THE RESERVOIR
A quality fishery for a variety of warm water species is hard to find in the Northwest. Brownlee Reservoir on the Snake River fills that bill and then some. The Snake River portion of the reservoir is over 50 miles long. Either an Oregon or Idaho license is acceptable while fishing from a boat on the Snake. Some of the best fishing is in the Powder River Arm, which is 6.5 miles long and is entirely in Oregon. An Oregon license is required to fish the Powder River Arm. The most sought after fish in Brownlee are both white and black crappie, smallmouth bass and channel cat. Other species available are largemouth bass , bluegill, yellow perch, blue and flathead catfish and rainbow trout.
THE FISHING
2009 Fishing Forecast
All indications are for a great season in 2009. The tremendous crappie spawn of 2006 is reaching maturity and should provide great fishing throughout the season.
The hard fighting smallmouth bass provide a lot of action. I look for a lot of 12" to 16" fish to be caught on our trips with a handful going 18" to 20".
We are looking forward to another great season of catfishing. We did great on them last year with big catches thru September. Our catfishing trips are fun, action packed fishing. It's not uncommon to bring home enough fillets at market price to actually pay for your charter. While Channel cats make up most of our catch we land quite a few Blue cats and an occasional Flathead.
Yellow Perch and Bluegill should be plentiful this year and will add to the mixed catch typical of our charters on Brownlee Reservoir. Last year we landed a 1 1/2 pound bluegill, the biggest yet to be caught from our boat.
OUR OUTFIT
We work hard to provide a quality experience for all our clients. We believe in hard work, honesty and treating people as we would like to be treated while on a charter. We have been on charters from Mexico to Alaska, some great and some not good. Learning from the good skippers as well as what not to do from the bad outfits helps us to better accomodate our clients. It is a learning process and we learn plenty from our clients. We have a high rate of returning clients. We have been featured in many publications including Outdoor Life, In-Fisherman, Bend Weekly, Oregon Fishing and Hunting News and Western Outdoors. The most recent is an article in Field and Stream.
We are the original BROWNLEE CHARTERS. We have worked hard to earn our good reputation on our own merit. Contact us GARY & SANDY GORBET, owners of BROWNLEE CHARTERS in Richland, Oregon for your next fishing trip on Brownlee Reservoir.
