Harps

Barbless hooks are fine with me. Most of my flies have barbs and I've never really had problems releasing fish with them. Some of my flies have the barb mashed down which works pretty well — a little better holding ability but still easy to remove.

I cannot agree with this mic. That would mean virtually no fish over 22 inches. Over the years, I have seen many fish over 25 inches in Crane. There was a particularly giant fish in a pool in the upper area that I observed for several years that was perhaps 28 or 29 inches when I last saw it (I estimated that it might weight 8-10 lbs). The creek has the ability to support good numbers of good fish when the water is flowing well like it was back in the 80s. Those large fish have a lot more eggs in them than a 16 or 17 inch fish as well. The hole under the rail bridge above town at times might have 5-8 fish over 20 inches back then, but I haven't bothered to check on it for years now. This is all my own anecdotal evidence/observation and was all prior to the over 18" keep allowance. It is my opinion we have little to no chance of seeing or catching any trophies like that when those fish are subject to removal. When I do get to go to the creek these days I often (not always) see discarded bait containers, so we have that problem as well. I still say return it to catch and release and enforce the rules against bait. That and some wetter seasons would bring the creek back to full glory.

I've watched Crane's ups and downs for years. I don't like the downs at all, they make me nervous. But the trout do make comebacks with the water. The upper section is the volatile and dangerous area for the trout. Two losing holes (that I know of) and dry conditions can trap and doom them quickly. The lower area is the safe haven and likely provides stock for the upper in good times. A good spawn can provide several hundred thousand fry to replenish the creek. I just wish MDC would take the 18" keep allowance off the stream and take it back to catch and release only. Those 18+ fish are the prime breeding stock. I can remember when there were a fair number of 6-8 pound fish in the creek and I haven't seen one over 4 or 5 for many years now. Course, I don't get down there as much as I used to.

Mmmmmm hmmm. Interesting way of putting that Wrench.

Walleye on that lake are tough to figure out. Tiger pattern deep cranks while trolling have worked for me, but most of what I catch comes on a minnow or crawler tipped jig. Dropoff areas or flats adjacent to dropoffs seem to hold the most walleye in my experience. But i'm no expert and I don't always find them.

Cottonmouths swim quite well in my opinion. They are obvious to me when I (rarely) see them as their bodies ride almost entirely on the water's surface unless they dive. The water snakes bodies are mostly under water and just their heads are at the surface. Ever wonder what the creek was like before people started mining? Where did that gravel that has choked the stream come from? Perhaps from the hillsides during the early logging era? Mining will not cause much harm to what is already destroyed, but neither will it solve the problem IMO.

At the risk of sounding like a know-it-all........Ice doesn't float because it's colder than liquid water, it floats because it is less dense than liquid water. The more dense water displaces the less dense ice and pushes it to the top.

I might make an exception for THAT LURE!!!!

IMO — Technological gadgetry is always a poor replacement for woodsmanship and true knowledge of the quarry.

Harps here...not fishing much..... too busy chasing whitetails...

Some friends and I were night fishing below Truman dam when I was in college and I apparently stepped on a copperhead which then, as you would suspect, bit me on the ankle. We went to the hospital in Clinton and they kept me under observation for a while. I didn't have any major swelling so they advised against anti-venon/venom?. They did give me a tetanus shot, and I would rather the snake bit me a couple more times! The snake bite stung for a day and the shot hurt for a week!

That is indeed a great day on crane. If I catch one in the 12-14 inch range I smile about it until I get to brag to at least 5 people. I've only caught a few over 20 in many years of wandering the banks of Crane, so relish that moment! Congratulations. Post some pics?

I'm going to have to check that out. I wouldn't fancy Crane to be suitable habitat for an alligator snapper as they prefer warmer water. Not saying that's not what it is, but as they say in Missouri, Show Me. Somebody take a photo and post it if you can. They should be reported when seen. The following location on the MDC website has several videos and other information about these turtles. http://www.mdc.mo.gov/nathis/endangered/endanger/allsnap/ There is a good population of common snapping turtles in the creek, and that's also 99.99% of what you will see run over on the roads. I have been seeing a lot of common snappers on the roads myself this year.

We had a great family vacation in the Smoky Mountains of east Tennessee, staying in a cabin near Townsend for 4 nights. Upon arrival we did our business with the cabin people, checked in for fishing license and reports at Little River Outfitters, and then got groceries. All of the rivers in the area were low as they have been having a drought for the past couple of summers. The Little River seemed to have about a quarter of the water it had on our last trip. The girls went swimming at a pool while I went and scouted Little River for a good area to fish. My fishing license was for 3 days and I elected to start it the next day. We set off into the park at dusk on our first evening, our goal to see the "Synchronous Fireflies." We reached Elkmont at dusk but weren't sure exactly where to look for the fireflies. Eventually we reached the area where we thought we might find them. A ranger confirmed we were in the right place but needed to wait until true darkness before the show would begin. I have no photos of the event, but the fireflies would pulse about 5 lightings and then stop for about 10-15 seconds before starting again. The first pulse would be a bit chaotic and by the third, fourth and fifth pulses dozens, perhaps hundreds of fireflies were lighting in unison. Visually stunning. This is reported to occur in only two places in the world, I can't remember where in Asia, and at Elkmont in the Smokies. We met some folks that evening that had seen the fireflies several times and they stated that we were seeing the tail end of this years event and that hundreds of thousands of the fireflies would be going at the height of activity. We can only imagine. I set out late for some fishing the next morning (shoulda got up early). I worked several holes with the fly rod, hooking some small trout that got off before I could land them. Frustration set in, and I went back to the car and got the ultra-light and worked the river with some doll flies. I eventually hooked a nice fish under an overhanging bluff, and I guessed it to be a wild rainbow of 11-12 inches, a good fish for this water. Lower down on the bluff I hooked a second rainbow (perhaps a stocked trout from outside the park), practically a lunker for these waters at 13-14 inches. Keepers in the National Park were any trout or smallmouth over 7 inches with no more than five fish of any combination of Rainbow, Brook, Browns or Smallmouth. I had finally caught some wild Smoky Mountain trout, but I wanted a brookie or two. The gentleman at Little River Outfitters gave me some areas to try for brooks. On day two, after lunch in Pigeon Forge and a hike in a virgin old-growth forest with the girls, I was on the West Prong of Little Pigeon River with rod in hand at 3,800 foot of elevation. The West Prong has one of the highest gradients of any river in North America, dropping 4,300 feet from the headwaters to the boundary of the park. I estimated this to be roughly 200 feet per mile average. The Class IV rapids of the St. Francis River here in Missouri boasts a gradient of about 20 feet per mile in its steepest section. Virtually every pool to pool move required a rock climbing exercise, upstream or down. Sometimes to see the headwaters, all you have to do is look up and there it is, a few miles distant on the flank of a 5,000 to 6,000 foot peak. But there were indeed trout in this chaotic world of rock. The brookies strongholds are in the high elevations where they don't have to compete with the rainbows and browns. A 10-inch brookie is a nice fish here. I saw perhaps two or three close to this size, but most were smaller. I had numerous looks and about 5 or 6 takes. I didn't hook any of them. I used a dry fly some, but a gold nymph drew the most interest. Most of the fish I saw appeared to be brook trout with a few rainbows mixed in. I spent the third evening of my permit fishing the same section of the Little River I had fished on the first day. It was all time would permit. I fished exclusively with the fly rod and missed two fish. You could fish here for weeks and not see the same water twice. About a dozen of the larger streams — each with several tributaries — flow off the high peaks of the Smokies. It is definitely a place to experience a different aesthetic — not to be concerned about the size of the fish, but to enjoy entire wilderness experience. I hope to get back someday soon.

Speaking of permission, that's my photo on the map! No biggie, I'm cool with it.

Hey Timsfly, I finally got myself on the creek again, decided to take a break from turkey hunting, just relax and fish. Fished public section below town friday evening, and had it to myself. Water was clearer, but higher than our trip the first of March. Tried to fly-fish, but breezy conditions and swift water caused me to resort to the spin rod. Tied on the most beat-up jig I had and went to work. Five fish brought to hand was among my best tallies ever for the creek. Missed several other bites and hooked one larger (and lost on a leap, the big one almost always gets away right?) than all of these brought to hand. All but one of these fish made at least one beautiful leap. One made 4 leaps as I recall! I love the salmon colored fins with white tips on these fish. Fish 5 looked to have suffered an injury on it's side some time in the past, but had recovered nicely. I left with a satisfied mind.

Perhaps I just need to add a little weight and try that to get down sometimes. It looks like you're posting from Roaring, are you at the lodge down there? I usually make it down there a couple of times a year with friends and my father-in-law.

Those access points are above Slabtown and slightly off the beaten path. Known and used primarily by locals, and are not marked by signage and not normally found on maps. May be mentioned or detailed in the MDC floating maps book, but I would have to dig it out and look plus my copy is an OLLLLD edition.

Hey Timsfly, do you ever use a sinking tip on Crane to get down during high water? I only have floating line but have been considering getting a sinking tip backup line for higher water conditions and use on the Current river in some holes that I can't work well with my floating line.

Small jigs/doll flys have been productive for me. 1/32 - 1/64 oz if the current is average to low, a notch or two heavier if current is stronger. Olive good. Brown good. Use 2lb test. Good thing about spinning rods is that you can "slingshot" your lures into tight spots.

I'll have to look around and see if I can find those evil weevils or a close version at one of the shops around here. Have to buy, cause I don't tie (yet... and like I need another hobby). Know where I could find them in the Springfield area Tippett? Patfish, we'll get you on some fish next time! Those McClouds are so pretty you want to have a couple in an aquarium just to look at! I wish I could find some my old photos of some of those fish, but you saw how good I was at finding photos at the house. Yeah, we had a few trips with Buck shouting the exploits of the Wizard and the gang out to us on the way home for sure Sherwood. I'm confident we threw some flies that would work, but the fish were just not on while we were there. Nothing was hatching and usually you see some fish working if you watch for them. Well I was watching pretty hard and there was just so little activity. Maybe getting a little deeper would have helped as duckydoty suggests. Just make sure it's sooner rather than later guys!

Took two friends to Crane as we had been hearing good reports on the creek and needed some serious outdoor time to break cabing fever. Patfish had never fished there before and wanted to see a McCloud for himself. Sherwood Flycaster has fished there on occasion with me for a good number of years. We fished most of the day at the upper and lower conservation accesses and never hooked a fish. Only a few followers and lookers were spotted the whole day as well. I've had many trips to the creek where no fish were caught, so I was not discouraged. I really wish that my friends had caught something as they came from St. Louis to fish with me (we did OK at Taney the next morning to make up for it). It did my heart good to see the creek full of water as better than half of the upper CA was bone dry on my last visit. I spent some time on this trip looking intently into some of the holes to see how many fish I could spot. On the upper CA, I could spot few to no fish in some of the holes. At one hole I was able to spot several fish, including a specimen I estimated to be 20 inches plus. I watched the fish as my friends cast to the hole for a good 15 minutes, but there were no takers. They were there, but simply not actively feeding. The lower CA looked like the upper Current River the flow was so good. Water was just cloudy and high enough to prevent good hole spying. We did spot a few followers, but again, no takers. With water in the stream again I'm going to spend more time there this year and really assess the population. I feel the population was really hit hard with the drought and will take some years of good water flow to return to glory days. Seeing a big brood quality fish was exciting, and I feel optimism for the creek again. The trip was good overall despite no fish caught, with the weather really giving us a break from what we've had this winter. Can't wait to get back now!

Glad you enjoyed it Shawcat. Next time I visit the Whittakers I'll try to get a copy of one of the photos of the fish and post it on here somewhere. Sounds like you're an afficionado of whitetails as well...

The water snakes are common on the river. Harmless, so give them no harm. Cottonmouths are not too often encountered — but present. A quick way to tell them apart visually: Water snakes swim with their bodies under water and only their head at the surface, with cottonmouths the body rides high on the surface. Cottonmouths can swim under water however. Most water snakes are slender when compared to the chunky cottonmouths and copperheads. That said, identifying any snake can be dicey at night.

A remarkable story. I wasn't there but I'm a friend of the family and have heard the story many times, and this is how I recall it: Mike Whitaker was fishing with his father "Squeak" at night with minnows (legal until sometime in the 90s). On the last minnow they had Mike cast it out and felt a bite. Setting the hook, he thought he was hung up. Then his line started to move and a loud splash was heard. They thought that Mike had likely hooked a beaver as it sounded as if one had tail slapped the water (shocking to those of you who nightfish and have heard this). Purposely breaking off was considered, but they decided to confirm what was on the line before breaking it. After an extended struggle a light was shone into the water revealing a giant fish, subsequently landed. It was weighed and verified the next day at Montauk State Park where pictures were taken of Mike with the fish. They were informed that the evening before someone had caught and brought in a brown trout over 11 pounds, verified as a state record! The poor fellow's (don't know who this was) record lasted less than a day! Mike's fish was somewhere north of 14 pounds, but I can't recall the exact weight. Mike was around 10 or 11 at the time of the catch and I'm not sure how long his record stood. The tragedy of the story is that the fish was destroyed in a fire at the taxidermy shop (along with many other unfortunate sportmen's trophies). All Mike has from the event are some photos the family took and one or two of him with the fish at Montauk, memories of fishing with his dad, and a darn fine story! A final note is the family also has a magazine, Outdoor Life or Field & Stream, touting a story of two new state records from Missouri — One being Mike and his trout and the other Jeff Brunk's giant typical whitetail that scored over 199 B&C.