This is the time to be on our local reservoirs as the fish continue to gorge themselves before winter. Strawberry, Jordanelle and Scofield are producing right now, so let's look at each of them based my personal observations and a couple of trusted readers' reports from Scofield.

STRAWBERRY

Strawberry is beginning to cool down (water temperature) and the large cutthroats are beginning to chase minnows into the shallows. The first trip last week netted 27 fish for three of us during five hours on the water. The average fish measured 22 inches with one fish stretching to 29 inches. All the fish came on Pointer Minnows on points with very few fish holding in the shallows.

Then, just a couple of days later I fished the same areas on Strawberry and found fewer fish on the points and more fish towards the backs of the bays. Pointer minnows (Luckycraft Lures) worked best, but green tubes also caught fish.

JORDANELLE

The water level at Jordanelle is still dropping fast (five feet in a month) and the smallmouth bass are moving to vertical structure to stay in their comfort zones. Four-inch Senkos and RoboWorms on a drop shot in 7-to-30 feet of water is the ticket. One reader emailed me with a great report of a topwater bite late in the afternoon that lasted almost until dark. The water temperature is in the low 60s and this kind of activity should last until the water temperature reaches 50 degrees.

SCOFIELD

Scofield is picking up but to tell how hit-and-miss it is, one reader caught 20 trout while his companions struggled to catch any. This report came from bait anglers who were targeting points in and around the north end of the lake. Another reader found some good cutthroats (15-19 inches) that couldn't resist an olive wooly bugger dragged behind a float tube in shallow water. The problem is that these reports are countered by reports from others who can't buy a bite.

As the fall progresses look for the bass fishing on Jordanelle to slow down until they sink into the depths and stop biting. As they stop biting the browns and rainbows should pick up the slack and continue throughout the winter.

Strawberry will continue to produce great cutthroats as long as the ramps are usable. The fish will roam between the points and the backs of the bays depending on where they find forage. My suggestion for Scofield is to try Pointer Minnows which should be lures to count on when all else fails.