Anyone fish Brownlee Reservoir recently? Thinking about going over on Sunday. Its probably going to rain however so trying to decide if its worth pulling my boat over or not. Would love to hear a report from someone!
Thanks.
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Welcome aboard!!!
I know that Idaho Bassmasters had their club tourney last weekend. I checked their site and they haven't posted the results yet. Also they are having their Open Tourney this weekend out of Woodhead. Usually about 100 or so boats show up.
I would imagine Brownlee is pretty muddy with the Weiser river flooding a couple of weeks ago and is still running high. Water temps probably aren't condusive to some good fishing yet.
Bass are going to be deep. I've done good with vertical spooning in deep water when you find the fish on your graph.
Let us know how you do. Good luck.
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Thanks for the info and for the welcome.
Might be doing a small tournament myself first weekend of April and was hoping to pre-fish. I have a new (to me) boat with new (to me) electronics and would really like to get out on the water once more before the tournament.
Ive never really done any tournament fishing and my partner is my 12 year old son so we won't be any real competition but we are anxious to get out have fun trying.
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First, welcome to the site! Hope to hear lots of reports from you this year. Now, about Brownlee.....I just heard that it is a real mess. Lots of junk in the water, muddy and the person I talked to couldn't buy a fish. They were picking up a few by the Cemetery, but the water temps have dropped and even that closed down. Maybe you should head to C.J. instead. Mike
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Kodiak,
Not what I wanted to hear but appreciate finding out now instead of when I put my boat in the water. Guess I will keep the boat in the garage.
Hopefully things will be settled down a bit by next weekend when we are supposed to fish a small tournament. I have only fished Brownlee a couple times ever and those trips were mainly for chasing crappie with the family. Im guessing rookies like us will have quite a challenge finding many bass. Guessing cold water setups (spoons? Spinner baits etc..) are where to start? Assume the fish will be deeper - just below bait fish /feed? Maybe at 30-40 feet?
Just wondering what tackle I should be sure to have in the boat.
Thanks for any advice!
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I drove up to Huntington on Wed. to look at the condition of the upper end of Brownlee and it was very low. I seen rocks where I never knew there were rocks. the water was very brown, with the Malheur, Weiser, and Burnt rivers running high and muddy. I would think Woodhead would be the only possability at this time. There was still river current several miles past the spring ramp. There was one boat in the water launching on the old spring ramp.[fishin] We did not fish only killing a little time.
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The snake at Lewiston is muddy and looks like it is faster than normal. The temp is 55 degrees. Ron
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I was there a week ago today and posted a report. It sucked and I can't imagine it will be any good this weekend but it will probably still be better than cleaning gutters.
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jeep you will want to go to strike to get your boat wet and catch something. the snake arm is always ahead of any others in warming up. save your money and avoid any brownlee tourneys. it has gone to shit in the last few years only producing 5 to 6 keepers per 50+ each trip. 3 to 4 years ago you would catch a few 3+ pounders each trip but none last year. its too low right now unless you do woodhead or dirt ramps in the cove or by the cemetary. catching them is tough now slowly cranking jerking or dragging plastics. the lower end will have the clearest water if any. im in the champion forum also. 96 186 w/ 175 pro xs. you have the same color except for the stripe down it . heres mine to look for on the water
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Well, there you go, IdahoJeep! This site will save you more gas than a Japanese hybrid!!! Mike
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Thanks for the comments guys.. And I recognize the screen name ilovesmallies.... I guess I will see how the tournament does this weekend on Brownlee and make a decision. Really want to take part in the first tournament with this small club I plan to join but don't think I will be going out this weekend.
As you suggest, I do need to go back out to Strike and redeem myself from my first trip there earlier this month.
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I am a friend of Jim Looney, the guide at Brownlee. I suggest you hire Jim for half a day and have him show you the ropes. He is great with kids and his prices are reasonable. You can reach him at 208 257-3703. Tell him Ron Young told you to call. I ALWAYS use a guide the first time I fish a new lake. It really pays off. Why waste your limited time trying to find your way when someone has years of knowledge to share with you. I have beome a "never get skunked" fisherman because of Jim. I will be at brownlee 4/3-4/9 in my RV. Plate says "Gimp1"....stop and say hello. I will be parked at Woodhead or maybe the Gateway Store. Here is a photo of a nice Smallie I caught last year.
nice oxbow fish but brownlee early for bass can skunk most people especially with this spring. there are 40 something tourney boats fishing this weekend and i bet there will be quite a few blanks. crawling hot lips or jerking with very long pauses on transition areas is the best chance to catch any.
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Hey everybody if anyone is looking to fish brownlee i have fished it for years. Ever Since i was a little kid. I have a cabin near brownlee and would love to go out bass fishing. IF anyone wants someone to go fishing with in there boar.i have always wanted to do a tournament up there but work on the weekends. I would say in the next couple weeks say april 15 or so big spawners can be caught up there. I hunt turkeys up there every year around this time and hit the lake some years its hard fishing some years it is big fish every cast. it is all about the color at brownlee you find the fish and change colors until you find one that you can not retrieve your bait in without getting a fish.
Well if anyone wants to go i usually fish every monday and tuesday so msg me and we can head out and try our luck
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Anyone hear how the tourney went this past weekend? Many fish caught?[reply][/reply]
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The winning team had 17.18lbs for 7 fish limit which averaged 2.45lbs with a big fish of 4.04lbs.
The big fish of the tourney was 4.97lbs.
47 boats with 10 teams not weighing in a fish. Not too bad but definitely not as good as in the past.
Last year 60 boats with 21 not weighing in a fish and winning weight was 20.55lbs. Big fish weighed 5.72lbs.
Just out of curiosity, what club are you fishing with? I know Snake River Bassmasters are having there club tourney this weekend.
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Bassnbob,
Thanks for the update!
My 12 year old son and I are fishing this weekend with the Snake River Bassmasters.. Will be our first tournament ever and we are really looking forward to it. Wish we would have been able to pre-fish Brownlee though. I think we will be lucky if we catch anything to weigh in. We are looking forward to it regardless. Any suggestions on what to use and/or where to go would be welcomed.
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pm sent from 8th place ibm team
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I would also recommend using Jim to get the lay of the lake. The first time we fished Brownlee three years ago we used Jim and had a great time. He is very knowledgable about the lake and is very willing to share the information with you. I would also agree that his rates are very reasonable for what he does.
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