04-28-2006, 11:39 PM
[cool][#0000ff]There are still browns in the Gorge, but not like the glory days of the late 70's. For a few years there it was common to see browns over 20 pounds, with a few in the 30 range. It was also common to see bajillions of chubs in all of the bays. The browns and the macks both dined well on the chubs.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]That was in the days before smallmouths became so plentiful. The combined predation on the chubs, by several efficient predators, almost eliminated the chubs. Today the macks feed heavily on kokanee and the browns have declined in both numbers and size. They are not planted like the rainbows.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]The most and biggest browns have historically been taken during the cold months of the year, and often either just after dark or before dawn. Trolling big minnow shaped lures (Rapalas) has always been a good technique, but you have to put in a lot of hours during cold dark nights to score every fish you catch.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]Small browns are sometimes taken by those trolling open waters for rainbows, kokanee or macks. Bigger fish are usually right along the shoreline or feeding on long underwater points. And, when the waters warm and boat traffic gets heavier, they go deep and cannot be distinguished from macks by sonar.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]There are a few specialists that still rig up and fish mostly for browns, hoping to beat the 31 pounder that came out of the Gorge many years ago. There might be one bigger in there, but that is a big lake and the few browns are spread out over a lot of water.[/#0000ff]
[signature]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]That was in the days before smallmouths became so plentiful. The combined predation on the chubs, by several efficient predators, almost eliminated the chubs. Today the macks feed heavily on kokanee and the browns have declined in both numbers and size. They are not planted like the rainbows.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]The most and biggest browns have historically been taken during the cold months of the year, and often either just after dark or before dawn. Trolling big minnow shaped lures (Rapalas) has always been a good technique, but you have to put in a lot of hours during cold dark nights to score every fish you catch.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]Small browns are sometimes taken by those trolling open waters for rainbows, kokanee or macks. Bigger fish are usually right along the shoreline or feeding on long underwater points. And, when the waters warm and boat traffic gets heavier, they go deep and cannot be distinguished from macks by sonar.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]There are a few specialists that still rig up and fish mostly for browns, hoping to beat the 31 pounder that came out of the Gorge many years ago. There might be one bigger in there, but that is a big lake and the few browns are spread out over a lot of water.[/#0000ff]
[signature]