Fishing Forum

I could only go fishing Sunday or Monday. Heard it was going to be windy Monday afternoon, so went to Cottonwood Sunday night. I was hoping to catch crappie or bass.

It was a little windy during the day, then the wind died for about half an hour just before sundown and came back with a vengeance. It was pretty miserable sitting out on the jetty, so I moved to a windbreak behind some trees. Everyone else packed up and left. It blew so hard when I came back from the restroom I found the wind had changed direction and my chair was in the water. Usually I keep a bunch of stuff in the little mesh drink pockets but luckily I had put everything away before moving. I used a rod to pull it back to shore. I've spent more miserable nights at Strike, but it still wasn't pleasant.

No fish before dark, but I did manage to catch some crappie at night. While the crappie aren't there in force yet, there are fish to be caught if you work for them. I got about 20 crappie in around 6 hours of fishing. Aside from two that were dinks, the rest were all nice fat females in the 11" to 13" range. Most were caught right up against the bank. Didn't feel like cleaning fish and I was the only one on the water after dark so I just did C&R.

Should get a lot better by next week if we get the stretch of 70+ degree days I see in the forecast.
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Thanks for the update, always a little hit and miss there for me this time of year. Glad someone can stand the wind!!
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It was pretty awful, but at least it didn't rain like my last trip there. CJ can be a real bear when the wind is howling . Luckily it was mostly coming from the northwest so there was a spot to get out of it. If I hadn't gotten two fish on back to back casts right after it got dark I would have packed up and left with everyone else. The good quality fish made it worthwhile, though.
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I'm taking my 6 year old daughter and 4 year old son to Bruneau this weekend. Do some camping at the dunes and maybe some crappie fishing at CJ (Cottonwood?) before we head home on Sunday. Anyone care to make a suggestion as tonwhatbwe should choose for bait this early in the season. In the past, we've done reasonably well fishing for crappie later in the summer using simple night crawlers. Don't know if I should be using something else. Kids this age tend to lose interest quickly if there's not much action.
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Some of the other people there were catching trout and catfish on worms. I didn't see any crappie caught except for mine.

I was using some jigs I tied, but most people use tube jigs and do pretty well. Buy a jar of Crappie Nibbles and a package of tube jig heads and some skirts in different colors. Black/chartreuse, pink/chartreuse, red/white, pink/white and solid white are good basic choices. You can buy a kit with the heads and skirts for around $10 at Cabela's. Check out the water clarity when you get there. If it's pretty clear, use naturalistic colors like white or gray. If it's stained, use bright colors. If the water is really muddy, use dark colors.

Put on a bobber about two feet up the line and have them cast out and reel as slowly as possible. Avoid the round red and white bobbers. They suck. Use the type with a post on top. Doesn't matter if it's wood or styrofoam, both seem to work equally well.
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Thanks very much for the suggestions and info. I'll definitely give it a shot.

I went yesterday and fishing was pretty slow in the morning for us and most other guys we talked to. It really picked up in the late afternoon. Wound up with 30 or so crappie and perch. A lot of small ones and some pretty decent ones. Best for us was cut bait for the perch and small red and silver crappie skirts. Weather was great and should be fantastic for you on Saturday. Good Luck.
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Idahomike: great info, thanks

One question: were you fishing at the dunes, or Cottonwood?

Cottonwood
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great report Mike....
Matt
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There are some threads going on right now with a lot of complaining about other anglers. And I'm not saying that the complaining isn't warranted. Just a lot of negativity.

So, I'll take this opportunity to express my THANKS to my fellow fishermen here for pointing me toward Cottonwood about 3 weeks ago. My 6 year old daughter and 4 year old boy were BEGGING me to take them fishing after a night camping at Bruneau. It was WAY windy and quite crowded but I wasn't about to look them in the eye and head home without at least trying. We managed to score some very small bluegill in the cove. I'm sure most of the others fishing there would've scoffed at the small fish. But for my kids, this was a HUGE WIN!! I couldn't have been happier for them.

So thanks. You made a father and his 2 kids very happy for offering to share a location with someone on this site.
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[]Shhhhhhhsh, don't tell anyone. There will 40 boats there next weekend.[] Awesome that the little ones got some fish. Those are some choice experiences. I need to take my grand kids to a local bluegill pond. They'd love it.
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