Brownlee reservoir for the people that may be interested.

though water and Brownlee reservoir has come back up here for I don't know how long I've been asked to do a few things pertaining to water levels and Brownlee reservoir such as contacting Idaho Fish and game also Idaho power recently we talked to a gentleman with Idaho Fish and game I asked him what their plans were in the future for the warm water fishery and Brownlee reservoir he proceeded to tell me why am I calling him when I should be calling someone in Oregon I told him I wanted his opinion from Idaho Fish and game I told him that I think the fishery is going downhill due to the fluctuating of water up and down and Brownlee reservoir he told me that the fish crappie were in a four-year cycle is it's common sense and everybody knows that property will go for four years and then they will die back down and picked back up at the end of the cycle well as most of you know Brownlee reservoir has been going up and down for more than four years in the fish population is on a steady decline I hope that most of you agree with this anyway Idaho Fish and game in Oregon Fish and game cannot do really anything about this guys is the corpses engineers that are the ones we have to go after because they do it for flood control lowering the water the thing of it is both sides of the snake River need to work with the corpse change in years to balance out their spawning time of the year so we do not kill any more fish than we have to I hope that everyone may want to call Idaho power also put a phone call into Idaho Fish and game and give him your opinions also for the people live in Oregon please call the department of Fish and game in Oregon and asked for the freshwater biologist in both states if there is nothing to be done in the future with the fishery it will slowly die off I have fish Brownlee reservoir for over 40 years and we had nothing like it's present condition in the past as most of you know it was no problem to come to Brownlee reservoir and catch fish mostly crappie as the fish of choice for me I hope this short post may bring some interest to many of you and hopefully that you will support this issue and it must be something done immediately guys don't sit around thinking about it get on that phone and voice your opinion.

bob.

I contacted the Corps home office. I was told to contact Idaho power. They said contact the Corp. I contacted the corp. and was told by law they had a formula they had to follow. Well that only means one thing to me. The formula needs changed. I think the only way this will happen is for all concerned with saving this treasure is to contact their elected officials. Then contact them again and again. The old sqweeky wheel gets the grease is a fact with polotitians. I think it is criminal to ruin this fishery. Especialy since so many hard working folks depend in all or part on it for their lively hood.I set up a petition once to do this. I didn't get near the response I thought it deserved. I think I will try again. Hopefully some folks will foreward it and we will get enough interest to show we are very serious about this.

you will get the runaround quite a bit on Brownlee reservoir the best thing that people can do is contact your state representatives and voice your opinion now a few words on Brownlee reservoir is of today I visited Richland Oregon two days ago and contacted hitching post in Richland and talk to them they told me that the fishing was terrible the fish kill off is something terrible because of the water fluctuating so much until they stop messing around with the water those fish will come back in the future we all agree that it will take at least five years for the fishery for crappie to come back I have moved from the town of Richland Oregon to cottage Grove Oregon I don't keep quite up to date and less eye contact the locals in ritual in Oregon which is close by Hewitt Park where I used to fish we've been here partner year and cottage Grove and I plan on relocating to Toledo Bend Texas it is a large impoundment 65 miles long within a few miles I also have Sam Rayborn to fish don't have to tell you how the fishing is there the crappie average 2 pounds we will be visiting Texas here in August to look at property if you want up-to-date information through me send me a PM.

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Originally Posted by Sawdustsavage

I contacted the Corps home office. I was told to contact Idaho power. They said contact the Corp. I contacted the corp. and was told by law they had a formula they had to follow. Well that only means one thing to me. The formula needs changed. I think the only way this will happen is for all concerned with saving this treasure is to contact their elected officials. Then contact them again and again. The old sqweeky wheel gets the grease is a fact with polotitians. I think it is criminal to ruin this fishery. Especialy since so many hard working folks depend in all or part on it for their lively hood.I set up a petition once to do this. I didn't get near the response I thought it deserved. I think I will try again. Hopefully some folks will foreward it and we will get enough interest to show we are very serious about this.

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would you please keep us up to date on your information that you receive.

I will sure do that. I will also email you the petition I circulated earlier. I would appreciate any input before I start the next one. To bad the folks in power couldn't do the right thing without being hit in the face with it.

Sucks that the crappie fishing in Brownlee has gone downhill. I drive past it every time I go to visit my parents near Seattle, but I've never gotten a chance to fish it.

Guess I'm kind of fortunate that C.J. Strike is managed for hydropower so the reservoir stays at a consistent level all the time.

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Originally Posted by Shoemoo

Sucks that the crappie fishing in Brownlee has gone downhill. I drive past it every time I go to visit my parents near Seattle, but I've never gotten a chance to fish it.

Guess I'm kind of fortunate that C.J. Strike is managed for hydropower so the reservoir stays at a consistent level all the time.

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I heard from Cappie Chaser here that it has been so so this year. Not big numbers but nice fish. He is a guide out of Richland. A really nice guy and great to fish with. If you ever decide to stop by and try it on your way to your folks it would be money well spent to take a trip with him. Getting pretty late this year but something to keep in mind next tear. You can find him on the web by googling Brownlee Chartters. His name is Gary. He is totally honest and will let you know exactly how the fishing is. he wont just try to sell a trip like some guides.

Thanks for the kind words,John. 2013 was a tough year for crappie on Brownlee. They were beautiful 14+" fish when you found them but they were tough to find. These were fish that were spawned in 05. They were heavily over-harvested from 2007 through 2010. I had some good fishing in 11 and 12 but last year they were here today gone tomorrow. They are at the end of their life-cycle but what remain are real nice fish. The good news is that there was a real strong hatch of crappie in what I believe to be 2011. They are thick out there, maybe as good of a hatch as 05. Perch also made a good showing last year,the best it's been in many years. Bluegill showed well in late summer but they were smaller than the year before. Bass fishing was really good and channel cats were great.
The best thing IDFG could do would be to get on board with ODFG on a crappie limit. Oregon is considering it but won't do it if Idaho doesn't. The numbers of juvenile crappie that are taken out of Brownlee is obscene. There are not many left by the time they reach maturity. I think this has a big impact on the spawning.