Crane Report 3/11

[drew03cmc]

Wow, thanks DD. That is the kind of information I was looking for. Thanks a million. I am going to get back into tying, but until then, I will have to buy flies and add lead to the leader.

[Danoinark]

Enjoying this thread. Thanks fellows.

Dano

[troutfiend1985]

There are a lot of different ways to fish Crane. It all depends on what you want out of it. Sometimes I like to fish drys over there and that is when I take my 7' 2 wt. Other times when I am polish nymphing the heavy flies, a 9' 4 or 5 wt work better for me. I would not fish an indicator over there, but that is just me. A lot of the holes at Crane, you basically have to sling-shot your fly into the hole or even just dip it in like fishing with a cane pole. It is just the only way to get into some of those really tight spots in the middle of all wood and logs. Most people pass these spots because they figure they could never get a fly down into them or even out of them, with a fish, impossable. That is where they are wrong. You have got to try them. Heavy, heavy flies are the only way to have some control and to get them down fast enough without washing away into all the wood with the current. Heavier line is needed also to bring the fish out faster with less of a chance of loosing the fish and your flies. Even with this, you are going to loose them often, but the payoff is BIG! No guts, no glory, simple as that.

There are alot of deeper pools with fast current flowing into them at Crane. These are great spots for polish nymphing with the heavy flies. Basically, you flick the fly upstream and high stick it back down stream past you keeping your line in contact with your fly leading it down stream at the same rate of the current. You are fishing by feel, and you will feel the bite if you are doing it properly. Hook set is always down stream. Again, heavy flies are needed for this. Some of my flies have 38 wraps of .15 dia. lead along with a 1/8 inch bead. Now these are tied on a size 10 TMC 3769, so it is not that big of a fly, just super heavy. I catch the 5 and 6 inchers on it all the time. Also I have ran these flies in tandem and even up to three of them to get the rig heavy enough to get down to where I wanted to be. If you are not hanging up on the bottom every now and then, your not fishing deep enough.

Hope I've inspired some ideas.

Hey DD, that is some great info you posted up and I really appreciate it! I was wondering about the size of flies that you are using on this Polish Nymphing set up, is sz 10 the general rule of thumb, or do you get smaller than that? Thanks again.

[duckydoty]

Hey DD, that is some great info you posted up and I really appreciate it! I was wondering about the size of flies that you are using on this Polish Nymphing set up, is sz 10 the general rule of thumb, or do you get smaller than that? Thanks again.

I usually have at least one of these heavy flies just for the weight as the dropper fly or anchor and sometimes I will have smaller flies further up the line. It just all depends on the conditions of the water, current and depth. If I can get it to go down fast, I will go smaller.

[Trout Commander]

Lots of good info here for sure. Thanks for sharing.

[jjtroutbum]

Great report thanks.

[2sheds]

Nothing wrong with those 7-inchers. They let you know you are on the right track and give hope for sustaining the population.

[drew03cmc]

There isn't a darn thing wrong with them 7-inch fish, but I was hoping, probably naively, for a shot at a larger fish. I will catch a little bigger one at some point. I fell in love with the creek and the challenge those wild trout give. Thanks for all the help guys!