Fishing Forum

Stayed at Woodhead for the last week and enjoyed a full lake, small crowds and cooler weather. The wind was pretty nasty most of the time we were there, but we put up with it fished the best we could.
We caught largemouth, multiple smallmouth in the 18 inch range on jigs and crankbaits. We caught a ton of small crappie, until we swapped and trolled big crankbaits along the edges then we picked up a few in the 12-13 inch range.
We used pretty much whatever tackle we felt like, from brown grubs to lipless crankbaits. It was all good, some coves were better then others, but overall it was productive.







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Great report and pix!!! Where abouts is Brownlee again? I am down here in Utah in the Ogden area, so I am sure it is quite a drive huh?
TS
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Google earth puts you at 5 hours to Boise, then add 2 more hours for Wood head campground.

Just stay longer and enjoy.
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I just got back from Brownlee as well. I stayed at Spring Rec. Site. The weather cold and windy but the fishing was really good. We caught 100's of smaller crappie 7-9 inch each day and made the mistake of keeping them the first day. We filleted for hours the first day but learned an important lesson. The following days we kept just crappie 10 inches and above. This amounted in 40-50 fish each day. For crappie the best bait was any jig with a white body and a red head. We caught fish on anything but when times were tough the white and red was the only producer. I also broke off a crappie at the boat (trying to lift it in) that might have been a new state record. I have been fishing Brownlee for 20 years and have never seen a crappie close to this size. I blame my fishing partner for the loss as he did not grab the net (Ha! Ha!).

We also caught several smallmouth over threee pounds each day and even caught one that was over 20 inches. The catfishing was slow but we did manage at least one really nice (18inch) catfish each day.

The two most unexpected catches of the trip were a rainbow trout and a Kokanee.

The water was cold up by Spring Rec. Site 55 degrees but we traveled down reservoir until we found 60 degree plus water and had really good success in spite of the smaller fish.

Drew
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Sorry about that blank POST I don't know what happened to my original one.

We are also from the Ogden area and make the trip up to Brownlee/Oxbow twice a year. We just got back from our Spring trip (May 26-30) and can't wait to get up there in the Fall. We mainly fish Oxbow but this trip we did spend about a day and a half fishing Brownlee. We caught plenty of small Crappie and Smallmouth along with a very nice four pound Largemouth but that was about it. Last year we took Jim Looney, who owns Brownlee Reservior Charters out for a day on Brownlee. We had a great day with him and did catch a good number of fish. It wasn't so much what we did on Brownlee but what, where, and how Jim told us to fish Oxbow that was worth it's weight in gold to use.

This spring on Oxbow we averaged about 100-125 fish a day. The average size was about 1 1/2 to 3 pounds with a few 4 pounders in there everyday. It didn't matter if it was raining or the sun was out we nailed them on Oxbow. Two of the days we fished the top water action lasted pretty much all day. We fished it a number of ways but throwing a white Fluke seemed to get a hit almost everytime. When we left my finger tips were so chewed up it was hard to use them for a few days. That's when you know you have had a good trip. All I can say is that those folks that live up there have a great fishery right in their back yard. For the record it does take us about 6-7 hours and about 2 1/2 tanks of fuel to get there. but well worth the trip. If I knew how to post pics I would show you what we did up there a few weeks ago.
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When you fish Oxbow, are you launching at McCormick? Also I'm curious if you camp at Woodhead or do you camp below the Dam.
I enjoyed fishing directly below the Brownlee Dam and we've ventured downstream for a ways, do you hang out mostly by the Dam? I've watched people anchor up in the tailrace and catch a whole lot of catfish.
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Thanks for the report and pics. I will be there for the first time from July 9th to the 11th. I am going with a friend who fishes but is not a fisherman if you know what I mean.

What can I expect as far as conditions this year the first part of July. What should jigs, baits etc... should I bring for smallmouth, crappie, and catfish?

Thanks
Windriver
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Windriver, I'll be up there July 2-6, so I can give you a report when I get back. I'll bet the conditions will be great and the fish will probably be hitting on anything.
Just have a assortment of crappie jigs. For bass have some crankbaits like lipless, topwater or divers. Perch colored or crawfish patterns always work well.
And of course have some bigger plastics for drop shotting or jigging for bass.

Last time I was there I caught several smallmouth bass that had crawfish in their throats.
I usually catch catfish by accident on jigs or crankbaits, so I can't really help you there to much, because I don't target them enough on purpose. When I did fish for them, I fished cut baits from the shore at Woodhead.
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I don't know what it is called but we launch just north of the bridge where the dock is. I believe it is the only improved (paved) launch ramp on the lake. We rent a room in the trailer at the Gateway from Lamar. It's got two beds and a bathroom so we can get a few hours of sleep before we hit the lake each day.

We have fished everywhere on the lake. This last time up we did the best on the Oregon side by the dam on the north end. We fished the flats anywhere from 5-20 feet down. Last spring it was on the Idaho side. We have fished the dam below Brownlee but it is so fast that it seems that either drop shot or heavy jigs work best. We prefer to fish top water or Flukes on the north end. It really doesn't matter which end we seem to always catch fish every time we come up. My biggest fear is that we are due for one of those slow trips. When you have to travel 7 hours that is a hard pill to swallow. Regardless it is well worth the trip.
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[quote EZOP]Windriver, I'll be up there July 2-6, so I can give you a report when I get back.[/quote]

I just had to cancel this trip.

But we will be going back up from July 21-28.
Might even try getting back up July 11-13.
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