CJ STRIKE REPORT

[Sluggo]

Anyone know what the conditions (ramps, water level, fishing) are at Strike right now? Are Crappie and Perch biting yet?
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[dtayboyz]

They're whacking below the dam.
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[hooknhunter]

Boat or shore? I don't think you can boat in the good crappie area below, is that correct?

Any new updates? Been more than a week, a lot can change.
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[Duck-Slayer]

That is correct...... from the bridge to the Dam no boats allowed...

its all shore fishing, when they have the spillways open all the fish from the big hole get pushed to the edge's of the river, was like that back in 08' or 09' I wanna say, was awesome fishing from the shore. Right along the bank and jus inside the edges of the cattails.
Matt
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[Squarehog]

Went down below the dam this afternoon and they were whacking [][fishon]
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[PACKFAN]

Those crappie make for great Sturgeon bait, especially this time of the year below the dam.[]
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[Biigfish33]

crappie, perch? Might have to take a trip out there and check it out this afternoon.
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[Biigfish33]

Went out yesterday and the fish were still biting. Like you mentioned, found a spot on the edge of the river with some soft water and the fishing was really good most of the afternoon. Perch and some really nice crappie. Other than the wind it was a good day to be out, and had a nice meal of fish tacos to end the day!
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[hooknhunter]

I fished in the reservoir on Saturday. Targeted crappie and perch (usually catch a bass or two also, but never did). Did not get any perch, but did bring home a few crappie. The ones I found were in the narrows and in the Bruneau arm. I would have called the fishing slow as my FIL never caught a fish. I ended up bringing home about 7-9 crappie over 12 inches, about 5-6 smaller than that, and threw back about 10 really small ones. Water upon arrival was 51 degrees. As I was leaving it was 57 degrees.

I believe the crappie spawn will be happening soon as the temps seem about right and the locations of the fish are what I'd call staging areas.

The 12 inch fish were nice and thick and put up a good fight. All the bigger ones I kept were whites, all but one of the smaller ones I kept were blacks, and the throw backs were a mix of the 2. I thought that to be a bit on the curious side. Perhaps the blacks typically spawn a bit later and so the bigger ones aren't in the staging areas yet? Not sure, really. Just a guess.
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[dtayboyz]

Bass numbers and sizes are WAY down in the tournaments at CJ also. Hope they didn't go home to get warmed up after ice fishing. Bass are delicious, but it takes 10 years to grow a good one here.
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[hooknhunter]

I would think that lack of water clarity would play heavily into the numbers being down.
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[crappyslayer]

You guys must be using magic bait or dupont red lures i fished cj all weekend and talked to a lot of other fisherman. I was below the dam all of friday evening and the only thing we saw caught was a single 4ft sturgeon. I fished from a boat in cj anf in 2 days caught 1 13" bass, 1 12 and 3/4 inch crappie and 3 small crappie. Only way I got any crappie was by trolling. Nobody else was catching anything except fow a few who had caught 1 or 2 all day. At least the wind didnt blow like a banshee.. I didnt even get no mudd bugs in my traps...

All in all my weekend was a mastercard moment. Thirsday noght went out to hook up the travel trailer to the gf's truck. Electric jack wouldnt work. Grabbed the battery charger and it showed full charge on battery. Jack still wont work. Started checkig connections ln jack and positive wire broke off right at jack terminal as soon as i touched it with volt meter. Bought new jack for 200.00. Connected new jack.still nothimg. Swithced battery. Success...Had foresight to bring Mr Buddy heater in case we wanted to do some night fishing. Damn good thing. Heater in trailer making horrible noise. Used Mr Buddy to keep trailer at half way decent temperature overnight. Saturday morning while trying to keep boat still at dock while coaxing our Rott onboard for the first time, and a good sized wake smashed my thumb between the boat and the dock. After a little blood and a few curse words it was off to fish.
Gas to go to cj $35.00
Cost to replace Jack on trailer $200.00
Furnace repair cost tbd
Doctor bill for broken thumb $100
Approx cost per fish $60.00
And even after all that, having the weekend away from work and yard work. Priceless.
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[hooknhunter]

Sorry to hear about your misfortune. If it's any consolation my FIL sitting next fo me in the boat never got a thing.
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[crappyslayer]

I saw lots of huge schools on the fish finder anywhere from 20 to 40 foot deep. Even using the downrigger to target depth only got me 4 crappie in 2 days. But if they start biting it should be like 5 or 6 years ago when I was averaging over 300 crappie per day.
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[hooknhunter]

Hard to believe our experiences experiences experiences different. I never saw a single large school and only a few small schools. Mostly scattered fish is what I saw.
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[crappyslayer]

The schools I was seeing were in the narrows, about halfway, and on the north side in 48 ft of water
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[RJD007]

I am going to do a drive by of CJ on Friday since I have never fished or camped there before. I want to look at Blacksands and Cottonwood for camping and boat ramp/dock. Any other recommendations to look at? I will be in a SUV just touring. Thanks!
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[Lochsaelliott]

Cove recreation has always been my favorite. Cheap fees and nice amenities such as sun shades that also protect against the famous CJ wind. It is between cottonwood and black sands, just west of the narrows.
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[hooknhunter]

[quote Lochsaelliott]Cove recreation has always been my favorite. Cheap fees and nice amenities such as sun shades that also protect against the famous CJ wind. It is between cottonwood and black sands, just west of the narrows.[/quote]

I would not say you are wrong, but the boat ramp at Cove was TERRIBLE last time I used it. Beware.
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[Lochsaelliott]

Totally agree about the atrocious boat ramp at cove recreation site. The cove itself is great with docks and well protected but don't plan to launch anything more than a shallow bass or jon boat. We normally put in at air force and one of us drives to cove arm to set up camp while the other boats over to the docks.
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