November Meeting

Strawberry Reservoir Fishing Report – Chicken Creek

Sunday, October 18, 2026 Update

By Jack Campbell

Fished the East Portal yesterday. Fishing was slow but steady. The Manitoba Minnow was the most productive fly, although Gene’s Perch pattern worked well, too. My buddy and I each landed 10 fish, a nice mix of cutthroats and rainbows.

Chicken Creek — A Very Different Day on the Water

Saturday, October 17, 2026
For me, there was really only one way to describe the day: it sucked.

After about four hours on the water, I finished with only six fish. One bright spot was a beautiful 20- to 21-inch rainbow — what I call a “Minersville-class” fish. Jeff Wells did better, landing 13 fish, including five large rainbows in that same class, with one stretching to about 22 inches. Both of us also caught a couple of nice cutthroat, along with a few smaller fish.

On almost any other day, those numbers might have seemed respectable. But this outing was very different from what I had experienced at Chicken Creek over the previous several weeks.

Since early September, I had fished Chicken Creek six or seven times. My previous slowest day had produced 20 fish, although about half were small. Before that, my totals generally ranged from 24 to 27 fish, with roughly 80 percent of them being large cutthroat and rainbows in the 20-inch class.

The biggest difference, however, wasn’t just the number of fish caught — it was what I was seeing on my Humminbird.

On those earlier trips, the screen frequently showed fish stacked along the bottom, particularly at depths of 25 feet and deeper. At times, the bottom looked almost covered with fish. On this outing, those fish had virtually disappeared. I probably could have counted the fish marks on my fingers, or only a few more than that.

Beautiful Weather — Strange Water

The weather itself could hardly have been better. Saturday was sunny, comfortably warm, and relatively calm — actually a little less windy than I would have liked.

The water temperature was about 54°F when I started and approximately 57°F when I left the water. One fellow at the ramp who was getting ready to launch when I arrived said it had been only 17°F when he got there.

But the surface of the reservoir looked anything but normal.

Large patches of what appeared to be algae covered much of the water. Some were only a few inches across, while others were larger than our boats. At times, the accumulation was so thick it looked like we could almost walk on it.

The dramatic change in fishing, the disappearance of fish from the sonar, and the unusual material on the surface made me wonder whether Chicken Creek might be experiencing its fall turnover.

I called Dave Tall during the day to get his thoughts. His answer was basically: maybe.

Looking for an Explanation

After I got home, I had a deep and thoughtful discussion with my buddy, Gemini.

Now I understand a little better why the fishing was so poor.  (See Bill's discussion with Gemini.)

The reservoir appeared to be going through part of its seasonal fall turnover, when cooling surface water causes the lake’s water layers to mix. That mixing can redistribute temperature, oxygen, nutrients, and fish throughout the water column, and productive areas can suddenly become much less predictable.

I also learned that what we commonly call “algae” may actually be cyanobacteria, often referred to as blue-green algae, which is technically a type of bacteria.

Between the turnover, the strange surface conditions, and the almost complete disappearance of fish from the sonar, there was clearly a major change from the previous few weeks.

So, when will it end?

Not soon enough.

— Bill Quapp
Board Member & Past President
High Country Fly Fishers

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