Thread: crappie fishing on the snake river near the paulouse river

All of the creeks mouths that dump into the river in that area hold crappies almost year round. The best places I've found around the Paulouse are out in front of the bluff that's on your left side (west) as you head up river from the park. In early spring (April to mid May out there) you will find huge schools near the bluff and right up against it. Sometimes the fish can be 4 to 6 feet down suspended over 15 - 30 feet of water. Just cruise around that area and watch your depthfinder. They can be "out in the middle over nowhere" there...meaning they can be 100 yards off that bluff. You have to crusie to find them but when you do find them they bite great. As the water warms they will head in closer to the bluff and the cover just north of it. They will spawn all along that west bank in water that's 2-5' deep.

Across the river at the marina is great area as well. From late May though Fall you can catch true slabs around those docks. Night time is best for the slabs. They will average 10-12 inches but there will be a few going 14-16" and weighting about 1.5. lbs. Check out a map and look for areas where those little creeks dump in...they are killer for slabs and you'll have them all to yourself. I've found some really nice holes below and above the dam.

All white jigs and anything with chartreuse in it seems to work great. When I fish the bluffs I set a float 4-6 feet above a jig and slow troll it right against the bluff face. We nail walleye, cats, and slabs that way. In the coves we tightline jigs along rocks or docks until we find the depth they are using. Don't be afraid to use spinnerbaits, crankbaits, grubs, etc for the these guys. There are a lot of smaller fish to weed through and sometimes the larger lures are the ticket to get to the slabs out there.

wow that is some great info man i really appriciate it, sometimes it is hard to get people to share info like that so really thank you..we had a blast last year when the cat fish were biting but only got half way up river because the boat we had was a prop, this year i have a small jet so it will be a whole new expierence going into new teritory..and now that i can chase both i am super excited. my fishin buddie is a walley nut so i am sure we will do a little of that to..thanks again

Hey SlabKing,

Good to hear from you again. Thanx for the info. I believe going up river from the marina the left side is actually NE, not west, but I could be wrong. I'll be working the left side regardless. Do you use bait on your jigs? When is the earliest a guy should take a trip over there to do some catching? If I had to go fshing in Lake Union right now, what would be the best areas and tactics to try? Hey, update your webpage and add some pics of your successes. Mere mortals would like to see some slabs.

Dave, thanx for bringing this board to life again. Keep us posted when you head over. I've heard the walleye fishing there can be outrageous, but you can lose a lot of gear if you're bottom bouncing.

we actually did get acouple nice walley while we where catfishing in the shallows on the paulouse....it was a nice surprise. as soon as i here the catfish bite is picking up i will head over i think we are going to stay 4 or 5 days this time, cant wait it is one of my favorite trips of the year.

Can't wait for it again this year too. My dad and I are heading there again this year probably in mid June for the catfish/walleye, and crappie if we can find them. Not sure if we'll try camping for a few days instead of driving over there from Kennewick where I live everyday yet.

slabking what is the best time to go to the brownlee reservoir ? it's an 8 hr drive from everett have never been there.but sure like to fish it this spring.

I've never been there but I've read reports on it last year on the Oregon fishing site. Check out ifish.net, there's plenty of threads on their forum board about Brownlee and the crappie. From what I've read it really depends on how much water is being let out of the dam above it. The guide for down there at Brownlee also writes reports and gives info on some of the areas on there in the panfish section of the website.

i cant wait for the bite to pick up over there... in the mean time i have been sturgeon fishin and have got some nice ones off of the columbis out by stevenson. if i can figure it out i can post a few pics...i think this is going to be a great year.