Strawberry Newbie, help!

Wake up earlier than everyone else and get to the ladders first. Go to the very end of visible concrete and camp there. Drop a minnow in there and wait for your beast. Hopefully, you'll get a couple of good catches in before the others show up and tangle into you.

If paying $5.00 to fish a spot that's crowded sounds ridiculous, I understand. That's why I always end up at the dam on the SC side and sight-fishing for big cutts along the shoreline with minnows. If all else fails there, look for the weed beds and throw out a worm under a bubble right on top of those, about 20 feet out.

Shore fishing at Strawberry is never a guarantee, but I usually end up catching a few...including 1 cutt outside the slot (minnows).

Good luck! Post some pics if you can.

You may also try fishing big woolly buggers [with and without bead heads]. Use a water bubble and fill it full of water.
I use a swivel to keep the bubble in place.
Add 5' to 6' of 8# line and tie on another swivel. Snap the fly on the swivel and you are ready to go.
Try adding crayfish smelly jelly for even better results.
Cast as far as you can and slow retrieve pausing for a few seconds once in a while.
You can also use the bubble with jig heads and plastic jigs. Add bait to the jig and you should catch some fish.
[Bait: shinner, chub, power bait, night crawller, wax or meal worms.]

White tube jigs supposedly still work from the shore, and I would try a white wooly bugger as well. As LOAH said, minnows work nicely up there as well.

Another idea is pop the 30-40 bucks and rent a boat for 1/2 day and troll. You can head right out of the marina and fish pop gear and worm or big crankbaits..

Or pop the $40 and buy a used or outdated float tube model and do what you do best: FLY FISH. Stillwater fly fishing is probably the most productive type of trout fishing short of gill nets. This time of year there are plenty of fish in cruising the shallows. Use a #2 or #3 sink line on your fly rod. Take an assortment of crystal buggers, mohair leeches, CBS leeches, or flavor-of-the-day lake flies based on fishing reports. If you don't catch 4 or 5 fish per hour at least, move and repeat.