Crane Prairie Fall Fishing Report

[troutski]

Arrived at the Quinn River boat launch at sunrise, you could already smell the gun powder in the air from the Duck Hunters. Cold, very cold coming from the Willamette Valley - 33 degrees at the ramp, some frost on the sides of the road. Launched the boat and headed for the channel, didn't mark a fish until we were past the first marker(red). Left the channel and headed to the middle of the lake in search of the meeting point of the Cultus and Quinn rivers channel. Once we found it the fish started to show up on the screen. Anchored and started fishing. Didn't take long to hook the first fish, and even a shorter time for it to spit the hook. In a few minutes another fish and another spit.....this was beginning to concern us all. Then the fishing (hooking) stopped, we decided to search around for another hole and ended up at the mouth of the Cultus River, marked fish all most instantly, the water temp dropped a couple of degrees and the fish were hitting the surface all around us in the sticks. Tried lures, bait and eventually eating lunch,thinking maybe this would start a bite.....but nooooo.
Decided to start trolling back towards the Quinn River channel, and as we got closer the capt. of the boat(Rob)mention a special hole that usually produces fish, so keeping in mind that it was getting close to the dreaded sunset and the long drive home skunked, we pulled in our lines and proceeded to the special place at the posted speed limit.....there are a lot of stumps and floating debris in this res. so safety is all ways paramount.. :grin: Once we arrived in "The Hole" there wasn't a fish on the screen, not one,not even a small bleep on the screen. But since we were all ready there - why not do some fishing and eat another sandwich, food takes the sting of a skunk for a while. By now no one was even paying attention to the rods hanging over the rail of the boat. You guessed it my Fenwick started jumping, and looked a lot like the letter "U". After a half dozen jumps and thrills we landed a 21" 4 1/2 # fin clipped CraneBow. Skunk of the boat.....very nice feeling, while I was rehooking my rod Mokias bobber can't be found, there's a splash....another Crane Bow, this one also fin clipped a 19" 3 #er, for planted fish these are sure fun to catch. Now the blood is running hot, had we found their hidding place.........NO. Moved around in the trees and left - right - back and forth nothing a few take downs but no fish. By now the sun was very low in the sky and we had a long trip back to the Quinn boat ramp. All in all a good day with good friends and a beautiful Central Oregon day. Two fish in the boat, and a real nice stick fish. Here are a few of the pictures of our great State and its resident Cranebows. It won't be long until this place is covered in snow, so if you have a chance get over here and enjoy the place, thanks to the Capt. of the boat we weren't skunked,his presistance paid off......I love this lake. :cheers:
http://www.ifish.net/gallery/data/500/Sunrise_at_Quinn.jpg
http://www.ifish.net/gallery/data/500/Cultus_Nestring.jpg
http://www.ifish.net/gallery/data/500/Cultus_Clouds.jpg
http://www.ifish.net/gallery/data/500/Hole_fish_1.jpg
http://www.ifish.net/gallery/data/500/Quinn_canoe.jpg
http://www.ifish.net/gallery/data/500/End_of_the_day.jpg
http://www.ifish.net/gallery/data/500/Cultus_Channel_l.jpg
http://www.ifish.net/gallery/data/500/Firesticks.jpg
http://www.ifish.net/gallery/data/500/Quinn_Channel_sunset.jpg
The only good thing about the long drive home is the A&W in Oakridge, Papa burgers and a frosted mug.

[FallRiverGuy]

Nice Pictures and nice fish. Even if the fishing was slow, you had a better day than I did working around the house.

[Mokai]

Yes it was a fun day indeed..Dont get many Fall days at Crane like this one...

Here are a few more pics from my camera..

http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m17/mokai123/DSC02051.jpg

http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m17/mokai123/DSC02054.jpg

http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m17/mokai123/DSC02067.jpg

http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m17/mokai123/DSC02070.jpg

The Craft..Very nice craft..

http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m17/mokai123/DSC02072.jpg

[trollin4trout]

Nice fish, nice pics, nice boat! Way to persevere :smash:
I resemble that somewhat:
http://www.ifish.net/gallery/data/500/3863boat.jpg

[Dave Smith]

Sweet! great save for that day. The fish rolling in the Cultus channel were probably brookies- very tough to get to bite! Man, I wouldn't worry about not marking fish- the lake is so shallow and crystal clear- it is a rare cranebow that would let you drive right over the top of it- he he. Did you hear any reports of brookies? Dave

[wind troller]

Boy what beautiful pictures at my favorite place. I'm glad you had better luck than I did at the weather change. Nice Cranebows..... I can't believe you were fishing bobbers? We used to fish bugs on a bobber but that fishery seemed to have died off the last 5 years with all the planted fish. Care to share any tips? I'm all ears cause I love bobber fishing, our theme song is " Bobber to the left, bobber to the right, go down, come up, fight ,fight, fight."
That's what we do when we are not eating sandwiches... :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:
Thanks for the great post!

[troutski]

Actually yes, in the Cultus channel. There was a guy there with a cool boat and he said early evening they caught all Brookies and no Rainbows. I did check out the head waters of Quinn river and was hoping to see the Koke's in their spawning colors....but no fish, yet.

Chuck

[troutski]

Care to share any tips? I'm all ears cause I love bobber fishing, our theme song is " Bobber to the left, bobber to the right, go down, come up, fight ,fight, fight.



I would love to share with this forum, thats the great about it. It makes us all better anglers: I believe it is leader type and poundage. We use 2 - 4# leader along with slip bobbers weighted with just enough weight to allow the fish to pull down on the bait and not feel the bobber. Along with Berkleys Vanish Fluorocarbon line, this stuff really does vanish in clear water......also very small hooks - fly tying hooks, I prefer nymph hooks with the long shaft. Size 10-14 wire. A little hint on the hooks, fly hooks come from the factory straight from the eye to the barb, I bend the hook so as the shank and the point are off line. Just a bit, it enhances the hook set, the hook can't come out of the fishes mouth with out hooking on something - most of the time it is in the top of the mouth, makes for easy release too. Another thing about fly hooks is they have very small barbs. Not sure if this stuff alone helps me catch fish but when you put them all together It seems to help a lot..One more thing, fresh bait...very fresh. JMO

Chuck :cheers:

How do you like my new bobber...compliments of MOKAI :yay:

[Mokai]

I was using a worm threader..Sliding a whole night crawler on and drifting it below my bobber..

[wind troller]

Thanks Chuck,
I'll try all the tips you posted, seems like we always fish the old way we used to bobber fish. Our theory was get a bobber that sets the hook, so we made our own bobbers, we used 2" to 3" stryofoam bobbers, melted 3 holes at the base, added 1/4 oz. pencil lead (for castability), then epoxied the lead in and painted the bottom grey. We then used rivets and silicone tubing so we could make the bobbers adjustable for depth like the clear water filled bobbers. They worked great until 5-6 years ago, then the planters didn't seem to go for bugs anymore. Too bad cause one of our favorite things was making a run to the coves to go bug hunting, that always made the trip.

By the way, I did make a Jack-In-The-Box bobber like in the commercials, I still have it and it still catches fish. You would laugh at the looks and questions I've gotten from that one as people motor by. :bigshock:

http://www.ifish.net/gallery/data/500/medium/Jack_In_The_Box_002.jpg

Tightlines,
Al

Thanks Mokai for the tips as well!

[troutski]

Al, I'm sure the bobber you showed me (Jack) will still work, I just like the slip bobbers from Thill. You can adjust the depth and by using split shot and can get the bobber to just about be totally buoyant. As far as the bugs go, they still work on the planters,and the natives.....I myself have spent many hours in waders picking bugs. When using bugs I do go to a very small hook....14 - 18 depending on the size of the bugs. When the stomach was pumped on the larger fish, we found the fish to be full of StickleBacks. Food for thought.

Chuck

[joemomma]

Nice report Chuck! Sounds like a great time at CP! :wave:

[RODACTION]

Nice post and pics......A&W..... :cheers:

[JohnOD]

Thanks for the report Troutski. Another huge C.P. fan myself. Here are some recent pics from Crane along with a few fish caught on flies. I love that Reservoir and call it my home water.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v144/JiB111/71.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v144/JiB111/C3.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v144/JiB111/C4.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v144/JiB111/80.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v144/JiB111/76.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v144/JiB111/74.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v144/JiB111/75.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v144/JiB111/72.jpg

John

[wind troller]

Hey JohnOD,

I think we need to give you a new moniker "tubmaster"!
Great pictures, beautiful fish, and as always it is nice to find folks that love CP. Thank you for sharing, I hope to see you at CP in the future.

tightlines, Al
:cheers:

[troutski]

John, what can I say.. :bowdown: those are some beautiful fish, they seem to be on steroids. To think those fish eat the same thing my fish eat....oh my those are some real pigs.
Thanks a ton for sharing your pictures, can't beat the scenery in the Cascades...I don't think I will ever get tired of the pictures of Cranbows.....

Chuck

[Jimmy]

Thanks for sharing the photos of Crane Prairie. It may not be the lake it was years ago, but where can you catch rainbows and brook trout the size of footballs. It is one of my favorite lakes and I cant believe I wont be there until next spring.

[wind troller]

Man you guys are fishing fools! I love it and I'm looking forward to some more pics.
In the old days we used to have a Crane Prarie Roundup once a year, most of the folks that used to attend won't come anymore. We hang out on the lake in the evening and have a Boat Round Up then at camp we give everybody a ribbing for what they didn't catch, it's really fun? :help: So with my new found Ifish friends I was wondering if anyone would be interested in a Spring Crane Roundup. We have a Chili Size feed on Friday night, a Steak Feed on Saturday afternoon, then the famous fish measure in, (no fish allowed, just your word or a pic), we all support catch and release, everyone is trusted, :laugh: :laugh: and we give out some not so great prizes but have a great time. We all usually spend 3-7 days there but overnighters or dayers would be more than welcome! It's fun and I'd love to get the tradition started again?
Any prospective takers, I'll organize it?

Sorry for my goof ups, with the server busy I feel like a dumb dumb, I would like to know if anyone is game though?

[Valley-Boy]

I just read this post to my Wife and she agreed that it sounds fun.:cheers:
I believe we would be interested.

[troutski]

WindTroller, I am definitly in. I can even eat the Chile.......and release a few fish......count me in. How about you Mokai ?

Chuck:yay::yay:

[Mokai]

Man you guys are fishing fools! I love it and I'm looking forward to some more pics.
In the old days we used to have a Crane Prarie Roundup once a year, most of the folks that used to attend won't come anymore. We hang out on the lake in the evening and have a Boat Round Up then at camp we give everybody a ribbing for what they didn't catch, it's really fun? :help: So with my new found Ifish friends I was wondering if anyone would be interested in a Spring Crane Roundup. We have a Chili Size feed on Friday night, a Steak Feed on Saturday afternoon, then the famous fish measure in, (no fish allowed, just your word or a pic), we all support catch and release, everyone is trusted, :laugh: :laugh: and we give out some not so great prizes but have a great time. We all usually spend 3-7 days there but overnighters or dayers would be more than welcome! It's fun and I'd love to get the tradition started again?
Any prospective takers, I'll organize it?

Sorry for my goof ups, with the server busy I feel like a dumb dumb, I would like to know if anyone is game though?

WindTroller, I am definitly in. I can even eat the Chile.......and release a few fish......count me in. How about you Mokai ?

Chuck:yay::yay:


I am definatly in...Sounds alot like our yearly spring trip hey Troutski...

[wind troller]

Very cool,
I started putting out some feelers with my old fishing buds today, I'll see what happens? Lots of time left and if we don't get everyone hooked up we can still have fun fishing, throwing out stories, sharing a campfire, and have a great steak feed.
Oh yea, I'm definetly in too!

[dixiefisher]

I've never met you guys....but would love to be a part of something like this at CP......

[troutski]

I've never met you guys....but would love to be a part of something like this at CP......
Dixie, most of us have never meet, that is the beauty of it.........new friends all with the same passion TROUT, and trying to out do one another with stories of the beast that got away..........you are welcome to join the Roundup.

[metalhead madness]

WOOO HOOO sounds like fun. I'm in



MM

[FISHON67]

JohnOD, Thanks for sharing the great photos from Crane! I like the underwater touch. I miss sure miss catching fish like that everytime you went to Crane.

:cheers:

[wind troller]

It looks like we may have a lot of folks that want to meet and hang out with other Ifishers at Crane in spring but I have un-intentionally HiJak'd Chucks great Crane fishing post, sorry Chuck. Please don't post any more responses here to the Round Up question, when it gets closer to spring I'll probably post as a new topic or do the PM thing.
Thanks, Al