IFish Fishing Forum banner

Brownlee Crappie/Catfish Report

30K views 117 replies 34 participants last post by  eastern_elk_hunter 
#1 ·
It’s that wonderful time of year again where we pack up and head out for sleepless nights of fishing at Brownlee. My favorite time of year. If anyone has any info and could share some updates on the fishing, many of us would highly appreciate it.
 
#96 ·
I've caught everything in Brownlee res trolling mini plugs, float tube is the best, cause you can control your speed while holding your rod, your limited to how far you can travel tho, depending on how good of shape your in, I have paddled close to 20 miles before on brownlee, only had to catch a ride back to camp once when the wind was too much, but was in much better shape back than, we used to have float tube Crappie mini tournaments back than as well, we also used our boats to transport our tubes to coves on the Idaho side, eventually tubes were too much work for my wife, so we/I started rowing for Crappie with good success, but thats alot of work, + the rower spends most of their time rowing & not so much fishing, speed control is the key, larger main gas engines are too fast, elec trolling motors work well til the battery runs low, I plan on adding a small gas trolling motor eventually.
 
#97 ·
Strawberry...my wife and I caravan she drives my truck with the boat, I drive the diesel with the camper it's a pain in the a$$but we get er done..

Adrenalin..speed is the key factor you are right 100% I have neutral on my kicker and use it alot. I am watching my speed constantly trying to mix it up but keep it .7- 1.1 mph get lots of hits when putting shifter back to forward that little speed up gets them angry...I also noticed if I catch bass I am too deep, we only hooked 1 bass for every 10 crappie if you are catching more bass than crappie your in the wrong water column with your gear.
 
#102 ·
Oldfishermanguy....I got crappie most spots that looked good off Rock cliff dropoffs, I got them from hewitt all the way to the snake river arm, in my experience if your catching alot of bass your fishing the wrong water , in my previous post I put the depths I found them but I was also targeting bigger crappiw.
 
#105 ·
Having fished Brownlee for decades now, I have seen these issues repeatedly. Trolling can locate schools and be effective. I hate trolling. If I find them by trolling or on my sonar, I position over or near them and jig. This can be difficult in wind. Best to tuck in out of wind and cast with two jigs. Many people do not allow jigs to sink far enough. Count down and see where they hit. You will lose some gear. Jigs are cheap. Rig three or four rods. Use very light line. Some years, the Powder River arm is red hot, other years you must go out into main reservoir. Move around. The later into season the key is time of day. Crappies avoid sunlight. Fish very early and very late. Lazy fishermen who want to be comfortable can struggle. Try everything. If you catch a perch, save him for dinner but cut his thin, white belly meat with skin on into tiny strips and use on back of jigs with and without skirt and see what happens. Only belly meat works for me??? Night fishing with every light you have pointing in water can be a blast for kids who must have fishing in their blood we all know the type. Others will quit in an hour. Think outside box and go after bluegills and cats if you just can’t find crappies. They can save a trip. Use small red worms for gills, not nitecrawlers. Just some thoughts.
 
#106 ·
When you get into small fish, increase the weight of your jigs so they get through the small fish quicker and down to the big fish beneath.



Like Puck, I'm happy with whatever I catch if it's good eating. Crappie aren't the only fish in the sea.



How's the weather been over there?
 
#107 ·
Yep, agree with all of that. I am not a fan of trolling either...I do the counting method, too. I've never tried perch belly...always a jig and crappie nibble. Worm works for all fish.

I really want to get a bow mount Minn Kota...would make a world of difference for me.

I have never tried in the dark, but know a lot of people that have great success with it...I hate boating in the dark...freaks me out lol. Especially when there can be very large logs/debris.
 
#108 · (Edited)
I've never fished for Crappie at night either, night time is for sleeping, I've seen people anchor up in front our camp just before dark, not very deep either, using lanterns, & or a floating light after dark, catching them one after another, I bought a floating light but never used it, night has been the most effective time for Crappie from what I've seen, to the point far too many were doing it on shore & in boats, including the C&S crowd, one big reason why the fishery got depleted.
 
#109 ·
When I was there last there was a big group of people...not sure what language they were speaking...that had giant lights coming off the bank with a generator running wide open through the night. Got old pretty quick...I do like fishing for cats at night...gives me something to do besides just drinking haha.

What is C&S? Catch and sell? ;)
 
#110 ·
Sadly Yes, I've seen Hibbard cove completely full of people with lanterns, & spot lights running on generators, they fish(ed) round the clock, more at night than day, taking their naps during the day, filling large coolers with all sizes of Crappie, than loading the full coolers into transport rigs to be moved & some presumably sold to fish markets, & restaurants from Portland to Seattle. Hibbard cove is by boat access only now, & boats use adds over head costs to their business you don't have fishing from shore, + Crappie #'s are not abundant enough for most C&S operations to thrive the last few years besides, to be fair not all are/were C&S people.
 
#111 ·
Yep, I figured that is what you were talking about...I have seen it all, too. Biggest load I saw was 3 guys just getting back in the early morning with 5 100 quart coolers stuffed to the gills with all sorts of fish...not just crappie...Oh, and size did not matter.....

You can find some questionable videos on youtube if you know what to look for...
 
#113 · (Edited)
I don't really care for trolling either. But then maybe because my boat's have never been set up for it! Deeper for bigger crappie! Huh, make me think I might do better on bigger fish with a heavier jig? I use mostly 1/16th and 1/8th now. Also find fish down deeper with the fish finder but unless I'm stopped and they are under the boat I don't seem to get into them! Gonna have to try the count down first then heavier jig's. First two crappie I ever caught I was using 1/4oz jigs with 2" auger tail's fishing for bass and the crappie surprised me. Gonna try count don next week in Prineville and if no luck go to 1/4oz jigs. This crappie fishing has me pretty addicted! Thanks Puckfisher! really mean that!

Forgot, when my cousin was here I finally tried some really small plugs I found some time back. Surprised me how well they worked!
 
#114 ·
Trolling is our last resort as well, we would rather sit on top a school & catch two or three at a time, when fish are scatterd, trolling works well to find fish, + when you have 12"+ fish in the mix, trolling targets the those bigger fish, I remember back in the mid 80's 16" to 18" Crappie were abundant, & trolling was the prefered method for those fish.
 
#115 ·
FYI- Idaho Power has blocked off river access underneath the Brownlee dam, the people who used to drift fish down from the turbines and the people who fished under the spillway have been pushed downstream a ways. Used to be some good fishing under the spillway. They have floating barriers in the way now.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top