Here's a video for you guys to watch.

[snake River]

I also enjoyed the video Bob. I hope for the sake of the crappie that y'all can get limits set and enforcement to back it up.
"gene"

thank you yes it would be wonderful to get things situated for limit on the snake River system you could read more comments of mine on the Washington state post as I do comment there on the snake River.

[Gobob]

4-5 years ago I put a size and creel limit on our home lakes signs at the ramps Before the committee realized I had done this the season was over. The next year was awesome and they stuck with it for another year but then went back to 30 a day no size limit Bad plan now it sucks lots of small fish which is good for the future but you have to preserve what you have . Years ago 20 years ago crappie over 18" were common. I've caught them at or over 17" nothing like back in the day with 20-21" inches. You all say bs but we have pictures at our clubhouse. But now it's pretty much pleasure boaters that run the show I'm working on getting on the land and lakes committee to change this so it can be the trophy lake it can be

[Oregon slabman]

Brownlee really is a unique fishery. It's not your typical crappie reservoir. It lies in the same canyon that Hell's Canyon is in, the deepest gorge in the U.S. Very steep sided,not unusual to be in 40' of water a boat length from shore. To catch crappie here throughout the year fishing rock is the key and although it all looks the same it's not. Due to a very rich food chain started by nutrients brought in from the upper Snake River there is a heavy algae bloom that feeds an immense amount of zoo plankton. Fish populations can explode given stable water levels. Therein lies the problem. Brownlee dam is regulated by the C.O.E. for flood control for Portland Oregon. Whether there is a heavy snow pack or not it is drawn down in winter or early spring. Depending on the extent of the snow pack and draw down, some years there is no spawn or a very minimal spawn. This leads to boom and bust cycles in the crappie population. We are usually fishing a strong age class where there is little variation in size. Some years I turn crappie fishermen away because there is not much of a chance of putting a catch together. Another situation we face is that once the Snake River chinook salmon were put on the endangered species list the reservoir is drawn down in the summer to put more water in the river to flush the smolts out to sea quicker. Sometimes this leads to our launch ramps being high and dry in the late summer. It doesn't effect the fishing, the spots just change. Due to the spawning problems I have lobbied for a crappie limit. As it is now with no limit a strong age class of fish lasts about 5 years. Our biologist did a comprehensive study and determined that a 30 fish limit would stretch the harvest throughout the 10year life cycle. His report was cast aside and we are still with no limit. A big part of the problem is the reservoir is shared with Idaho and the IDFG director says that Idaho fishermen aren't complaining. There's not much chance of anything changing.

[DockShootinJack]

Seems like a remarkable fishery. Some pretty country too.