Brownlee help needed

[montym]

Hi;

I will be in Richland in the first week of June, had planned the trip around a fishing trip with the only reputed guide from there. Unfortunately for me, they cancelled the trip for personal reasons and now I'm kind of left high and dry. This is going to be an intermediate stop on the way from Yellowstone, so the trip is on. I've read all I could on the internet on cats and crappie fishing, watched a gazillion videos, got all the gear but a bit bummed to miss out on the local knowledge. I do not think we have too many members from around there, but if there is any then this is a SOS for them! I would really appreciate it if you can show me around a bit. Any tips would be much appreciated too.

Cheers
M

PS: no complaints about the guide, I think he is a member of this forum but hasn't posted for a long time, he's been very professional in all my interactions with him and I think he's got a genuine reason for the cancellation.

 

[O. mykiss]

Hi, I will share the knowledge that I have about brownlee. It's been a few years since I have fished there but I use to go quite a bit. At dusk I always did well with small sliding thill floats with crappie nibbles on the hooks. Switch skirt colors until you find a winner. Red/white/ red/ or any combination always worked really well for me. As for cats they can be caught by casting 1-2 oz out as far as you can with shrimp, worms, or crappie carcasses. You can get carcasses at the powder river arm cleaning station. But at night is when the cats really come to life as they come into the shallows to feed and spawn. I fished the powder river arm near the boat ramp, out of Richland and out of Huntington. There are roads leaving west out of town that will take you down to the river, a little bit of research inking and you will find these access points. I can't remember the road names anymore. P.s. The smallmouth fishing there can be epic, get junebug colored tubes and use 1/8 oz jig heads. Hope this helps, though locations are a little vague.

 

[montym]

Thank you, helpful tips indeed. What kind of rods would be most useful? I'm planning to leave the ultralights behind and take Steelhead type rods only as they in my opinion work in most lake situations. Portland to Yellowstone and back with cabin camping thrown in, so would need to be choosy about what I take.

 

[troutdude]

IMO a steelie rod, is likely overkill for smallies--and definitely way too much rod, for Crappie. But would be good, for cats. How many rods do you think that, you'll have room for?

 

[montym]

You know what, I found the problem, I just don't have enough rods. So yesterday I went out and bought one 7 foot light rod. Might be in trouble, but wife does not know yet. It's bright red and nice looking, probably I'll tell her is a gift for her.

 

[EOBOY]

You know what, I found the problem, I just don't have enough rods. So yesterday I went out and bought one 7 foot light rod. Might be in trouble, but wife does not know yet. It's bright red and nice looking, probably I'll tell her is a gift for her.

Classic answer:hi:

 

[Bldngts2003]

I used my steelhead rod and did just fine cat fishing. Used chicken livers and crappie guts for bait, fished off bank, sz 2 hook with a sliding heavy sinker dependent on drift.

 

[colt]

Sag road is a good access point. As those before mentioned, crappie heads or chunks worked great for me. Smallest cat i have pulled out was 22 inches. Biggest so far is a 28 incher and get this, it was on kfc chicken. Believe it or not. I have heard wonders about chicken liver. Freeze them day before the trip. Stores sell them cheap. Have not tried them yet. Crappie that time of year has been varied for me. Some shallow, others deep. Wife lost one that was close to 15 inches. Snapped line at boat.
The water is on the rise right now. Averaging 2 to 3 feet a day. Should be at full pool by june i think.

Hope things work out. Good luck.

 

[troutdude]

S Believe it or not. I have heard wonders about chicken liver. Freeze them day before the trip. Stores sell them cheap.

That was what we used, back in the day, on the Long Tom River. We always left ours out of the fridge for a day or two, before going to fish. For an extra tasty scent, of spoiled meat! After all; they are ecosystem scavengers. You could try different batches; to see what works best for you.