Crane 10/17

[et84]

Well, I woke up this morning and on a whim decided to drive to Crane and fish for a while. I arrived about 11:00 a.m- it was cloudy, and still a bit nippy- it stayed that way all day. Saw a couple of guys fly fishing at the lower access that said they had better luck than they expected, but mainly little ones. That's where I usually start, so I decided to head that way. The water was a smidge on the high side, slightly stained, flowing pretty fast and everything around the bank was pretty muddy. On the bright side, all the vegetation was still mashed down from the floodwaters so hiking in waders was not as difficult as usual. I was using my UL spinning rig with 2lb. fluoro, and I strung up a 1/32 oz. gold panther martin. That's what I caught the little guys on- caught 4 of them (7"-9"). I just looked for pools forming behind points, or downed trees, cast into the current and let the spinner drift down to the pools. Every fish I got today came this way. After about 2 hours I decided to head to the park. I wasn't expecting much, as I usually catch smaller ones around there, so I didn't bring my net with me. Sure enough, I'm in the middle of the creek just downstream from the red iron walking bridge and I hooked a huge one. I got him all the way to me, and I reached in to try and help him out of the water with my hand, but no dice- line snapped. Frustrated, I went back to the car to re-tie and I got the net this time. I was now throwing a Worden's rooster tail, 1/32 oz. brown and white color. I threw it right in the same place- let the current take it just beyond a mess of exposed tree roots and hooked up with the big one in the picture. I don't think it's the same one I had, no black rooster tail in the mouth, and he didn't fight nearly as hard. It was still a challenge to land him with 2lb. line, and he ended up being a personal best (McCloud) for me. I don't know how much he weighed, but he was fat and my net is 18" across the loop, so I figured him to be 17". Anyway, it was a great day for fishing Crane, as always.

[Danoinark]

Love it...excellent report. Thanks

[Buzz]

Great report, thanks. Those Crane fish are sure fat and healthy right now. Nice fish.