Chasing Cutts on Strawberry

My Father-in-law invited me to go fishing and we decided to hit Strawberry Reservoir. We arrived to a beautiful sunrise, got the boat ready to go and headed out to see if any fish wanted to eat. We anchored up on a spot that's know to hold fish and vertical jigged using tube jigs tipped with sucker meat. It didn't take long before we had our first fish to the boat. Most of the cutthroats we caught were within the slot limit (18-22 inches) and were released. We caught one thick slot-buster that that measured 24 inches. This fish was an absolute tank!

A fantastic sunrise greeted us.

Typical 20 inch cutthroat from Strawberry.

24 inch pig of a Cutthroat.

Great day to be on the water.

After fishing until noon, we went over and saw the Kokanee Salmon that have started spawning. There were a bunch in the river as well as the fish trap. It's always one of my favorite parts of fall to see these fish.

Kokanee jokey for the best spawning sites on the river.

Lots of salmon at the fish trap.

Kings on Lake Michigan

Milwaukee may be the most underrated city I've visited. The people are friendly, the food is tasty, and the fishing is fantastic. I only had a day to fish so I got out with Captain Eric Haataja to go after King Salmon on Lake Michigan. It was a cold rainy morning and the wind was whipping Lake Michigan into a fury of 10+ foot waves.

We ended up fishing inside the marina and had a blast. We fished skein under floats. Eric did a great job of not only keeping us on fish, but taught me how to set everything up and what to expect with the bite. we landed seven kings in the time we were out, and those kings sure cant peel drag in a flash. I plan to head back up in a few months to do some ice fishing.

Fish catch of the trip; A nice female.

Catch and release.

Good times in Milwaukee.

Male King Salmon