View Full Version : C.J.Strike Smallies-UPDATED 6/22
I just spent the afternoon and evening fishing C.J.Strike with my wife and daughter. I bet we caught 70 bass this evening. Bass fishing was really slow from 3:30 to about 7:30 then hotter than a $2.00 pistol till dark. I caught 25 or so on topwater stuff. all pretty small and stupid, but a hoot anyhow. We wacked them on plastics, jerkbaits, and spinnerbaits. I never even had to resort to the old stand-by (Crankbaits).
My brother in law, my nephew and I will be on the lake all day tomorrow. I figure we'll go load the cooler on cats, and try for a few sturgeon till 7:00pm, then hit the smallies. Tomorrow I'm going to fly fish for them. I always love smallies on the bug rod!
I'm taking the camera tomorrow, and I'll post pics if we get anything that's not embarrassingly small.
Dean, if you see this post, we'll put in a Loveridge Bridge, and fish down from there. Come find us!
[ 06-22-2003, 09:16 AM: Message edited by: Mojo ]
Born to Fish
06-14-2003, 09:57 PM
Joe, sounds like you and the family had a blast! :dance:
Hope you did well today [6/14]. I just got home this evening from our annual gator bashing trip to Astoria. Posted a report/pic on another thread.
Looks like tomorrow [Sunday] I'll get the dog back from the kennel and spend the rest of the day apologizing to him for leaving him behind again. :wink:
Dean
6/14 C.J.Strike report...
We got about 50 bass and 2 sturgeon. My sturg was 5 1/2 feet or so. My nephew got his first unassisted gator. He lost a gargantuan beast, and then landed a 4 footer. My buddy Ronnie was fishing next to us and he lost one that took about 100 yards of line on the first run.
I spent a good chunk of the evening flyfishing for smallies. Pretty tough to do in the wind. I caught 6 or 8 on the flyrod. What a hoot!
If you go, don't waste your time fishing during the day. Mornings and evenings are the rule, think summer pattern here..
nitrobass
06-15-2003, 06:34 PM
OK I'll take the hit here........Where's CJ Strike fishing? The CR above john day? I'll get my fruit loops decoder and try and keep up
CJ Strike is on the Snake River, in southern Idaho, near Mountain Home. It is a large lowland reservoir that is home to Sturgeon, Largemouth and Smallmouth Bass, Bluegill, Crappie, Perch, Catfish, Rainbow Trout, (recently planted)Chinook Salmon, and a bunch of HUGE Carp. It is composed of 2 arms, the Snake River arm, which is mostly in a canyon, and the Bruneau River arm, which has a canyon stretch (the Narrows) and then opens up into a large rather shallow lake.
C.J.Strike map (http://map8.epa.gov/scripts/.esrimap?name=NHDMAPPER&Cmd=ZoomInBy303dID&th=0.3&lc=000000000000002220000221111111111111100000_0000 00&im=on&EntityID=ID_L_2414)
nitrobass
06-16-2003, 10:46 AM
Cool.....Thanks for the info~
Fishfeet
06-18-2003, 12:22 AM
Hey Mojo read your note on CJ Strike! I fished there about 5 years ago w/ some friends from Ontario, Ore. Who introduced me to the place. We caught bunches of small stuff there also. Saw bunches of huge shapes in the water that later were determined to be carp. Heard that there used to be bass tournaments there, is that right? I remember how %#@$** hot it was there though! It was in late July or early Aug. Not a whole lot of shade around thos parts. Anyway good goin! Later, Fishfeet.
maggot
06-18-2003, 11:39 AM
mojo.....im from mtn home originally....used to fish CJ every weekend with my dad. He's still in mtn home. Lives on the corner of canyon creek and mcmurtry accross from the country store...with a block fence around the property....was there fishin fer sturgeon last summer...got into some muy grandes in the river by cove of arms....Ill be there again this july for more of the same.....Ill drop you some smelt from oregon...they love them.
Yeah they have a bunch of tourneys there in the spring and fall. Too hot this time of year I think. Funny deal, about 3 weeks ago there was a tourney going on around the lake. We were catching some nice bass, and we had 3 tourney boats croud in on us, but I stood my ground. They were bummed, but if you want the spot you gotta get there early.
You are right about it getting hot. I've seen it over 115 in the canyon in August. Makes you want to drink a bunch of frosty ones and hide under the bimini top.
Carp fishing is really good down there. Just got a 14' push pole for my sled, and it works well for the flats. Now I gotta figure out what flies they really crave. You get a few bass incidentally while carp fishing, and carp on the flyrod are a blast!
Fished yesterday. Bass fishing has slowed a bit with the cooler weather. We managed the land 2 sturgeon, both 7 feet or a little longer. My nephew caught his first big guy, without any assistance. Pretty big deal, being as the fish outweighed him by probably 30 lbs. We did catch a few bass, and about 10-15 Norhtern Pikeminnows (the largest of which was 5.5 lbs.).
maggot
06-23-2003, 10:11 PM
hey mojo.........launch from the airforce docks...head upriver....three coves..or is it 4?....sunken rock island.....look and find it...it will pay big
I fished there last week. :cheers: Lots of small 8-10 inch bass. There is a gravel bar that is 9 feet deep, with 23' deep on all sides that holds some Piggo's. As soon as the weather starts to warm up a bit, I'll be back in business. 'Till then, I'll just catch sturgeon. :grin:
Denali
06-24-2003, 11:14 AM
How about getting a little work done? Are you a school teacher or something? Livin the good life!
maggot
06-24-2003, 01:05 PM
gravel bar?.......im thinking of a rock pile....early morn, and as the clock ticks , follow the island around as the bass move in a pattern until its too hot.
Mtn. Basser
06-24-2003, 02:17 PM
Mojo-
I am new to the forum- just thought I'd jump in and say HI. Me and a friend fished Strike on Sat. and did OK on drop shot rigs in about 20 feet of water in the Snake Arm. We were in a green 18' Nitro- we might have seen you. We figure the cold front really affected the fish- we couldnt get even one on topwater in the morning- very unusual for this time of year.
Regarding tournaments on Strike- I will be fishing in one on August 3rd. Should only be about 2000 degrees, eh!!
Take care, Josh Wilson.
Josh,
Custom on this here board is to tell a story to introduce yourself. I'd start by telling me what color plastics you were using, and where you were fishing (GPS numbers please). Just kidding about the numbers. I was in a 22' Alumaweld V-Sled. I'm the only dark grey jetboat that runs off the tiller that's as big as the Nimitz, that you'll see on Strike. Next time you are out there, keep your eyes open for me. I have ifish stickers on both sides of the boat.
Jim,
This is work! What are you thinking? Is anyone invading us right now? I think not.
Maggot,
The island is a good place to play. I new where you were talking about, and that's where we fished a couple of trips ago. I was talking about a sunken gravel bar that usually produces, but hasn't lately.
If any of you want to fish Strike with me, shoot me an e-mail.
Mtn. Basser
06-24-2003, 03:20 PM
Mojo-
We fished all over, but had the most success just upriver from the island with huge flats all around it (I've heard it called Goose Island?). Bear with me- I dont know many of the place names on Strike. If you go upriver past the island, the river curves to your right, and the bank there is steep and rocky with lots of brush. The water is about 15' deep at only five feet off shore and flattens out at about 20' for a ways before dropping into the channel. We drop shotted leech style baits in pumpkin and moss green. Picked up about 5 fish around 2 pounds and lots of 12 inchers. No big boys though.
I'm looking forward to chatting with you guys about Idaho bassin' and I'll definitely keep an eye out for your rig.
LAter, Josh.
PS- Moose Drool is my favorite beer- Right On!!
[ 06-24-2003, 03:30 PM: Message edited by: Mtn. Basser ]