Crane Creek Mo. Anybody fished there lately

[crittergetter]

I am heading down to Roaring River Saturday the 24th of October and staying till the 28th.

So as a side trip I thought I would drive up and try the Blue Ribbon area of Crane creek.

My questions are...

Is it worth it this late of the season?
What roads do I need to take so I can park and hike.

Hopefully this isn't as hard as Merrimac’s Cardiac Hill or Suicide Access

Thanks for the help.
Critter

 

[ksbrowntrout2]

Im going to be heading down to Crane this friday, and some answers to your questions...

Its deffinitely not to late in the season to be fishing the crane...it can be fished year round. There has been a lot of rain there recently, and the water might have a little cloud in it...which would actually help you considering how spooky the trout are. The access is generally good, as you can access the creek right at the city park.

When fishing there, you should be very stealthy, you dont want to see the trout, because if you see them, they see you. Nymphs are probably your best shot at fish...id recomend generic 14-16 nymphs that are heavy under a yarn strike indicator.

Good luck, ill try to post bck friday night on the conditions.

 

[crittergetter]

Cool any idea's or access points will greatly appreciated.

 

[ksbrowntrout2]

OK,

I did not go to Crane today. One main reason: RAIN. There was simply to much rain on wednesday and thursday, and the stream would not have been fishable today: HOWEVER:

I dont know if you know who Charlie Reading is or not, but he said by late Saturday, you might experience some great fishing. MIGHT was the key word. If the runoff from the previous rain had already gotten through and the water level was dropping, the fishing would be spectacular. I do not know what the current Water level is.

But, knowing Charlie, that information was what he believes. Charlie probably knows more about Ozark fly fishing than anyone, and if he had his way, no one would catch a trout if they werent fly fishing.

SO, I would give it a shot on Saturday afternoon, the water will be off color a little, but it should be fishable, and it should fish well. All this depends on the runoff though, if there was a fly shop in the area you could call and verify the water level with, that would make me feel a lot better about the trip.

If it turns out to be a failiure, what have you lost? your an hour away from Roaring River, and your trying something new.

 

[crittergetter]

Thanks KS for the input.

I have been looking at GOOGLEMaps and it looks like either around the city park or old wire road should be access points.

Because of the rain we didn't leave tonight like planned. So, we are going to head out 5:00 am and go through CRANE tomorrow and will get an idea of what the color is. We will be at roaring river till Wed. So I hope we can head back to Crane Monday or Tuesday.

I have had a few conversations with Charlie... I believe he has forgot more than I can ever know. What a walking, talking fly fisher. You can ask him the differences between a G and G2 Scott rod and he will also thow in how different lines work in both rods.. I actually hope to purchase a GREYS rod this winter from him. Or trade the used once Helios for a GREYS 10' rod.

Anyway thanks again for the input... I will update next Thursday when I get back as to how well the fishing was.. From what I read and what you said.. I need to get my STEALTH ON.

CritterGetter.

 

[ksbrowntrout2]

Good play on the stealth call, let me know how it goes.

 

[flyguy66]

sorry i missed this 1. could have helped. i've spent a lot of time fishing crane creek. it's one of my favorites in the ozarks.

 

[crittergetter]

KS

Charlie was 100% correct. We got a late start and decided to drive through Crane on our way to Roaring River. We got there around 2:45 and the water was almost GIN Clear.

Unfortunately we didn't fish, we just walked up stream from the City Park a ways and then drove North to Old Wire Road.

I assume if you are doing the hike and fish, you have a car parked at old wire and hike up from the City Park.

I didn't see any local fly shops just antique shops.

And then it rained from late Saturday till Late Tuesday and we had to head back Wed. So Crane was out of the question.
​

Flyguy
Glad to hear from somebody else that fishes that area. I will drop you a note. Maybe a good winter fishing weekend I will drop a PM.


Both..
Roaring River was really nice in the rain in zone 2 below the bait fishers. And it wasn't crouded. As it stands I talked to a couple of locals that said nymphing and streamer fishing in Zone 3 down stream is good. I didn't try that because of all the rain but plan on it next time.

Thanks again for the help.
CritterGetter

 

[flyguy66]

There's a lot more to Crane Creek than the public accesses near town via Wire Road Conservation Area. Most of the private landowners (not all, but most) will let you fish if you're polite, respectful, and courteous enough to introduce yourself and ask permission first. Always helps to chat with country folks before you ask a favor. And a lot of the best fishing on Crane Creek is on that private land.

I'll give you two specific clues. The farmer right across the road from the Lower Wire Road CA parking area (by the bridge downstream of town) is very particular about who he grants permission to. He gets hammered...and trespassed all the time. So that's a low probability option, but not impossible. And he owns the whole stretch of private ground from the city park to the bridge. And it's good. But fishing is even better upstream of the park when water is flowing well and downstream of the bridge I've been mentioning @ the Lower Wire Road CA parking area once you leave the conservation area...for several miles!

There are also McCloud Rainbows in Spring Creek, which runs through Hurley. Spring Creek empties into Crane Creek. Seems to me that if a fella could get himself permission to fish where Crane and Spring Creeks meet, that might be a good spot, huh?

Several miles downstream from the conservation area, Crane Creek begins to warm up enough for bass...especially in the summer. And the creek gets a lot bigger. The last couple of miles of creek before it meets the James River is pretty good size and runs through one farm. I've caught trout and bass in that stretch of river depending on the time of year.

What has been published and the conventional wisdom about Crane Creek is just the tip of the iceberg. It is full of wonders and mysteries. It is a fragile fishery that is home to one of 2 of the world's last remaining sources of genetically pure McCloud Rainbow trout. The other is a small mountain stream in remote Costa Rica. Respect it for what it is: a very fragile global treasure. It is a wonder of the modern world that it is even open to anglers to fish. But it is an Ozarks spring creek. And it has all of the bio-diversity and history and land use issues that all the rest of them do. Wild rainbow trout aren't the only fish living in Crane Creek.

Winter is a good time to fish there. The vegetation is low and rainfall usually drops off in a typical year. So the water clears and the other remarkable biological phenomenon of Crane Creek isn't nearly as much of an impediment to fishing fun. Portions of the Crane Creek bottoms have the highest scientifically documented concentration of Cottonmouth snakes in the world.

Enjoy!

 

[crittergetter]

Thanks for all that info..

I cut and pasted it in my notes file for future reference. I did edit out the cotton mouth bit incase my wife decided to take fishing read (she hates snakes)

 

[ksbrowntrout2]

I just refered back to this and i was a little curious to ask some questions for fly guy.

I might make a trip down in late december. Its really the first chance I will have between now and then. I was interested to know what the situation at crane typically is that time of year. I have no experience with crane during the late winter and was curious if you knew anything about it.

Thanks

 

[flyguy66]

Depends of rainfall/snow and the water level in Table Rock Lake. The higher TRL is, the longer it takes CC to clear and return to her banks after a flash flood. And December is either a very dry or very wet month, depending on El Nino/La Nina patterns. Bad news...we're in an El Nino pattern. So the odds are that the windows of good water conditions will be narrower. When I lived in Springfield and Branson it could even be very tough to fish there at all during Dec/Jan during a really wet winter.

On the other hand...if you can catch CC when she's not blown out that time of year, it is when she fishes the best. The water is coldest, the fish are most active due to high DO levels, and the stream usually yields more quality fish to nymphs, wet flies, and streamers anyway. So the lack of bug hatches you may encounter is really just pushing you where you should be going anyhow. If you do get hatches in winter on CC, they will be midges or BWOs...very tiny. And fishing below the surface is still more productive. But most feeding in CC is fat nymphs near the bottom and scuds in the same feeding zone (in the upper reaches of the creek where all the public access is).

It's too cold for snakes and most bugs that time of year, which is very nice. And all the vegetation is down...opening up far more bank access. Colder weather also chases off more of the few fishermen. If you avoid weekends, you will likely not see anyone else.

 

[ksbrowntrout2]

Ive got a few open weeks in a row around late december into early january. In the fall Ive always had my best luck when the water was just slightly clouded and going down. I'll watch for that type of condition, but low and clear isn't terrible either.

Would I be correct in saying that most of the fish would be in the upper half of the river (above the park access) for their spawning season? From my experience with Blue Springs Creek..Mill Creek...and Spring Creek, that should be holding true..I think.

Ill keep my eye on the weather down there, and thanks for your help.

 

[flyguy66]

Yeah, when the creek is still just slightly off-color it fishes best. But that occurs when it has already calmed back down. Clear and low on cloudy days is great, too!

No, I disagree on the "above the park" idea. There is a LOT of great fishing below the park, and IN the park for that matter. And all of that is "upstream" as far as Crane Creek is concerned. And I'd have to double-check to see if McClouds are fall or spring spawning Rainbows. But either way, December is getting very late for that. So they should be feeding heavily post-spawn if they are fall spawners.