Fishing forecast (December through February): 

Kokanee salmon: Kokanee fishing opens in December and they can be caught through the ice by anglers targeting them. Ice can be the great equalizer, as kokanee are now available to all anglers, without the need for boats or other expensive gear required during the summer months. Ice fishing for kokanee is typically best over deeper water, and in similar areas to where anglers fish for them in the summer months. Use of fish finders is helpful to locate the depths that the fish are concentrated in. Use a variety of small colorful jigs and lures, often with a flasher above it. A steady jigging action is necessary to entice a strike from kokanee. As with any ice fishing, be willing to move around if you are not being successful. The time of day when anglers find success does seem to matter, but it also changes throughout the season. Plan on spending some time on the ice to be able to successfully find and catch kokanee through the ice.

 Cutthroat trout: Cutthroat trout fishing typically remains good throughout the winter and can produce some of the highest catch rates of the entire year. Cutthroat are often caught over deeper water at varying depths ranging from 5 feet down to 40 feet. Some type of fish finder will help focus your efforts at depths where the fish concentrations are highest. If you do not have a fish finder, a good strategy is to find an area that may have some good structure, like a rocky point. Once you’ve found a good area, find a depth of about 25-40 feet and fish suspended about 1 to 2 feet off the bottom. Use a variety of small jigs or lures (white and green are popular colors) tipped with a little bait (worms, dough baits, minnows, etc.). Try both jigging and letting the lure sit still, to figure out what the fish respond to. The best fishing on a given day can vary by the time of day, but we get varying reports throughout the year. Sometimes early morning and late afternoon are good, and at other times midday seems to be better. The best advice for ice fishing at Strawberry is to get away from the crowds. The further you are able to get away from the heavily fished areas immediately adjacent to the parking lots, the better anglers will typically do. Also, be willing to move if fishing is slow. You do not always have to move far, simply drilling a hole 20 to 30 feet away, or slightly changing your depth, can often produce more fish. 

Rainbow trout: Rainbows can be caught in many of the same areas as the cutthroat trout, but higher catch rates for them are typically found in shallower water near shore. Try fishing for rainbows in 5-15 feet of water. Typical rainbow trout baits, such as dough baits and worms, work very well. Again, getting away from the crowds, and being willing to move are keys to being successful.

Note: During the winter, the fish can often bite very lightly, so strike indicators and watching your gear closely can help alert you to those light bites. Setting the hook is almost always necessary, as the fish often will not hook themselves. And as with any ice fishing, come prepared for the weather, and use caution when venturing onto the ice, particularly early and late in the ice fishing season. An ice safety guide is available here.