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Brownlee heating up

19K views 100 replies 34 participants last post by  Mad Mikey 
#1 ·
The crappie fishing is really starting to coming on now. Saturday we had a good catch on suspended fish 12- 20' deep, yesterday we hit the same fish and by late afternoon they had made a move to the bank. Water temp on the Snake got up to 59 and at Hewitt got up to 64. Had a fly fisherman on board yesterday who did really well on a sinking brown woolybugger. Had a few small bass as an incidental catch.
 
#11 ·
Dan, I haven't seen any perch lately but 1 of the locals who targets them has been anchored up in the same spot yesterday & today. I'm sure he's on them. We caught some earlier so I'm hoping for a good run on them this year. The warm days have the Powder river & Eagle Creek running high & muddy so the water is pretty muddy at the park. The crappie are nice, meaty 10-11" with quite a few 9's also.
 
#3 ·
I will be up there on the 7th , 8th , 9 th any tips on what you are useing to get into crappie would be great. I bought a few road runners in variouse sizes and coplors but would love to hear any advice you may have on colors and styles of gear.

nice job on he crappie!!:applause: I am hopeing to turn a few into catfish when we get up there!:D
 
#6 ·
Sounds good, after joining this site I've read through a lot of the Brownlee posts it sounds like a really nice place to fish. I'm thinking of making a trip there next year sometime for the first time, it will be one heck of a drive though since I'm from the Puget Sound area in Washington but thinking it'll be well worth it.
 
#7 ·
Sounds good, after joining this site I've read through a lot of the Brownlee posts it sounds like a really nice place to fish. I'm thinking of making a trip there next year sometime for the first time, it will be one heck of a drive though since I'm from the Puget Sound area in Washington but thinking it'll be well worth it.
Welcome to Ifish Mr. Fishes.:D
 
#10 ·
is there any good kid friendly bank fishing spots at brownlee? Not looking for a "hot" spot, just a place where I can fish with my two little ones safely and not worry about them falling off of a rock.

Thanks,
Viktor.
Yep, lots of them. Just drive north from Huntington and take your pick. Expect company in May.
 
#14 ·
Just have a selection of colors with greens, whites and combinations of those colors.Have a few dark shades also. On spinner jig style heads I like 2" grubs and Bobby Garland Baby Shad bodies. The Kalin Acid Rain grub is a good color combination. It's yellow,white & chartreuse
 
#15 · (Edited)
We fished Brownlee (Woodhead) last week. Fished one day Friday caught zero bass, but did find crappie up in Brownlee Creek by Woodhead. Next day we fish Oxbow for 3 hours and caught 2-16", 1-17" and 2-18" smallmouths in 40' of water. They were catching tons of crappie up against the Dam also, but we didn't try for those.
We were plan on staying for 6 nights, but only managed a couple days because I wasn't feeling to good. My body was telling me to go see a doctor. Glad I did, because now I have a doctors note to take two weeks off from work.
 
#18 ·
Just got back from a week at Brownlee, same story in the Graveyard area, arrived Fri the 16th just before noon, after setting up camp we fished the wall just south of fish camp, only caught a few as we found the Crappie were down 20' or so, ate those for dinner:food: took a shoreline water temp reading at dusk, 52 deg. with plenty of sun, & warm tempertures the next few days the water temp warmed to 58 deg, & the Crappie were heading for the shallows, & bobber fishing 4' to 5' deep was the ticket, plenty of Crappie in the 9" to 10" range, with a few to 11", Tue evening brought thunder storms, but fishing remained good til Wed evening when the wind picked up, & blew all day Thurs as well, Fri woke up to a nice lake again, but the fish seemed scattered, except Hibbard cove where the catch & sell crowds gathered, & took Crappie out by the thousands, there was only 1 C&S rig parked there Wed evening, but I counted 15 by Sat when we left, as the news was just a cell phone call away, Catfishing was better than average, as was the size, with most #4 or bigger, Bass fishing was slower than average, as was the average size, didn't catch any over #1, the water level was 14' below full pool when we got there, & about 8' below full pool when we left. All in all we picked a good week, small crowds for the most part, warm sunny weather for the most part, & good sized Crappie, we kept close to 30% of our Crappie, keeping mostly the 10" or bigger ones, ate plenty while we were there, & brought home aprox #15 to #20 of frozen fillets. :meme:
 
#24 ·
wheres the graveyard located at always hear people talking about camping there but never found it on the map. Is hibbard cove an actually creek where it dumps in to make hibbard cove
Yes, Hibbard cr. created a small, but very nice cove, has Boat access & Camping areas between there & the graveyard 1/4 mi north, there is a concrete wall on the river side of the graveyard & people fish off the wall when the water level is at or near full, Morgan cr. 1 mi south of Hibbard cr. also has Boat access, a cove, & limited camping, aprox 13 mi from Hunnington, 9 miles of good gravel rd, & 4 miles of pavement between Hunnington, & Spring Boat ramp/Camp.
 
#28 ·
fished morgan creek-graveyard yesterday for crappie,got my 30 crappie,1 catfish,but weather has em lockjawed.was a good,although short-lived afternoon bite, axactly like 4 weeks ago,when i got 30 and 1 cat.deja-vu...no catch&sell guys-reflects on the slow bite.other few boats doin the same(slow)as me.nice day tho...
 
#34 ·
Kudos to Idaho Power, looks like the'll have the reservoir at or near full for the Crappie spawn, this should mean an abundant supply in a few years, I noticed there were few smaller Crappie in the mix last week, basically one generation of 9' to 11' fish, maybe the smaller ones are there, & we just didn't catch many, any one else notice this?
 
#35 ·
Your timing was good for your yearly trip. It changed pretty drastically after you left. The warm days that got the fish biting also got the snow melting up high. Muddied up the Powder Arm out to the Snake but worse yet it dropped the water temp 8-10 deg. Lots of wind and cold lately. I hope to get out tomorrow if the wind lies down.
The Corp of Engineers regulates the spring capacity for flood control. Years like this they allow it to be brought up early. In a wet winter the goal is to have it at full pool by Memorial weekend. I would think stable water in May should relate to a good spawn. I know the years we have rapidly rising water during the spawn the crappie do really well but the smallmouth don't do well at all. So far we have seen 3 age classes. It will be interesting to watch as the season goes on. Now were catching mostly 3 & 4 year olds with a few 2's. Seems the younger age classes don't always show if there's a strong population of an older class. Last year we caught 99% 3yr olds, very few of the 2's that are showing now as 3's. Maybe they keep their distance until they reach a certain size. Just an observation, I really don't know.
 
#38 ·
Kudos to the Corp of engineers than, My timing was good, & the 10 day forcast looked good, so we left a couple days early to take advantage of the warm spell, the 10 day forcast turned out very accurate, luckily for me, my Boss/job is flexible, we would have changed our vacation if the forecast wasn't so promising, Morgan mtn had more snow on it when we arrived, than I've seen in many years, but most had melted by the time we left, the small streams entering the Res. in the Graveyard area aparently don't have near as much effect on water temps, as the Powder rv, & Eagle cr, wow! close to a 15 temp drop in just 1 week, Crappie don't know weather to Spawn, or go back into Hibernation :passout:I have heard 58 deg. is when Crappie start to head for the shallows for the Spawn, I believe Bass, & Catfish also spawn this time year also, so a at or near full Res. is good news for all, hope this wacky spring weather ends soon for you guy's, for us it's on to Shad in the Umpqua for Bait, maybe even today, as I hear they are early this year, than the Ocean season bounty awaits us. Good Luck! to all. :meme:
 
#39 ·
I read on a website that there is walleye in brownlee, i was wondering if anyone has caught any of them and if there is enough in there to target them. I've never caught one before and my dad has told me that its some of the best fresh water fish for eating. I'm headed to brownlee for my 1st time next wed and wanted to know if there was any chance of catching one there.
 
#42 ·
I have seen that before, but it says have been reported to be in there. Anyone can report they are there. If they are around, Gary would probably have seen one while running charter. I do know a guy that saw a walleye in C.J. Strike near Boise. They are not supposed to be in there and if you go and try to get one, you won't find any.
 
#45 ·
Have any of you guys called the fish department about it or the cops? Probably if you got enough people complaining and reporting it they'll go there and check it out once in awhile. Sure seems like it's helped some up here in Washington for steelhead and salmon on rivers. Also heard they've done it at Silver Lake for crappie too. Seems like it would be hard to crack down on them though since they won't know they're selling the fish they get.
 
#46 ·
Have any of you guys called the fish department about it or the cops? Probably if you got enough people complaining and reporting it they'll go there and check it out once in awhile. Sure seems like it's helped some up here in Washington for steelhead and salmon on rivers. Also heard they've done it at Silver Lake for crappie too. Seems like it would be hard to crack down on them though since they won't know they're selling the fish they get.
This subject comes up every year, & has already been discussed this year, people have called the authorites, & some have been caught in the act, sadly budgets are low, & enforcement is minimal at best, a daily/possession limit has been proposed to help control the problem, but currently no limit has been set yet, as far as the Catch & Selll crowd it's just like it sounds, the crowds were light when we arrived 4-16, & the Crappie were too deep for shore anglers, by Wed 4-21 when the first C&S scouting rig showed up, they were successful from shore, & made a few cell phone calls, Thurs the crowds started to show up, by Fri I counted 13 rig's, by Sat morning when we left out, there was no place to park on the small pennisula, the 4 couples that were camped there all week pretty much had the place to themselves, & were planning on leaving Fri, but were so discussted with the Crowds, they left a day early, they also said they talked to the first scoutting rig, & asked what they were going to do with all those fish, & were told they were going to sell them(they planned on calling the authorities), I didn't ask cause I already assume this is/was their intentions, now I'm not saying all fishing the small cove are C&S types, nor do all that show up & take a cooler full of Crapppie home are C&S types, cause many that make the long drive want to take home plenty of Meat for their time, & money spent, but the problem is there & is bigger than some want to admit, not only is it illegal, but un-etheical, & just plain wrong IMO, geez! maybe they should just open up a commercial fishery there?, I only fish once a year in the spring, so I don't see what goes on the rest of the year, I would guess that after the Crappie leave the shallows after the spawn, & becomes more of a Boat fishery, the C&S Crappie crowds would dissapate, I just don't know, If something isn't done to curb this problem, what's next a C&S black market for Catfish? :passout:
 
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