OKFlyFisher44

If you're going in April, tie up some caddis pupae and emergers in 14s and 16s as well as the ol' Elk Hair Caddis in sizes 14-18. If the weather is right, there can be an epic Caddis hatch on the Current and you can walk the stream while headhuntin' for rising fish. My favorite way to fish the Blue Ribbon section is this way if the conditions are right... If its a rainy/overcast day, make sure and have a few bigger streamers tied up....it can really be awesome.

It seems there are 2 rules of thumb that everyone is following to reach success on Crane. Its one of my favorite places to fish in the Ozarks, absolutely love the stream and have fished it numerous times in the past few years. I personally dont think the trout are that selective in Crane, its more about having a good presentation and lots of stealth. I use nothing smaller than 4X on tippet, no matter how low it is and have never had an issue. I would rather have the 4X and be able to pull a bigger fish away from a root wad or pluck a fly from the trees, sure I might miss a fish or two in the slower/clearer holes but it really hasnt seemed to have had a negative impact on my fishing. I also dont use anything smaller than size 14s on flies, typically use size 10s-12s, and sometimes 8s. Big, buggy, and flashy. I think the larger flies fend off the smaller trout (4"-6" in size) but thats just me. I tie all my Crane flies with tungsten beads too so they get down fast and I'm not afraid to add some split shot. Gotta get that fly down deep quickly. I use longer leaders to try to keep the fish from seeing my fly line as well. I normally fish an indicator rig with a single fly but sometimes I will "tight-line" it, just depends on the hole. I try my best to stay out of the creek but sometimes there isnt much you can do. I take my time and move very slowly upstream, using the ol' "Crane Creep and Stalk". I also wear neutral colors or even camo. These are just the tactics that work for me. Take it for what its worth...

Not gonna catch very many big fish on the LIR, especially after the floods and the scorching summer we had. ODWC has been loading the river up with stockers as well. I have caught a handful of 18"-20" over the past few years and most of those fish came further downstream. Glad to hear the river is back in good shape though. Might try to make my return to the "local waters" this Sunday afternoon to get a warm up before our White River trip.

This year has sucked for stripers. We didn't do worth a crap this year and I know of only a couple guys who did well but they were on the river almost every evening on the Arkansas during the peak spawn times. We fished both the Arkansas and LIR with no luck, even went after them at night on the Illinois. Just a bad year. Hopefully next year will be better. As far as general info on the LIR, the fish are everywhere during the months of May-August. From the dam all the way to the mouth of the river, you can find them. Catching them might be the chore some days. You have good days then u have days where u cast ur freaking arm off, catch nothing, and then see them later in the day cruising around with the trout in a foot of water. They like to hold in the deeper holes, especially if there is some structure. Strip/swing flies through these holes. The river isn't that big and there is good access points, just spend some time walking the river and u will find nice water. Read previous posts in this forum and the Arkansas forum, loads of info. I'm not gonna hot spot my holes, mostly because I don't think they are "hot" anymore. Plus, the fish really are everywhere when the spawn happens plus I believe there r a good number of resident fish in that river. Might not be too many now with the poor water quality. Honestly though, what I thought I knew about this river and their stripers was wiped out after the floods this spring. Most of my favorite holes have changed. For the better? Don't know cuz I didn't get to fish the LIR that much this year. We will see what happens next year. I have high hopes for both of our striper waters.

Yeah I have dropped emails and letters to a handful of "important individuals" but who knows how it will end up. Like I have said before, we're not in Montana where trout and water quality is a huge concern to people and political figures. It sucks but just how it is.

Very sad. It must be pretty bad if spoonbill, catfish, and bass are dying. I hope the stripers got out before it got really bad. The dinky stocker trout can be replaced but those 20-40lb stripers are hard to come by. I can go elsewhere to catch trout but to catch stripers in an enviroment like that is somewhat hard to come by. Although I hate to see the town of Gore and Marvals suffer economically, but they will. Most of those people come to trout fish...heh, not striper fish. That river would be awesome with a minimum flow. We can all dream...

Heck of a deal. We will be staying at your place if and when we come down so we will be sure and say Hi.

Pretty tough to get me on a trout stream Nov-Jan due to duck hunting. I'm just as hopelessly addicted to shooting ducks as I am to fly fishing. The last 2 years, I havent touched a fly rod from Nov-Jan. We will see how this year plays out.

You're absolutely right Justin. Since buying the boat, I have been on several fishing trips and have spent the majority of the time on the sticks. I love to row and put people on fish. It was awesome to point out a spot, set up dad for a cast, and then have him stick a smallie. I had a blast. Not ready for smallie season to end! FYI, Justin, I should be down your way towards the end of October I hope. Its been too long since I've been to the NFOW.

I would definitely pick Crane over Capps this time of year. Awesome creek. I'm with Phil though, Roaring River should be closer and easier fishing overall. The hopper fishing should be outstanding still on RR. Just a thought....

My crew did make the annual fall trip. I was unable to make the trip though this year. I messed around and waited too long to find a babysitter to watch my girls (wife works fri/sat nights as a RN). From what I hear, the fishing was so-so. BWOs, sulfers, and caddis were coming off all weekend but they couldnt quite get the right fly in front of the fish. No hopper action either. They did take some great pictures and got a little video, dont know if they'll post anything or not though. I did take a float trip in the drift boat on Elk River this past monday with my dad and got to "guide" him. He slayed the smallies on soft plastic worms with conventional gear. I posted a report and some pics in the Elk River forum. I mighta missed out on the Current trip but the float trip with my dad was freaking awesome.

Took monday off work to take my dad on a float trip in the drift boat for smallmouth on Elk River. Been trying to get the ol' man out on the river to catch some of these smallies and let him see how we "bass fish". My dad is a big bass guy as far as lake fishing goes and doesnt fly fish so the whole river experience was a whole new ball game for him. We hit the river about 9:00 and started to make our way downstream. Dad got into his first smallie less than a 100 yards from the put-in and the action was basically non-stop for him. Plastic worms were the ticket for him around structure in and out of the current. We tried the topwater bite with no luck. I spent 95% of my time on the oars putting Dad in position to make a good presentation and picking out likely spots but did manage to catch a few on an olive circus peanut with the fly rod. We had a great time on the river and dad got a kick out of catching some smallies for the 1st time in YEARS. Hands down...the best day of fishing I've ever had. Dont get to spend much time fishing with dad anymore so today was EPIC. Also...a big THANKS to Russ and Jean Ann at Hog Haven for the shuttle. You guys are awesome...

I was told that Chewey Bridge is a private access by a couple of the canoe outfitters. I would love to float that section though...

That section we floated had a ton of water that would be awesome holding water for trout. Lots of sweet riffles and runs. Obviously most years during the summer it gets too low and warm probably to sustain trout. Although the lower illinois gets pretty warm in the summer too. You also couldnt fish it much during the summer cuz of the floaters.

Took a day trip float up on the Upper Illinois to chase some smallies since the river had came up a little bit. Dragged the drift boat and my buddies kayak over for a 4 mile float from Round Hollow to Peavine. We put in at 8:30 with cloudy skies but the sun was trying to poke through. We pushed down river and had decent action on streamers, nothing big though. Most fish were in the 10-12" range. Then a thunderstorm rolled through and poured on us for over an hour, it was quite comical really, didnt phase us too much. We actually caught some smallies during the rain and a pretty decent largemouth too. After the storm moved through, the bite pretty much shut off. Caught a few more dinks as we floated downstream to Peavine. Overall, the fishing was subpar. I hadnt floated this river in almost 10 years and hadnt fished it since I was probably 6 or 7 years old so I was a little let down. On the other hand, it was a great float. Great scenery and the flow was good, had a little bit of technical water to row the drift boat through. Also let my buddies Cole and Derek get behind the sticks and row a bit. The time spent with friends was worth the trip. Here are a few pics from the float. No fish porn for ya guys...sorry.

Wanting to do a float on the Elk since the river has came back up and I can actually float it in my drift boat. I was curious if anyone is still running shuttle services this late in the "floating season" ?? I would prefer to use Russ @ Hog Haven if at all possible, so please reply back Russ. Thanks guys...

If they r anything like our stripers in the lower Illinois and the Arkansas over here in Oklahoma, u need some high water to get them fired up. Prolong low water makes them pretty lazy during the day and they will sulk in a hole. I bet they move up into shallow water at night to eat trout, shad, and whatever else they can find. If u get a spike in water levels, u should be able to catch them. On our waters, if u can hit the river as it's falling or just after it's bottomed out, u can usually catch them. They can be tough. We like to call them our version of steelhead a.k.a. "Oklahoma Chrome" !! But they r the cats meow on a fly rod...

To all the Missouri parents on here... When is your Fall Break? Trying to iron out a fishing trip in October and would like to avoid the Fall Break crowds. Thanks guys

I'm thinking a orange, red, or lime green indicator/beetle fly. It will be the new "miracle fly" !!

Back to that nymph grind...I think fish are "seeing" so many indicators these days that they actually think they r a food source now. In the last few years, I can't begin to count how many fish have tried to eat my indicator. Taneycomo is really stupid. I might start putting a hook in my bobbers

What should work really good down there and I have never really heard much is the other terrestrials we have like beetles and ants. I can't recall reading a report of anyone fishing them really. I imagine guys have fished them, why wouldn't you? If the conditions are right when we are down there, I'm thinking some double dry action in the right sections could be deadly. I might be dead wrong though, I'm just an average Joe like the rest of you but I like to try to think outside of the normal "nymph grind" that so many fisherman get locked into nowadays. We have spoke about this before though, just beating a dead horse. Lol.

I have been at this hopper thing for a while and you have to do a little homework to figure when and where to fish the hoppers. There is 1 section of the Current that I believe is the only PRIMO hopper water. I am surprised it hasn't been better this year with how dry it's been. We should be up there this month for our annual fall trip, I will be chuckin' big foam nasties for sure! Maybe they will work...maybe they won't. I'm gonna find out either way. I wish it woulda fished better for ya man. That dang river can be so fickle sometimes.

I'd drive the 7 hours round trip just to fish WAY better quality water and habitat but that's just me. It's good to see the trout r doing fine though. I think once it clears up, we will see the trout will be in above average shape. Usually big high water is good for tailwaters as it "flushes" out the system and normally will increase the biomass which in turn makes the fish really happy. At least that's what has happened at Taney and the White, although I don't think the high water helped the "low water habitat" much for Taney. Who knows...only time will tell. Nice report!

Thats no lie! I love that place. Its my favorite wade fishing in the Ozarks, hands down, with Crane coming in at a close second. I wish it was the size of the NFOW so I could take my drift boat down it , I'd probably never fish anywhere else. We havent been down there since our annual spring trip in April so we are all pretty excited to get back down there. I've got lots of hoppers, ants, and beetles tied up for this trip.

Sounds like the river fished well. We will be down there on the 24-25 of Sept, I cant wait. I love that river, just wish it wasnt 5 hours away.