Fall is in the Air

Fishing Time:  8:30 AM – 3:30 PM

Weather: Foggy morning, sunny, calm winds, T-60s

Moon Phase: 30% Moon

Location: Soldier Creek Reservoir

Best Baits: 3-inch white tube jig tipped with minnow

Water Temp:  53-57 degrees

Who Went: Devin Duncan, Dayton Duncan, Dunc

With fall in the air, I thought it might be time to get up to Strawberry and see if the water temps have cooled enough to turn the fish on.  The boys came with me and to avoid the crowds we decided to go to the Soldier Creek side and launch from there. 

The lake was pure fog as the air temps on arrival were 37 degrees sitting on top of almost 60-degree water.  We launched but couldn’t see 10 feet in front or behind us.  I decided to drop the Active Target and play around with it until the fog burned off a bit.  As soon as we turned it on, we saw a fish and Devin casted toward it.  We watched his jig fall on top of the fish and the fish turned up and grabbed it.  First fish of the day was in the boat.  We found another fish quickly and Devin was on again.  Two fish in the boat within minutes.  We knew it was going to be a good day.

We moved over to the mouth of the narrows as the fog lifted and started fishing rocky points and sharp drop offs.  The morning was hot, and we put 20 fish in the boat.  

We had one package of minnows, which Devin was using to tip his white tube jig, and I was tipping with worms.  The minnows seemed to out produce the worms.  We also found a kokanee salmon half dead swirling on the surface.  

Unfortunately, this was the end of her life cycle.  We put her back and left her in peace.  

Dayton missed most the hot action in the morning curled up in his blanket for a 4-hour nap!  He had a long day of baseball and basketball the day before, so we let him catch up on some much-needed sleep.

The afternoon was slow, but we put a few more fish in the boat.  When Dayton woke up we made a move to get him on a few fish.  I also had a good roll on a dry fly casting over some submerged boulders.  I had a hook in him for a second, but never could get another bite on the fly rod.

I’m not as familiar with the Soldier Creek side and when we found fish, we caught them.  I had a feeling if we fished the Strawberry side, which I know much better, we may have doubled our fish total, but 25 fish isn’t a bad day at all.  The boys had fun, the fall colors were gorgeous, and the weather was a perfect fall day.