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Crane Creek Only flies and artificial lures may be used, specifically excluding soft plastics. Daily limit is 1 trout at least 18" long. Don't
take our word for it. Click here to read the code for yourself. This
little creek is almost famous. It has been featured on ESPN at least once and
has also been written up in various fishing magazines. And each time it is
publicized, a small group of devoted local fly fishers cringe. The fear, of
course, is that droves of fishermen will start crowding the banks and
splashing through redds (trout spawning beds) with reckless abandon. Thus far
that has not been the case. The reason? The fishing is simply too challenging
for most fly fisherman who find themselves in the area. To have real success
here, you should plan to spend at least a couple of full days seriously
working the creek. Those just passing through and stopping for a couple of
hours will typically struggle, and many would rather drive another 45 minutes or
so to get to Roaring River,
Lake Taneycomo or Capps Creek. Those fishermen
are missing out on a great experience. Crane
Creek is one of only three trout waters in the world that have the pure
McCloud River strain of rainbow trout, originally found in California's
McCloud River. The trout were initially stocked a century ago by railroad
workers who seeded the stream with fingerlings where the tracks crossed the
creek in the town of Crane. And since the creek is populated only with naturally
reproduced trout, you'll catch fish of all sizes from 2" all the way up
to full-grown adults, including some very large fish (i.e. 20+ inches long)
hiding in some very sheltered spots. This
creek has a good population of the "holy trinity" of caddis,
mayflies and stoneflies, but they are tiny, so fish small. An exception to
this rule is that hare's ear nymphs up to size 10 have been productive at
times on this creek as well. During the summer, black ants have also
been known to work exceptionally well. Ant patterns are typically most
successful when cast under and around bank-side trees, but Crane Creek is
small enough to cast almost anywhere and be in the ant zone. Crane
Creek rainbows are stunning any time of the year, but they are absolutely
breathtaking during spawning season. Please be careful not to wade through
redds (the spawning beds) during spawning season.
Call (417) 895-6880 for more information |
