April 21, 22, 25 2025 – Fly Fishing days 16-18- Strawberry Reservoir, Utah
It’s Crazy, but I have lived in Utah for almost 12 years now and this is my first Strawberry Ice Off! I’m just realizing now that I have participated in this annual event, just how special it is. But truthfully, I have good excuses. It is not something that gets talked about alot. I had heard about it last year by members of my fly fishing club. But I believe I was in Victor, Idaho when it took place. Also, there isn’t an obvious way to find out the when Ice Off is actually happening. This year, my fly fishing club had scouts, and they gave the members, including me, the update on progress at our monthly meeting last week. This year, I am fully retired and as a result, I have almost total flexibility in how I schedule my calendar. So this is my year!
So an email went out over the weekend – Monday and Tuesday are the days! Ice Off was finally here! I was ready, I had the days set aside and I had the preferred fly – the midnight fire leech. I have been tying this fly for about five years now. It is a pattern I learned about from Fly Fishing Food. I had also tied several with an orange bead, which was the preferred version yesterday. Heck, let’s do this.
Monday, I got my wires crossed on the meeting spot and ended up fishing solo. Starting at the Aspen marina it was shocking to me how many people were there. Some of the spin casters were already leaving, disappointed. I gave it an hour or so thinking my club friends would be there soon and eventually realized that I was at the wrong marina. So as I was heading toward the Strawberry marina, my club friends were coming to the Aspen marina. Doh! Anyway, I found a location near the Strawberry Marina that looked good and began to fish it. I got 5 in the course of about 40 minutes. Great! Then I took a break as it was super windy and cold! After, I fished there a little longer and got one more, then decided I was done for the day.
The midnight fire leech was the ticket. For grins, I tried a couple of other patterns but they did not produce as well, so I decided to tie more leeches with orange beads when i got home. I know that in stillwater in particular, the best leeches are tied balanced. This allows for a fairly level retrieve, especially when retrieving slowly. A slow retrieve is really important during Ice Off, as the fish are still relatively sluggish. I measured the water temp at 43 degrees. Well, tying a balanced leech requires a straight pin that is lashed to the top of the hook, and I was out of pins, so I had to cannibalize pins from some leech flies that were no longer fishable. I was eventually able to create three new midnight fire leeches!
Day 2 – Tuesday we are back at it
On Tuesday, we all congregated at the Strawberry marina. There were about ten of us. My friend Jayne who was leading the outing, asked if I could help mentor a newer member named Mel. How could I resist? Mel was relatively new to fly fishing and was also new to fishing Strawberry. We started in the spot that was producing for me the day before. However today, there was a new layer of ice that had formed overnight and it wasn’t really fishing well. Also, the parking area had become a little crowded, which limited our options. So we took a break and a couple of the trucks parked near us left. There was an island that we could wade to and I decided that rather than leaving, we should wade over and fish it.
Mel and I worked a strip of the ice sheet on the west side of the island. We had to wade out and then still had a fairly long cast to reach the fish, which typically cruise right along the edge of the ice. I was able to hit the ice, or at least get close. We had considerable wind which made casting really difficult. In spite of that, Mel got his first Strawberry cutthroat trout!
As I worked the ice edge, I was able to land six Cutts.
On our second break at around 2:30, Jayne reached out and shared her spot which had been producing really well! We got on it and I was immediately catching fish. Mel got his second, but I had several more at this point. Then others joined and I had Stan, who is also relatively new, hook into a really big cutthroat! One of the highlights of my day was netting this fish for Stan. Someone else did the camera work, but the pic below shows me with the net and Stan holding his 22″ Cutt that was measured 22″!
It was so great that Jayne shared her spot! Many of us caught fish there! Soon after, I decided to call it a day. At that point, I had brought 13 fish to hand and had a really good day!
Day 3 of Ice Off – Friday 4/25. Slush Off does not equal Ice Off
Other obligations kept me off the water for a couple of days, but I decided to get back on Friday. Since this was my first Ice Off at Strawberry, or anywhere else for that matter, I wanted to see how long it lasted and also what changes were in store as the ice continued to melt.
On Friday, what was ice was now quickly turning to slush. Also, word of Ice Off was getting out. In fact there was a special report on a local sports show promoting it. So when I arrived at 10:30am I was blown away by the sheer numbers of fishermen who had already established spots. It also amazed me at how many were bait fishermen! The first location I checked out was Chicken Creek West. As I was driving in, several cars passed me going the other way. I knew this wasn’t a good sign, but it was crowds that were turning people away. There were already three cars at the hikeover location!
From there I went back to the Strawberry Marina and I found a similar situation there. Lots of cars and trucks on the side of the road and people standing in or near the water. This even included a couple of bait fishermen on the spot that Jayne had discovered on Tuesday. I really wanted to fish that spot and even with two fishermen there, still plenty of room! So I rigeed up and walked down there. The ice had moved out several feet and yes, it was now looking more slushy than icey. I could tell right away it was not fishing the same. The wind was not too crazy yet, so I was still able to reach the shelf. But they just weren’t there. Eventually I had an eat, but it ate as my leader was practically in my rod.
Not to be deterred and hoping to find more fish, I worked my way past the bait fishermen who were regularly landing fish. They were also very friendly. So, I worked my way along the bank, hoping the fish had moved down to the newly opened water. I worked it systematically and hard, but no luck. So back to the truck i went, at first thinking I could find another good spot in the Marina. That was not to be, there were fishermen everywhere. So I continued to East Portal Bay, one of my favorite summer spots. The road had recently cleared, so I was hoping to be one of the first to check it out. That was not to be either. There were plenty of cars and trucks parked there when I arrived. There was even a fisherman out on the point, where I wanted to be. But I also liked the cove on the other side, so I parked on the side of the road and then headed down a steep snowy bank and took a long walk. A half mile later I found the cove and there was a nice open area there. I began to work it, fishing along the ice edge first, but having no luck there, I began casting the entire open area and eventually had a solid eat! This one fought back and did not want to enter the net. It was a very nice rainbow!
As I worked my way around to the far bank, something strange happened. The wind was blowing crazy hard and as I stripped my leech off the ice, it wasn’t getting any closer. The end of my line was still close to the ice. I realized that as I was stripping the ice was moving toward me as fast as I was stripping. These big sheets of slush were getting blown in by the intense wind! Within a minute, the slush had now crept into shore. So now the challenge was to find any open water as I made my way back toward the truck. The fisherman at the point was now gone and I realized there was still another cove that was open. It was one of my favorite summer coves and I was excited to make a few casts(see below).
There were fish here. I had a couple of eats but couldn’t connect on the strip set. So I looked at my fly and realized the hook gap was a little open. So I pinched it just a little with my hemostats and went back to casting. On the next eat, I secured a set! A nice cutthroat came to hand.
Then, before I knew it, the ice closed in on this cove as well. Although I was only at three fish on the day, but decided it was time to head home. The day felt complete and I had to remind myself that there have been many days at Strawberry where I have been skunked.
Thoughts on the three day Strawberry Ice Off Experience
Ok, I get it! Ice Off is actually very cool! All of these years in Utah and I must say I really enjoyed it! For me, Monday was really a learning day as I tried to figure it out solo. When I finallly found the spot over by the Strawberry Marina and got into them, it all made sense. Find a good ice sheet about 30 feet out. Make casts right up on it and work it until you get into fish. If you don’t find fish, find another ice sheet.
Tuesday was great as I got to fish with Mel, who was a newbie fly fisherman. At least he was new to Strawberry. Like a pro guide, I put him on fish and his day was made when he landed his first Strawberry Cutthroat!. Then Jayne called and had us join her and her spot was awesome! There were six of us from the fly fishing club there and we all got fish! So yeah, Ice Off is kind of a happening!
Friday, I got to see Strawberry in full combat fishing mode! People everywhere! And yet, even the baitcasters were friendly, even as I fished around them. Of course it didn’t hurt that they were landing fish left and right! I also learned that once the ice goes to slush, sheets of it can move with the wind. It was also clear that fishing the edge of a slush sheet is not the same as fishing the edge of the ice sheet. Fish do not congregate where the slush edge is. The fish I caught in East Portal Bay were just out in open water, in places I might have found them in the summer.
In summary, my fly fishing club mates did an excellent job of timing the Ice Off. Monday and Tuesday were perfect and I’m guessing Wednesday was perfect too. Friday was past prime, but hey I learned a lot and I managed a few fish along the way. I am looking forward to fishing many future Ice Offs at Strawberry!
