Crane Problems

[OKFlyFisher44]

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...

[ozark trout fisher]

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...

It's always interesting to hear all the different methods people use to fish for wild trout. I've always been of the "light tippet and small fly" school when fishing for wild rainbows around here. I rarely use tippet larger than 6x or any sort of nymph bigger than a #16, usual #18 and occasionally even smaller. I almost always catch a lot of fish that way, but an unusually large percentage of them are fingerlings, maybe only 30-35% at best are 7" or larger. Usually in a decent full day of fishing I can count on hooking one or two fish that at least approach a the 12-14" range, but anything much larger than that is a rarity. I don't mind that, my objective when fishing these streams has little to do with fish size, but then again I wouldn't mind catching a few bigger ones either.

I may have to try using some larger flies the next time I hit a wild trout creek and maybe I'll start catching a few better sized fish than I usually do.

[Andrew324]

Psst....I sometimes trick Crane rainbows on size 10 dries (summer/autumn). Usually opportunistic little fighters, but once every 10-15 you pull one that's over a foot. Large is better on Crane than any of the other blue ribbon creeks.

[duckydoty]

I'm a firm believer in heavier line on Crane. Those fish are not line shy. They are people shy. Fish tight to the log jams, under cuts and root wads. Use heavy flies that get down quick. Ill be there in an hour and let you know how I do. Gonna use 4x tippet and depth charges

[OKFlyFisher44]

I'm a firm believer in heavier line on Crane. Those fish are not line shy. They are people shy. Fish tight to the log jams, under cuts and root wads. Use heavy flies that get down quick. Ill be there in an hour and let you know how I do. Gonna use 4x tippet and depth charges

I like your style Ducky...

[duckydoty]

Well I was proven wrong yesterday. Only picked up one fish on the heavier line in a deep run. Had a good hatch coming off and had to go down to 7x to get some fish to bite. Never had to do that there before. Just goes to show you never know what's gonna happen and you have to stay flexible. Try many different things untill you find something that works. Siphorin what the fish wants is a lot harder than figuring out what you want. Sometimes they are not the same thing.