It seems to be the season for big fish.
Sherm Holdaway of Orem isn't soon to forget where the best ice fishing is at Strawberry Reservoir.
Holdaway pulled an 18-pound, 2-ounce rainbow trout through the hole he'd drilled in the ice, which happened to be in the same area where he caught a 9-pound trout a month earlier.
Also, the best opportunity anglers will have to catch trophy splake at Joes Valley Reservoir is near.
From the end of April or at the beginning of ice-off, through the month of May, the big splake typically move within range of a good case from shoreline anglers.
Holdaway was fishing a frozen shiner minnow on the Soldier Creek portion of the reservoir when he caught his latest trophy.
"My line started moving and I set the hook on what felt like a snag, but then the snag started to pull back," he said. "We had a tug-of-war for quite a while. I would gain 10 feet and then the fish would take it right back."
Eventually, the 33-inch long trout tired and Holdaway was able to work the trout up to the hole in the ice.
The tough part was trying to pull the fish, which had a 20 1/2-inch girth, through the hole in the ice, which was eight inches in diameter.
He then took the trophy trout to the Strawberry Marina store, where it was officially weighed.
There is still a lot of ice and snow at the reservoir. Ice-off isn't likely to take place until early to mid-May. Anglers need to be aware of thinning ice.
"Strawberry Reservoir is still my favorite place to go fishing," the 66-year-old Holdaway added. "I have fished the reservoir for over 60 years and still fish on about a weekly basis. I have really enjoyed catching the large trout in the reservoir, especially when you catch one of these lunker sterile rainbow trout.
"In my experience, the reservoir is as good now for fishing as it has ever been."
Strawberry is the most popular fishing spot in Utah.
One reason is the size of the fish. Currently, the average rainbow trout is running about 17 to 18 inches in length.
Bear Lake cutthroat are also getting some size to them. Cutthroat ranging from 5 to 10 pounds are commonly caught.
It is these large cutts that are helping to control the Utah chub population in the reservoir.
In order to help maintain this balance, special regulations were put in place at Strawberry. The limit is four trout or kokanee salmon in the aggregate. No more than two of those fish may be cutthroat trout under 15 inches, and no more than one may be a cutthroat trout over 22 inches.
This means all cutthroat trout 15 to 22 inches must be immediately released.
Strawberry Reservoir contains three game fish — Bear Lake cutthroat trout, sterile rainbow trout and kokanee salmon. The reservoir also has a large population of crayfish.
The Division of Wildlife Resources plans to stock more than 500,000 larger-than-usual rainbow trout into the reservoir this year. This is an attempt to stop larger trout from eating the smaller trout.
The DWR will also continue stocking as many additional sterile rainbow trout as possible.
Those anglers having the most success for trophy splake have been those using pieces of Utah chub meat. The chub is a bait fish that can be caught easily at the reservoir.
Splake are sterile trout that are a cross between a brook trout and a lake trout.
Sterile trout, such as splake, cannot reproduce. This makes it easier for fishery managers to keep the number of trout at a level that provides them with plenty of food. And because there's plenty of food, the trout grow rapidly. Splake also grow bigger faster because they're not using their energy to reproduce.
Joes Valley Reservoir sits between the towns of Ephraim and Orangeville in the Manti-LaSal National Forest in central Utah.
The best access to the reservoir is along state road 29 from the town of Orangeville.
Large splake become active following ice-off and move close to shore in search of their primary prey — the Utah chub. The best places to find the big predators are at the mouths of the reservoir's tributaries, such as Seely Creek on the reservoir's west side.
The best fishing is in the early morning, before the sun has started to warm the waters.
Consensus, too, is that the bigger the bait, the bigger the fish that will bite. This is great for catching larger fish, but for those looking for quantity, the recommended bait is smaller chunks of meat.
To catch chubs for bait, simply use a minnow trap or fish with a small hook and a piece of worm on a fishing rod and reel. Once a chub is caught, it must be killed before it can be used as bait.
Fishing with live bait, including live chubs, is illegal.
Use a sinker of your choice to put your bait on the bottom of the reservoir or just off the bottom. Big splake can be taken in as little as two feet of water or hooked farther out from shore as they cruise the shallows looking for food.
Splake as large as 15 pounds have been documented at the reservoir, although a fish this large is extremely rare. Anglers can and do take splake up to 10 pounds and fish in the 4- to 6-pound class frequently.
Along with splake, the reservoir also holds a number of cutthroat trout in the 20-inch range and/or a tiger trout up to 15 inches.
Special regulations apply to all of the trout caught at Joes Valley. The limit is two fish, but only one can be greater than 22 inches in length. All fish between 15 and 22 inches must be released immediately. These regulations are designed to build and maintain the quality of the fishing at Joes Valley and to control the reservoir's greatest nemesis — the Utah chub.