson
Lakes, Scofield, Rockport, Echo Reservoir, the High Uintas, and Soldier Creek
Reservoir, just to name a few. We never did fish Strawberry. We took the kids
fishing until they grew up, got married and moved away. At that time, for some
unknown reason we stopped fishing.
Two years ago my wife, Dianne, said we used to have a lot
of fun fishing, and that we should try it again. I agreed with her, but I was
afraid my fishing skills were gone. She said, "Lets go fishing and find
out." We went to Gart Brothers on 700 East (Salt Lake City), where we met
a salesman named Bob Peterit who helped us buy new fishing stuff. When I asked
him what kind of bait we should use, he mentioned something about Powerbait.
I said, "What's that." I had never heard of Powerbait. He said, "It
has been a long time since you've been fishing."
With all new fishing stuff, Dianne and I started an old/new
hobby, fishing. We went to all our old fishing spots, and to our delight and
my surprise we caught a lot of fish. We fished everywhere, but we didn't fish
Strawberry. Every time we went by Strawberry, on Highway 40, I would look out
over the water and as we drove by I would say, "You know, I would like
to fish there but I don't know where to go." I don't know how many times
I said that before Dianne wanted to know why we didn't just ask someone where
to go. The next Saturday morning we turned onto the Strawberry road and stopped
at the Strawberry Reservoir Information Center.
As we went in, I looked around and noticed how many people
were there. I felt somewhat embarrassed having to ask where to go fishing. There
were two people over in a corner looking at a display and an older gentleman
standing behind a counter. He had on an official looking hat, so I went over
to him and told him I hadn't fished the Strawberry for over 30 years, and would
he mind telling me where to go fishing. He looked at me for a few seconds and
as he looked at me he reached over, picked up a sheet of paper, and said, "Shame
on you." On the paper was a map of Strawberry. He took out a yellow marker,
marked a spot and said, "You are here." He then marked three or four
places to fish. We talked for a few minutes about fishing. Dianne and I looked
at the displays and as we were leaving I heard someone say, "We haven't
been fishing here for over 25 years. Where is a good place to go?" The
guy in the official looking hat said, "Shame on you." I said to my
wife as we walked out, "I guess that wasn't such a dumb question after
all."
With map in hand, we drove around the lake, past Strawberry
Bay, until we found the turn-off marked Haws Point. It looked like it would
take us to the lake. As we came over one rise it looked like we were going to
drive right into the lake. A thrill went through my body. I said to my wife,
"Isn't this exciting." She said, "Isn't what exciting?"
I said, "Isn't this thrilling; we are going to fish the Strawberry."
She didn't say anything; she just looked at me like I was a little weird or
something.
We pulled into a parking lot. I was surprised about two things.
First, the parking lot was paved and came complete with marked parking stalls.
Second, there was only one truck and camper parked there. We parked next to
the truck and camper.
It has always been a theory of mine that the best place to
fish is where everyone else is fishing. We got our fishing stuff and headed
toward the water. We found the couples that belonged to the truck and camper.
They said they had been fishing all morning and had not had a bite. We went
along the shore about a hundred feet and set up our fishing gear. We fished
for five hours and never had a bite.
The five hours went by rather fast. We did not mind that
we didn't catch any fish, because we were having so much fun just sitting talking
and enjoying each others company. We watched the boats as they trolled by; we
watched several float tubers that were fishing in the bay to our left. We watched
the lake and the mountains. The sky was breathtaking, with its white clouds
drifting by. We started at that point in time to fall in love with the Strawberry.
I said to Dianne that the old timers used to say the fishing was either very
good or very bad, and something about the moon phases being important. Because
it was so beautiful, we decided to come back the next week.
During the week I stopped by Gart Brothers to get some fishing
supplies and to talk to Bob. I asked him where we should go fishing on the Strawberry.
He mentioned a couple places. When he mentioned Haws Point I told him that was
where we had fished and that we didn't catch anything. As we talked he drew
us a map of Haws Point and pointed out a couple of places to go. He told me
about an old boat ramp that used to be there. He said to go just to the left
of the old ramp. With his encouragement and my determination, we headed for
Strawberry early the next Saturday morning. Upon arriving we went looking for
the old boat ramp. Bob had said it was all broken up, but we would be able to
tell where it was by the chunks of cement that were still there. But we couldn't
find it.
As we looked across the point, we could see what looked like
cement. So we drove to the other side. We found a sidewalk leading right down
to the water. I said to Dianne, "This is somewhat like following the yellow
brick road." We went down to where the sidewalk went into the water. I
said pick a side and lets go fishing. We went to the right. Three hours later
we had caught eight fish. For some unknown reason, Dianne always catches more
fish than I do. We both caught one 18-inch cutthroat and the other six were
rainbows ranging from 15 to 18 inches. We were both very excited about our catch.
Needless to say, we again marveled at the beauty of the lake and fell a little
more in love with the Strawberry.
The next week we again went to Strawberry. This time we wanted
to do some evening fishing. I don't know if this was a mistake or not. We got
there at 6 p.m. By dusk we had caught six fish. The smallest was 15 inches and
the biggest was 20 inches, and all were rainbows. We went up to the point and
watched as it grew dark. We watched the boats cross the water as they headed
to Strawberry Bay.
We are totally in love with Strawberry Reservoir. We love
to go there. If we catch fish we consider it a bonus.
Last year we spent almost every weekend at Strawberry, fishing
and exploring. We have nine spots where we like to fish. We have places to fish
where the sun is always at our backs, places to fish where the water is deep.
. . or shallow, and places to fish were we are protected from the wind. This
year we have one or two more roads to explore. We have found that fishing at
Strawberry is not just for "real fishermen," but is for everyone.
It has finally dawned on me what the old timers meant when
they said fishing Strawberry was too demanding. The more you fish the Strawberry,
the more the Strawberry demands you fish. Now my problem is when will we have
enough time to fish the Strawberry, and when will we ever find time to fish
anywhere else.
If you have never fished Strawberry Reservoir, or it has
been a long time since you fished there, we invite you, as the saying goes,
to "Try it again for the first time." We know you will like it. But
be careful. Fishing the Strawberry may become too demanding.