Strawberry Reservoir

At Strawberry Reservoir, choose a fishing depth and presentation before choosing a fly color. In open water, a retrieved bugger or leech helps search a lane; a suspended leech or chironomid helps spend time at a selected level. Check ice, wind, access and actual feeding before treating any month as a promise of shallow or surface fishing.

A reservoir guide, not a Strawberry River report

This page concerns Strawberry Reservoir, including its Soldier Creek basin. A hatch report for the Strawberry River below the dam does not describe the lake. Nor does a river's release measurement tell you the reservoir's shoreline temperature or launch conditions.

Start by choosing a legal access point and deciding what water you can reach. A shore angler can fish productive water when fish are within casting range. A boat expands the area you can search, but it does not tell you the correct depth. The same pattern can pass above, below or beside the feeding fish depending on line choice, countdown, retrieve and wind.

The monthly calendar: hatches, food and access

A complete, locally verified monthly emergence chart was not available for this reservoir, so the winter and transition rows state what can actually be supported. KSL's firsthand reports describe delayed ice in early 2026 and unusually early open water in March. They demonstrate variation rather than predict next year.

Spring planning is supported by HCFF's conditional ice-off outing plans and a dated May 2023 field report. The DWR's historical 2022 summer forecast emphasizes reaching the fish's depth in hotter weather; it is not a current depth measurement. Chad Agy's 2025 fall account documents conditional surface and later subsurface opportunities. The local guide season is likewise conditional on open water. June/July and late-year planning remain seasonal guidance, not a measured hatch schedule.

Treat this as a planning sequence. It is not an ice-safety forecast, a fixed turnover date or a guarantee that all trout occupy one depth. Leeches and scuds are useful food/profile categories, not winged insect hatches. Adult damsels flying above a bank do not establish that trout are taking adults on the surface.

Match an actual fly to the job

The store's Callibaetis is a dry fly. There is no Callibaetis nymph in this catalog. A photograph of the dry belongs in an adult-fly recommendation, not beside an underwater nymph instruction with the same label. If the observed feeding calls for a specific nymph the store does not carry, that is a real gap to fill before the trip.

The fall Strawberry lesson shows two separate methods: retrieving a single fly or suspending one at a chosen level. Choose the exact buggers, leeches, chironomids and scuds above for the method and food you observe.

For a broader selection, compare the existing 54-Pack Stillwater Assortment. Read its actual contents and current availability before ordering. Subsurface patterns serve different jobs from adult dries and damsel nymphs; no single assortment replaces observing the food and depth on the day.

Dated conditions and what to check next

Sources reviewed September 19, 2026. Anglers Den's September 15 Strawberry page rates fishing fair and describes better activity in lower light or cloud, with deeper points, channels and bait concentrations worth investigating. Its current text discusses trolling/jigging; it does not validate a particular Floating Feather fly or a five-foot fly depth. Read the dated shop report.

Our starting comparison for reachable open water: use the regular Woolly Bugger - Bead Head, Olive #10 for a controlled retrieve, or Balanced Leech, Red #10 suspended at a measured target level. These are suggested tests based on the selection's roles, not reported catches from that shop or a claim that fish are currently within bank-casting range.

A separate firsthand account by Bill Quapp, dated September 3, describes fishing East Portal with intermediate and faster-sinking lines, with improved results after an afternoon switch to Type 7. That is a reason to consider line choice, not proof that the line alone caused the improvement or that our floating-line rig reaches the same water. High Country Fly Fishers, September 3 report.

If the fish remain deeper than your floating-line setup can effectively reach, change the line system or fishing location rather than extending the countdown indefinitely. If adults are being taken, identify them and consider the appropriate dry outside these subsurface examples. The fall Strawberry lesson explains the sequence in detail.

Access and water data: check your chosen Strawberry Bay, Soldier Creek or Aspen Grove facility and the dated USBR reservoir record. No same-day lake temperature, ice condition or open ramp is asserted here. A reservoir elevation is not a water-temperature reading.

Two useful tests with the autumn selection

Retrieve: search a route and a layer

Begin with a repeatable cast into water you can cover. Let the fly settle for a counted interval, then retrieve at a deliberate pace. A five-second count versus a ten-second count is a useful comparison only when the other variables stay similar. Neither count supplies an exact depth.

Work a fan of casts or a defined shoreline feature instead of repeatedly fishing one unproductive direction without a reason. If you see a follow or a short strike, make one change: a pause, a smaller movement or a different pace. Test that change before switching color as well. Wind-driven line movement is part of the presentation even when your stripping hand is still.

Suspend: hold the fly near a selected level

Measure the water where the fly will fish, not just beside your feet or boat. Set the indicator-to-fly separation for the target zone and allow for the leader's angle. Recheck as you drift across a slope or move along the bank. A suspended fly can travel with waves, the indicator and the boat; “suspend” does not mean motionless.

The balanced-leech lesson’s shallow-water practice rig uses a five-foot indicator-to-fly separation in six feet of measured water as a starting geometry. It aims to fish above the bottom; it does not guarantee one foot of clearance. If that depth is wrong for the day, use the detailed adjustment sequence in How to Fish a Balanced Leech. Confirm how the actual fly hangs after soaking it instead of assuming every product labeled balanced sits identically.

Change methods when the evidence changes

If a retrieve contacts fish along a particular contour but the takes stop, a suspension test can keep a fly in that zone longer. If a suspended presentation gets no attention and you do not know where the fish are, a controlled retrieve can help search reachable water. Neither transition proves that one method is universally better.

Surface feeding is a separate clue. A rise does not automatically mean Callibaetis, and a lake that usually fishes well subsurface can still produce an adult-feeding opportunity. Observe the insects and take the appropriate fly stage seriously. Keep the roles of your subsurface flies clear, and add an appropriate surface pattern when the feeding calls for it.

Access, fish identification and current rules

Developed planning points include Strawberry Bay, Soldier Creek and Aspen Grove. Those official facility pages describe locations and amenities; they do not establish that every ramp or service operates on your trip date. DWR's accessible-fishing list includes Haws Point and Strawberry Bay Marina. Check the actual facility and conditions for your access needs.

Read the reservoir entry and any separate tributary entry in the current Utah Fishing Guidebook. Cutthroat have special size/retention provisions; do not apply those indiscriminately to every trout or assume a fish without an obvious red slash is necessarily a rainbow. The guidebook explains identification and retention requirements.

Lake access does not authorize fishing a nearby inlet stream, trap or canal. Strawberry tributaries have their own boundaries and closures. Visible spawning kokanee are not an invitation to target a closed area. DWR's September 1, 2026 notice states the September 10–November 30 kokanee no-possession period and notes that tributary closures can begin earlier. Consult the current rule before moving between lake and stream.

For the full autumn lesson, read Fall Fly Fishing at Strawberry. For other waters and seasonal planning, return to Rivers, Lakes & Seasons.