The fishing on Crane has been improving every week, and our guides are having some great days and bringing good numbers of quality fish to the net. With the warm water temperatures, fish are almost exclusively in the channels, and using an indicator to get buggy nymph patterns and Chironomids a foot or two above the bottom in the deeper parts of the lake will produce the best numbers of fish. We like to fish 2 fly rigs with about 18-24” between them to cover a couple zones in the water column. An occasional twitch will give the flies some movement and allows anglers to cover water more quickly while maintaining a consistent depth.
Water and weather conditions will play a role in how well Crane fishes. Water temperatures are quite warm, so it is good to fight fish quickly and get them out of the warm surface portions of the water column and back to the cool depths with minimal handling. Fishing has been better in the afternoons, when the wind tends to pick up and create a little chop on the water. The calm mornings can be tough, but in the right areas there is still great fishing to be had. We impart a little more movement to the flies when the lake is calm to create some of the movement that the chop will later in the day. Chironomids, Callibaetis nymphs, and leeches are all producing fish of great quality.
Suggested Dries: High Vis Callibaetis #14-16, Rusty Spinner #14-16, Thorax Callibaetis #14-16, Parachute Callibaetis #14-16, Black Flying Ant #16, CDC Flying Ant #16, Peacock Chubby Chernobyl #14-16
Suggested Nymphs: Bird’s Nest Natural or Black Depth Charge #16-18, Black Chironocone 14-18, Olive Juju Chironomid #14-18, Dark Assassin #16-18, Black or Red Two Bit Hooker #16-18, Black Ice Cream Cone #14, Olive or Black Balanced Leech #12-16