REDBAND: The Pursuit of a Legend

[Terrierman]

On 5/3/2024 at 9:41 PM, BilletHead said:

Thanks Ronnie! To your crew too. Excited also about seeing this. 

Copper headed rattle moccasins with the occasional northern Coral Snake thrown in if I remember correctly.

[Terrierman]

I just watched it.  What a nice piece of work, heartiest congratulations to those involved.  Been too long since I've seen Chief.  Assuming the underwater shots are all Crane Creek, there are a lot more trout there than I expected to see.  I watch something like that and it makes me so thankful that we live where we do.  

Very much appreciated to have the opportunity to enjoy it.  Thanks again Sir.

[ColdWaterFshr]

I just watched it, too.  Nice work!  Some very cool footage.  Especially like the sunset scene at 16:48 and all the underwater shots as well.

[Flysmallie]

On 5/12/2024 at 9:26 AM, ness said:

Nicely done, Ronnie!

Crane is an enigma and we’re never gonna know the whole story. I think the bottom line is the trout in Crane are a somewhat unique strain and special, but that’s about it. People tend to simplify things, so the ‘Pure McCloud’ thing will likely endure. 

I was trying to find your channel so I could watch it on my TV rather than the phone. I was surprised to see just how many Crane Creek videos there are.

I miss the good old days. 

Thanks Ness.

Crane is a special place. I have a different and better connection with it now. To me I don't care much about the legend or the purity. They are 100% Crane Creek Redbands to me. 

And yes there are a ton of videos on Crane and I have watched the majority of them. I watched them all before I created mine because I wanted it to be different from any of those. 

I know there are hard feelings about exposing special places, but the cat is out of the bag on Crane and I had nothing to do with that. The stream is being heavily loved at this point. Not only will you find a lot more fisherman, you will also find a lot of folks just out walking the trails along the creek. I saw more people just out walking and throwing rocks in the water than I did fishermen. 

But you might have noticed there are still plenty of fish in the creek. 

[Flysmallie]

On 5/12/2024 at 9:48 AM, ness said:

And, photography-wise, you did a really nice job with things. Drone and underwater are cool but, to me, the stream and scenery shots are what really draws me in and makes me want to be there. You’ve got a really good eye. 

Thanks. I really appreciate that. 

[Flysmallie]

38 minutes ago, Terrierman said:

I just watched it.  What a nice piece of work, heartiest congratulations to those involved.  Been too long since I've seen Chief.  Assuming the underwater shots are all Crane Creek, there are a lot more trout there than I expected to see.  I watch something like that and it makes me so thankful that we live where we do.  

Very much appreciated to have the opportunity to enjoy it.  Thanks again Sir.

Thank you very much.

And yes, all the underwater shots are on Crane Creek. That was an eye opening experience. I never in a million years would have thought I could get a trout from Crane Creek on camera underwater, unless it was being released. I head down there one Saturday just to get some  footage of the creek for this video. I found this nice pool and just saty back to watch it for a while. I couldn't see any fish at all. But after a few minutes I saw two larger fish chase each other through the pool. They were 15-16inch fish. They did this 3 or 4 times and then just vanished. Once they were gone I got down in the water and had one of my GoPros on a stick I built. I held it under water for a few minutes but couldn't tell if I got anything or not. My GoPro has a small screen on it but I can barely see it. I was climbing back up out of this hold and was going to make my way around to the other side of the creek to try some different angles. About that time I start hearing all this talking and these 5 college kids come crashing out of the woods. At the time I didn't know there was a trail up past the trees. They immediately head straight for me and when they get there thy pick up rocks and start tossing them in the pool. Idiots. But they didn't know any better and were just hanging out. So I left. When I popped that memory card in my computer later that night I was amazed at what was under the water. That pool that I couldn't see any fish in was loaded with fish. And those rainbows might be terrified of things over the water they sure aren't camera shy. The next day I went back with a GoPro on a much longer stick. 

Everywhere I went on that creek and shoved a camera in the water I saw fish. That little creek is absolutely full of fish. Makes me curious what I will find in other streams. 

[ness]

17 minutes ago, Flysmallie said:

I know there are hard feelings about exposing special places, but the cat is out of the bag on Crane and I had nothing to do with that.

For the record, no hard feelings from me on your video. Just a general observation about the number out there. I've seen a couple videos on Crane from folks I occasionally follow, but I had never searched for Crane. 

[Flysmallie]

39 minutes ago, ColdWaterFshr said:

I just watched it, too.  Nice work!  Some very cool footage.  Especially like the sunset scene at 16:48 and all the underwater shots as well.

That was a special moment. 
 

[Flysmallie]

One last thing I want to say about this. If you are interested in visiting Crane Creek you really should look at Walnut Bend Lodge. We spent two nights there. It's a great little place with 3/4 mile of private access to the creek with some amazing looking water. The owners, Kevin and Jeanie Skibiski, are great people. They were there to greet us and to make sure we knew everything about the place. Kevin even took a couple of us on a little tour of the property in his gator. 

https://www.walnutbendlodge.com/

 

[FishnDave]

That was really good!  Loved the creek footage, and the underwater shots.  In addition to rainbows, I believe I saw Southern Redbelly Dace, Central Stonerollers, and probably Striped Shiners.  I bet there were more species there, but there was a lotta fish movement, and I didn't go back to review those parts a second time.  I should tho!   Thanks for making and sharing your epic movie!  Would go great with some buttered popcorn!