Brownlee, 8/29 to 8/31

[boblag]

I went smallie fishing there with the girlfriend over the weekend. I tried the Powder River arm, the main river around there, and over by the dam. The fishing was good in the mornings and evenings, which were pretty much the only times I fished. Most of the fish were 10"-12", with a few 2 lb'ers thrown in. I was mainly fishing 10' or less of water. My hot bait was 4"-5" Senkos. I got a few on my trusty craw crank, but switched up because I couldn't keep the crappie off of it! (Most were about 6".) The water temp. was in the mid-70's.

We launched out of Hewitt Park and it wasn't too crowded. We wanted to camp in one of those floating homes, but all of them in or near the Powder River arm had "no trespassing" signs this time out. So, instead, we found a house on the bank of the main river. Unfortunately, it was infested with mice and wasps, so we ended up camping.

I saw alot of stringers of 1-3 lb. smallies getting carved up at the fish-cleaning station. It makes me wonder if many people know (or care) about the mercury advisory.

[Breakin Loose]

We must have passed each other, we launched out of Hewitt every day this weekend. I also did fairly good on bass with several over 2lbs. The topwater bite early in the morning wasn't as good as it has been in the past, but we were able to get several good fish if we got the plastics down to 20 feet or so. The best bait for me was a 6" lizard texas rigged, although the biggest fish came on a senko carolina style. Also picked up a couple nice catfish that seem to like the senko.

I think your right, I don't think people care to much about the mercury warnings.

[treyman97223]

I went smallie fishing there with the girlfriend over the weekend. I tried the Powder River arm, the main river around there, and over by the dam. The fishing was good in the mornings and evenings, which were pretty much the only times I fished. Most of the fish were 10"-12", with a few 2 lb'ers thrown in. I was mainly fishing 10' or less of water. My hot bait was 4"-5" Senkos. I got a few on my trusty craw crank, but switched up because I couldn't keep the crappie off of it! (Most were about 6".) The water temp. was in the mid-70's.

We launched out of Hewitt Park and it wasn't too crowded. We wanted to camp in one of those floating homes, but all of them in or near the Powder River arm had "no trespassing" signs this time out. So, instead, we found a house on the bank of the main river. Unfortunately, it was infested with mice and wasps, so we ended up camping.

I saw alot of stringers of 1-3 lb. smallies getting carved up at the fish-cleaning station. It makes me wonder if many people know (or care) about the mercury advisory.

well, when we go...we filet and package up our take in meal sized portions...my understanding is that in moderation, its ok...has that changed?

[olgrizz]

My understanding is it is illegel to filet fish in the field that have a size limit. I am just saying this because one weekend was stop at top of Brownlee creek by Iaho F and G ( 13 of them there, one state police officer and one Oregon officer looking on:bigshock:) They check my crappie filet to see if there were any Bass. Ok for Crappie but not bass unless you are eating them there Check the reg. I might be wrong, but know lots of people aren't aware of the rule!:passout:

[QH's Paw]

I saw alot of stringers of 1-3 lb. smallies getting carved up at the fish-cleaning station. It makes me wonder if many people know (or care) about the mercury advisory.
What you need to understand about the test for mercury and dioxin is they grind the whole fish up, guts, head, skin and all. Most of the items you and biologist are concerned with collect in organs and fat tissue between skin and flesh. If you filet and skin your catch over 95% of anything bad is already gone.
If you are 40 or over, and went to the dentists a kid and got fillings, then
you have more in your mouth, all day, everyday, than a 10' high pile of fish.:twocents:

[boblag]

What you need to understand about the test for mercury and dioxin is they grind the whole fish up, guts, head, skin and all. Most of the items you and biologist are concerned with collect in organs and fat tissue between skin and flesh. If you filet and skin your catch over 95% of anything bad is already gone.
If you are 40 or over, and went to the dentists a kid and got fillings, then
you have more in your mouth, all day, everyday, than a 10' high pile of fish.:twocents:
Actually, it looks like mercury gathers most in the edible parts of the fish:
http://www.oregon.gov/DHS/ph/envtox/fishfact.shtml

And that the fillets only (at least in this case) were used in the sample:
http://www.deq.state.id.us/water/data_reports/surface_water/monitoring/mercury/brownlee_fish_tissue_report_0606.pdf

Additionally, Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercury_poisoning) quotes The National Institutes of Health as stating that "amalgam fillings pose no personal health risk, and that replacement by non-amalgam fillings is not indicated."

[Crappie Chaser]

The state recommends no more than 1/2 lb per week. If there was any risk do you really think they would allow that much? Those fish are safer than what you unknowingly buy in a market that comes from who knows where.. I've never seen a recall on a Brownlee fish.

[arkansasbasser]

Do they know where the mercury is coming from?

[BuKuBass]

The state recommends no more than 1/2 lb per week. If there was any risk do you really think they would allow that much? Those fish are safer than what you unknowingly buy in a market that comes from who knows where.. I've never seen a recall on a Brownlee fish.

CC raised a good point. Just yesterday I discovered that the Omega 3/ fish oil supplements rarely come from a fish's liver and instead are derived by grinding and boiling what's left from processing. Since much of the oceans' fish have high levels of mercury, know the source of your supplements.

[treyman97223]

Do they know where the mercury is coming from?

Lots of silver/gold mining over there over the years...thats my guess

[olgrizz]

TM is right. Lot of the mineral cinnabar in the gold and silver ore. This is the mineral they cook mecrury out of.

[boblag]

The state recommends no more than 1/2 lb per week. If there was any risk do you really think they would allow that much? Those fish are safer than what you unknowingly buy in a market that comes from who knows where.. I've never seen a recall on a Brownlee fish.

That doesn't seem like much to me, considering that the people I saw generally had many pounds of fillets. And when you consider that the limits for women and children are lower, I suspect that some people are unknowingly exceeding those limits. Also, to me the question is "If there were no risks, why would they have these guidelines?"

From what I read, it seems like fish that haven't lived there as long (like crappie) and catfish had lower concentrations.

Also, what evidence is there that Brownlee fish are safer than the ones that come from a market?

Do they know where the mercury is coming from?

The articles said that a good deal of it likely came from natural volcanic activity.

[fishnlady]

Do they know where the mercury is coming from?


I had wondered the same thing awhile back, so decided to investigate. I found out that a lot of the mercury in lakes comes from coal burning power plants. The emissions from these plants goes into the atmosphere and is then deposited into lakes, streams, and on the ground of course. In the northwest we also get a lot of these emissions from Asia. With us being just across the ocean and with the airflows, we receive a lot of their pollution. This is another good reason to work to change to clean forms of energy. It is sad when we can't eat the fish because of so many pollutants.

[boblag]

I had wondered the same thing awhile back, so decided to investigate. I found out that a lot of the mercury in lakes comes from coal burning power plants. The emissions from these plants goes into the atmosphere and is then deposited into lakes, streams, and on the ground of course. In the northwest we also get a lot of these emissions from Asia. With us being just across the ocean and with the airflows, we receive a lot of their pollution. This is another good reason to work to change to clean forms of energy. It is sad when we can't eat the fish because of so many pollutants.

From the oregon.gov website:

"In Oregon, unlike much of the remainder of the US, most of the mercury in fish is from volcanic and geothermal mercury minerals rather than from manmade sources."

Although it could be a conspiracy to pass the buck, since it is a gov't website...

[fishnlady]

From the oregon.gov website:

"In Oregon, unlike much of the remainder of the US, most of the mercury in fish is from volcanic and geothermal mercury minerals rather than from manmade sources."

Although it could be a conspiracy to pass the buck, since it is a gov't website...


It would probably depend on which lake or water body wouldn't it? In the volcanic lakes the fish might get some of the mercury from the volcano. But then there are all of the other water bodies that don't have volcanoes. I have read a lot of articles and have seen news reports about the problem with pollution being a major part of this. Whatever the source of the mercury, it is still a problem which I believe would be greatly reduced by reducing pollution. But I guess it is easier to just say it is from a natural source, and forget about it. :whistle:

Washington state gov. website states this:
Human-caused sources of mercury far outweigh natural sources of mercury. Products containing mercury which are thrown in the garbage or washed down sinks and drains end up in landfills, incinerators, or sewage treatment facilities. Mercury from these products can leach into the ground and groundwater. Mercury may be directly released into the environment, or through combustion (burning) activities, from coal-fired power plants, where it is released in fine particles in the air that fall to the earth in rain droplets or snowflakes.

[boblag]

It would probably depend on which lake or water body wouldn't it? In the volcanic lakes the fish might get some of the mercury from the volcano. But then there are all of the other water bodies that don't have volcanoes. I have read a lot of articles and have seen news reports about the problem with pollution being a major part of this. Whatever the source of the mercury, it is still a problem which I believe would be greatly reduced by reducing pollution. But I guess it is easier to just say it is from a natural source, and forget about it. :whistle:

Ya, it makes sense that it would depend on the water body, though the fact that there are a lot of rivers moving things around would probably make it hard to determine the source. In looking on the internet, however, I found a graph that would seem to support the man-made theory (though I'm no geologist). Check out the dubious location of the big yellow dot on page 32:
http://www.deq.state.id.us/water/data_reports/surface_water/monitoring/mercury/arsenic_mercury_fish_tissue_report_0508.pdf

[nsyhunter]

Hike up Pine Creek sometime and you will see piles of old mine tailings everywhere. I believe they all contain a certain amount of mercury. Pine Creek flows thru Halfway and into the Snake. I have seen a few tailings up on Eagle Creek which dumps into the the Powder River arm.
That said I have never worried about consuming Crappie and Perch out of the Powder or the Snake. Of course I don't eat them on a weekly basis either.
I remember back in the 80's or early 90's they used some tailings to build a ball field in Halfway and ended upo replacing a lot of the soil as it had a high level of mercury in the dust that blew around.
If you ever have time to kill, Pine Creek is a great trout stream and if you drive all the way up to Fish Lake it's a beautiful place. I have camped there in the fall and while the nights are cold (be prepared!) the star gazing is incredible.

[retaliate]

Hike up Pine Creek sometime and you will see piles of old mine tailings everywhere. I believe they all contain a certain amount of mercury. Pine Creek flows thru Halfway and into the Snake. I have seen a few tailings up on Eagle Creek which dumps into the the Powder River arm.
That said I have never worried about consuming Crappie and Perch out of the Powder or the Snake. Of course I don't eat them on a weekly basis either.
I remember back in the 80's or early 90's they used some tailings to build a ball field in Halfway and ended upo replacing a lot of the soil as it had a high level of mercury in the dust that blew around.
If you ever have time to kill, Pine Creek is a great trout stream and if you drive all the way up to Fish Lake it's a beautiful place. I have camped there in the fall and while the nights are cold (be prepared!) the star gazing is incredible.

Jordan cr which flows into the Owhyee Rv near Rome is the main Mercury source, Pine cr is not known to have Mercury of any concern.
Pine cr in addition to a good Trout stream has landlock Steelhead that spawn, & return to Hells cn res, ditto on Fish Lake, Twin lakes too.

[Crappie Chaser]

All of eastern Or. is just terrible with mercury . I would stay away.

[1bigfish]

All of eastern Or. is just terrible with mercury . I would stay away.

:laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh:

[codyv]

All of eastern Or. is just terrible with mercury . I would stay away.


Yeah that, and somehow it has gotten into the deer and elk also!!!!!

[myxxolydyan]

All of eastern Or. is just terrible with mercury . I would stay away.

:agree:
:laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh:

:food: