OKFlyFisher44

I wonder if any resident stripers were feeding on them??

Good lord! Those fish are eating good! I can't wait to get back down there. Right now, I'm wrapped up with duck hunting full-time. Once duck season is over, its game on! I miss fishing really really bad...but I sure do love to shoot ducks!

God I wish they would do this. There is a few downed trees and root-wads along the bank next to the parking lot, but there is NO flow through that area under no generation. I really wish they'd put in some of those boulder clusters in that area....that would really help that area. That would be a sweet little section with that nice run above the parking lot and the run below the parking lot. If they put those boulder clusters in the right area...they could possibly get some flow and make it work in conjunction with the huge boulders stacked up along the bank...make a nice deep flowing hole right up next to those rocks. That water between those 2 runs is so stale with no flow... If these plans have been put into place...you can't tell it!!!

If you don't want to spend a load of $$$, check out the Albright GPX fly reel. Albright has all of their stuff on closeout right now. I have the GPX reel on my 4 weight and I love it. I'm a Ross fan myself, but this reel was a great buy. I'm thinking about buying one of their spey rods and another GPX reel to put on it to have as a toy to play around with while chasing stripers this spring on the Lower Illinois... Just a thought if you want to save some serious $$$...

I agree with what others have said. Anything you buy that is Simms should be good quality stuff. I have a pair of Simms G3s that I love! I can honestly say that I'll never buy another brand of waders ever again. They are fantastic and extremely comfortable/durable. Well worth the $$$. Just my 2 cents!

Man, I'd like to come take part in this but I think I'll be duck hunting that weekend in western oklahoma. Dang it...I'd like to put a name to some faces. If duck hunting trip doesn't work out for some reason, I'll be there!! Cole, we need to do some fishing....

Both pairs of waders are sold!!

Simms G3 Guide waders in size Large (9-11) I bought them off EBay to have as a back-up pair of waders. I wore them a few times this summer and fall. They're in great condition except for the stains from normal use and a small tear from a briar patch at Crane Creek that's just above where the neoprene booties start that only tore the outer shell, not the inner membrane that connects the booties to the gore-tex so it can't leak. There are no leaks or pinholes anywhere else on these waders. I covered the tear with a layer of AquaSeal as well. They are great waders and are extremely comfortable to wear. I'll never buy anything but Simms waders again. I'm only selling these because they're just taking up space in my closet and could use the $$$ to help with christmas this year and my daughters birthday is in December as well. SOLD!! Orvis Silver Label breathable stockingfoot waders in size large (9-11) The waders are in great shape minus the minor stains from normal use. No repairs or leaks anywhere! I bought these new and they've been great. Very comfortable waders at a great price. I'm only selling because they are just taking up space in my closet. Comes with storage bag! Asking $75.00...

I went down sunday morning, expecting no generation because thats what the projected schedule showed. I arrived at Watts around 8:00 to find the river under moderate generation. I was so mad. Drove an hour and a half....and they're generating! I went and ate breakfast in Gore to kill some time. Drove up to the dam to find them still generating....dang it! I drove down to the 2nd parking lot below the dam where the big island is. They were flowing around 1800 CFS at that time according to what my wife seen on the USGS website. I said screw it! I put on my waders and got geared up. I walked downstream to the lower shoal below the parking lot and the water was only knee deep so I crossed over to the island. I walked back upstream to the upper end of the island and fished that area. I caught 1 fish and missed a few strikes before I called it quits. It was pretty fishable at those flows but you had to put some lead on to get the fly down. Saw a few other guys catch a fish or two...but it was slow going. The water was very off-color. I wished I coulda stayed longer to fish but had to get back home. Honestly, I'd just stick to fishing it with zero generation. Less risk and the good water is easier to fish n' find. Can't wait till they cut this generation off...on a more consistent basis!

I'm going to head down to Gore in the morning if the weather holds out. If its just light rain, I might just throw on the rain gear and head down anyways. I wanna do some fishing! Anyone for sure going down ?? I'm probably heading to the Watts area 1st, I like fishing that area in the early morning. I'll be in a black/silver dodge quadcab truck...or look for me on the river, green/white Scott hat w/ dark green wading jacket will be me! If any of you lower illinois new-comers are coming, I'll show you around the area if you find me @ Watts in the morning....always enjoy a fishing buddy

I'm hoping to be able to make it down sunday morning. Going to watch to see how the weather is going to be. As long as its not a freaking downpour t-storm, i'm planning on coming down.

If they aren't generating on sunday, I'm going to try and sneak down there. Just depends on the generation schedule...its not looking promising though. If I go, I'll let ya know. I'll show you around the area...the fish are really concentrated in just a handful of spots. Its usually a pretty easy river to fish...nothing technical.

Why are you selling your stuff already?

Exactly

Dang it, Terry! That would explain several things I've seen the past 2 trips I've made. Just seen a few fisherman doing some weird things that made me scratch my head. I saw a guy this weekend standing in the middle of a run, fishing downstream right at his feet. (Taneycomo regular )

That's a stick, not a san juan worm We didn't see any snakes...i think the cooler weather has put 'em down if the flooding didn't wash them away

Made a day-trip up to Crane yesterday since most of the rest of the waters in the Ozarks are flooded still! Met Joey at the lower access and we headed downstream. We fished our way backupstream, hitting all the primo water along the way. We caught a few small McClouds early off but ran into another fisherman about halfway back to the parking lot. He was fishing his way downstream so we passed up what he'd already fished. Caught a few more by the bridge and then headed into town for lunch. We hit the upper access in the afternoon. Lots of footprints along the river, the little creek has been getting pressured hard the past few weeks. We had good luck though and caught lots of fish from 6" - 12" range, all of them loaded with color, healthy, and scrappy fighters! Stealth was a major issue with the water being lower, we spooked several fish even when we were creeping up to a spot. Spooked a few nice fish too... All in all, the fishing was great. I absolutely love this little creek...

Glad to hear that you enjoyed it Morton! Next time you go, drop me a line on here and I'll show around...I know where all those trout hide

I second that!

I might try and make it down! Hopefully they stock Capps better this year than they did last year. That little creek has a lot of nice looking water....

Fair enough. Thats what they told me at Rim Shoals...

Just wondering what you guys thought the generation might be like this coming weekend. It seems like they've been holding back generation a little bit due to the flooding further downstream. Thought about coming down and staying at Rim Shoals to utilize their water taxi...if its worth it? Any input would be great...

I believe that they used to be that big and there are still some good fish in the creek, we seen some nice fish on this trip. Spooked a few fish that were 20+ inches...easily.

Yeah drove up saturday afternoon and fished sunday. Look in the Crane Creek forum at the fishing report or click the link below to my blog. You missed out man...

Nothing wrong with being a TFO junkie. I've got a TFO Lefty Kreh series 9' 7wt that I use to chase largemouth and stripers with along with being my Taneycomo night fishing rod. It's their "cheap" rod but it casts like a dream. I can really make some long casts with a good double haul with that rod. Paired with the TFO Prism large arbor reel...its one of my favorites to fish.