CJ Strike 4-6

[StacyR]

Friend and I went out to CJ yesterday and fished for several hours during the afternoon. We fished for awhile below the dam, standing on the fence. Got a few crappie, but nothing too large so we decided to move to Cottonwood. We talked to several people at Cottonwood and no one was catching anything.

Went to the tackle shop in Bruneau to see if there were any better spots, and they didn't have any news. I thought it would be rude not to buy anything, so I bought a few curly tail spinner jigs. Stopped at the Narrows campground. No one was there, but I tried a few casts and nada so we went back below the dam for about an hour and half.

I casted one of the spinner jigs I bought, and got two rainbows, one 16" and the other 18". My friend hooked a 14" smallmouth, but it broke the line on some rebar just as he was reaching down to land it.

Not sure how it is on the Snake arm, but the Bruneau arm is definitely blown out. The water is so murky it looks like creamed coffee. Probably from all the rain and wind we've been having.
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[fishin4days]

Hey thanks for the report. Sorry the fishing wasn't that great. I'm planning to head up there this weekend. Were you catching some crappie below the spillway or below the turbines? I'm wanting to get in to a few to start stocking up on sturgeon bait. And were you fishing jigs?
Thanks again for the report
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[StacyR]

Those nice trout made it worthwhile.

We caught the crappie below the spillway using jigs under a bobber. I was using white and blue/white, and my friend was using pink/white and blue/white. They are only about 3-4 feet down.

The bites were very soft, so use as small of a bobber as you can get away with. The crappies were good sturgeon bait sized.
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[kentd71]

Was there any water comming over the spillway? I am headed there in a couple of weeks.
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[StacyR]

There's always a little water coming off the spillway, mostly small amounts seeping under the gates. Unless it gets really windy, then you get a little more from waves starting to go over the top.

I've never seen any significant amount of water come off the spillway. It's a hydroelectric dam, so almost all the water they let out goes through the turbines.
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[Kodiak1]

The spillways at CJ will be closed until June 30th because of safety and high flows and because of a study to determine how many fish are flushed over the dam during high flow periods. Mike
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[StacyR]

Went back today, since I try to make a trip to CJ once a week. Got two 14 inch rainbows (they may have been the same fish since I do C&R unless someone else wants to take them home) and one 16 incher below the dam. Lost one that looked bigger. Also got a 13" smallmouth and and a dinky perch at Cottonwood.

I have to take back what I said about the spillway. One of the gates was open. Looked to be open all the way. Forget about crappies in the slack water below the dam, because there is no slack water below the dam anymore. There aren't even any crappies near the turbines, since all three turbines are running all the time. The current is running fast and furious in both spots, and I'm pretty sure the crappies have been blown downstream.

Hopefully they won't be keeping the spillway gate open until the 30th of June, or spring/early summer crappie fishing below the dam is just going to be shot.

And yeah, the walkway above the spillway is closed too, so no fishing off the dam either.
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