I recently moved back from Idaho where I spent 3 months fishing CJ Strike and the Snake river. If you love perch than this is the destination for you. I caught countless crappie and perch in the backwaters of the river in the basin below the flood gates on the dam every time I fished there with some of the perch measuring up to 14" though, most of the fish there were small. On the lake side of the spillway the catch wasn't as consistent but some of the perch were really nice. I even saw a kid land a 16" football. That lake is a pig factory. When I found crappie the action got ridiculous at times on red and white or orange and chartreuse jigs. I even had a couple of days where I was hauling 2 fish every cast right in the south corner of the gates at 14-17 ft. There is no limit on these guys up there so you can really stock up on a weekend trip. Early to late fall the jigs produced fast action suspended 2' under a bobber for crappie or bounced over the bottom with a 1oz. bell sinker rig for the perch. Jigs worked well for the perch down deep but cut perch worked better. When it got cold I was catching mostly perch and an occasional crappie with a slip bobber rig at 17' with a #6 hook and a small piece of cut shrimp. FYI... the shrimp way outproduced cut perch when the fishing slowed in late fall. The sturgeon diehards started asking me to fill their buckets with the small fish and I earned an outing on the river where I landed a 4' and a 7' sturgeon. Talk about a hard fight, the big guy jumped 3 times and did a top water tail walk. Lots of fun.
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Hi Guru - I was wondering if you were up there for the fire(s) that sweeped through the area?
Man when I was up there in October the trail of the fire had cooked everything in it's path.
I wonder if the spring run-off & e[font "Times New Roman"][size 3]rosion will cause the Snake to fill up with ash and dirt?[/size][/font]
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We caught crappie on every cast (unless we missed the bite) in one area on the lake side last year. We use them for sturgeon bait. The ones we caught were all small (just right for bait). Any size to the crappie that you caught?
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The wife and I usually try to make a trip up every summer as we have relatives in Mt. Home and use to live in Grandview when I was stationed there at the base. I usually fish the main lake for perch and have a couple honey holes that produce well thru the summer. We can usually catch all the perch you care to clean from 10 to 12 inches with 14 inch hog once in awhile. We also do the Kokanee thing at Anderson for a day or two as well.[cool]
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Kent, there are no fish in CJ Strike, the sturgeon all left, the river is mucking up the water, and there are no perch or crappie left. That's my story and I'm sticking to it...[sly]
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Joe, you have always been a straight shooter with me, so I believe every word that typed.[
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Will most likely come up in a month and make darn sure those pesky fish are gone[cool]
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Dan, let me know when you are headed up. I have plans tfor you. Bring Motrin. [cool]
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I have been working out!!!!
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[laugh] Good on you. Me too. Lost 10 pounds and knocked 2 minutes off my 1.5 mile time...(so far).
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