what happened to the crappie.2 years ago we used to be able to fill the boat, last year was tough, and this year terrible. went today and we only got 2 perch and 2 crappie. found a few schools but they were just swimming around. beleive me i know how to fish but the crappie arent where they usually are. half of the bruneau side of the narrows are froze. strike used to be good for winter crappie but not anymore.
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Probably that month long slaughter fest at the "hump" a couple years ago put the hurt on the population..... Every boat keeping way more than they need day in and day out can take out some serious numbers fast IMHO..........
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Look of the deep points on the main bowl in 60-80 feet. Then get out the finesse rig and dropshot. We catch them just know how to fish using only electronics and get it to the sweet spot.
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thats where i fished today. so many scattered tiny schools on the finder.most fish were 35 to 50 ft. found 2 solid schools but they werent staying still.i totally rely on the finder for crappie.i looked at the hump and nothing plus i like to fish other spots not regularly hammered.
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Bummer. You will get it figured out I'll bet! They gotta eat sometime!
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That's weird that they are all scattered, the schools are usually huge right now. Did you see any smallie arcs underneath them?
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Rumor has it the massive runnoff this past spring flushed a lot of the crappie through and over the dam, and the cold water the last 2 springs put the kaibosh on the spawn. It'll be a while before the crappie fishing gets hot again, but the fish will be big this spring and summer. At least that is what I am hearing from the experts. I know we caught a ton of crappie below the dam this summer and fall.
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According to my fish finder, strike and brownlee both, were loaded with crappie (panfish at least). I was regularly seeing massive schools of fish but just could not get them to bite. Didn't matter what I tried, or how I fished. I am pretty sure they were crappie, based upon past experience on how they show on my fish finder, and the fact that I did pick up some one or two fish out of these regular and massive schools I saw.
Also based solely upon my past 20 years of crappie fishing experience, I do not believe the numbers are down. I was still catching a lot of small crappie, and generally when the numbers are down, the crappie are larger, heavier, and there are less of them.
I had a few days on the hump where I caught 50 - 60 crappie in a few hours in September and October.
I think what is screwing up the fishing is the crazy weather we have been having. Last few years, we haven't had any spring. We go straight from winter to summer, and then right back to winter.
I've been fishing CJ for crappie for almost 40 years. It has always been hot and cold. One time I didn't fish it for 5 years. Seems every year I catch the crappie in different spots.
Two years ago, we were having days where 4 of us caught well over 1500 crappie week after week. Many years I caught hundreds each trip. But they always seem to run in cycles. And this appears to be a low cycle. I'm guessing that 2012 or 2013 will be another good year for crappie at CJ.
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well said. 2 and 3 years ago was when you could fill the livewell. i saw 2 good schools last trip but they were swimming around which has seemed to happen the last 2 years. when tthey school up and don't swim was hammer time. i dont think the runoff affects them to much strike with most of the current staying out of the main pool and narrows. this year i did see current all the way to the powerlines on the snake and the whole bruneau and 1/2 narrows were muddy. hope its just an off year because i was spoiled at thinking i could catch more crappie than anybody until this year.
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Two years ago when I was averaging well over 300 crappie per trip, we decided to play around. We went through our tackle boxes and TRIED to find a lure that wouldn't catch crappie. We kept changing lures all day and 4 of us easily caught over 1500 crappie. The next week, we couldn't buy a fish until my buddy tried a specific (unusual) color. He caught them as quick as he could get his line in he water. We all switched and caught crappie while dozens of boats around us caught maybe 2 or 3 crappie the whole day.
I know on the hump this past Sept. and Oct., they really liked green. Caught a few on other colors, and I got more bites on motor oil than some other colors. But it was still a little slow in compared to two - five years ago.
I probably had about 7 or 8 good years of fishing in a row. But I do remember having those off years before that..
When I was a kid, the only way to catch crappie was in the big cove after the narrows where all the rocks are, on gogetters, with a pork rind, using a bobber, and only when there was wind (which was pretty often). I used to never catch them anywhere else. For a few years, we caught gunnysacks full, and then I couldn't catch any there. I have tried there numerous times since, and never caught a single crappie, but I haven't tried that exact same setup either..
And, fishing in that spot, resulted in lots of lost bobbers and jigs.
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