Crane Prairie Regs !!!

[fishcentral]

Ive been reading all i can about crane res. the regs show a limit on warm water fish - but on wickiup - davis - lakes show no limit on warm water fish !

also east has knew size limit on browns 16 inch ! which was already in another thread !


wickiup - davis - are at least triing to keep warm water fish down in numbers buy a no limit reg ! east lake with its 16 inch reg proves they are triing to keep a good brown trout fishery !

now for crane !!! ive read that odfw is triing to manage a warm water fishery with the trout fishery , with having a limit on bass - also it has a 5 fish limit for clipped trout which may include one none clipped fish via native cranebow ! go ahead and kill one - like we dont care !!!!

crane used to be one of the best trout fisheries in the united states - not just oregon mind you - THE UNITED STATES !!! that is something to be proud of as an oregonian !!

odfw is showing a concern for saving brown trout - hmmmm are these native fish ??? which i agree with !!! any managing for trophy trout is welcome from me ! but go ahead and kill a native cranebow even though we plant marked trout for take also !

with all the native steelhead talk - dont handle it that way - dont take it out of the water - never kill one !!! these fish dont live in our waters year round like trout , but our native trout are being pawned off for bass fisherys all over the state !!! crane - davis !

ive read crane is on a comeback due to plantings of larger trout 8 to 10 inches insted of 5 inches - so the bass dont eat them all ! why not a no limit for warmwater fish !!!

i just dont get it - manage for brown trout but not for the native cranebow - as an oregonian for 50 years this just seems like a slap in the face .

where are all the native fish scocietys - wheres the federal help for our native trout ??? or state help for that matter !!!


what are your thoughts on this subject ? i like bass where they are not damaging our native species so i hope this does not come across as a I HATE BASS thing - i just love - or , loved our native trout waters all my life !!! this is what oregon fishing is to me - clean water trout fisherys - native steel , native salmon !!! what about our native trout ????

how many steelhead fisherman care for our trout fisherys ?

how would you manage this great fishery - crane prairie - to help turn it back to something close to the past !!! also ive been to odfw meetings before on rule changes , are their any groups triing to get these trout back ? please give info for these groups so i can contact them to try and help !!!!!

also are the planted trout of the cranebow trout species ?? i would hope so !!!

[leadeyedbugger]

Here are a few quick thoughts of mine on crane prairie and a little information.

The Regs used to allow you to keep five trout, regardless of whether they were native or planted fish. So only being able to keep one native now to me is although not perfect a very large improvement.
The regs for the Bass is just the standard state regs for warmwater fish. If people want to do something about it then why don't they start showing up to the regulations meeting that ODFW holds every couple years and voice there opinions. People like to complain about the this stuff, but when it comes time to actually have your opinion count...nobody is there. I went to the last meeting in Central Oregon, i think that there was about 10-15 members of the public there....
As of right now biologically the native trout population is on the upswing in crane prairie. The fish are doing pretty well. And according the fish Bio's the number one threat to the nate bows are the brook trout. The Brook trout smolt out compete the rainbow smolt in the upper D. The bass population seems to be dropping. IMHO crane prairie seems to be heading in the right direction and most people are reasonably happy. There are still bass there to fish for and the rainbows are getting more numerous every year. It would be nice if they would drop the brook trout regs in crane and the upper D, but The bio's couldn't seem to get enough support behind it.

Davis/wickiup and east are all totally different situations.

The issues at davis at best are extremely complicated and frankly i'm not sure if there is a fix.
When you start talking about wickiup and East and the brown trout it really doesn't matter either way, the bio's will basically swing with the public as they are non native species. I do believe that the brown trout size limit in east had more to do with mercury levels then trophy trout management though.

You can argue that maybe they aren't taking the management of the native crane bows far enough. But when your survival rates and redd counts are going up every year its kinda hard to complain too much.

btw crane prairie is still one of the top 2 trophy rainbow fisheries in the state and its been fishing great the last couple years....

[Wild Chrome]

Nice response, LEB!

Crane isn't one of "my" lakes, so I can't add much other than to say there are other things to think about, such as the crash of the damsel and dragonflies (not a bass-related problem), the invasion of Eurasian watermilfoil, and the other illegal introductions of tui chub, stickleback, and crappie. I do believe Crane gets a lot more attention from the bass community than the other nearby lakes and I'm sure ODFW is trying to please everyone.

I too, would support a no limit warmwater policy on Crane, but I don't think it would do a lot other than decrease the quality of the bass fishery, which might discourage more bucket biologists from doing it elsewhere. Maybe?

[fishcentral]

Originally Posted by leadeyedbugger

Here are a few quick thoughts of mine on crane prairie and a little information.

The Regs used to allow you to keep five trout, regardless of whether they were native or planted fish. So only being able to keep one native now to me is although not perfect a very large improvement.
The regs for the Bass is just the standard state regs for warmwater fish. If people want to do something about it then why don't they start showing up to the regulations meeting that ODFW holds every couple years and voice there opinions. People like to complain about the this stuff, but when it comes time to actually have your opinion count...nobody is there. I went to the last meeting in Central Oregon, i think that there was about 10-15 members of the public there....
As of right now biologically the native trout population is on the upswing in crane prairie. The fish are doing pretty well. And according the fish Bio's the number one threat to the nate bows are the brook trout. The Brook trout smolt out compete the rainbow smolt in the upper D. The bass population seems to be dropping. IMHO crane prairie seems to be heading in the right direction and most people are reasonably happy. There are still bass there to fish for and the rainbows are getting more numerous every year. It would be nice if they would drop the brook trout regs in crane and the upper D, but The bio's couldn't seem to get enough support behind it.

Davis/wickiup and east are all totally different situations.

The issues at davis at best are extremely complicated and frankly i'm not sure if there is a fix.
When you start talking about wickiup and East and the brown trout it really doesn't matter either way, the bio's will basically swing with the public as they are non native species. I do believe that the brown trout size limit in east had more to do with mercury levels then trophy trout management though.

You can argue that maybe they aren't taking the management of the native crane bows far enough. But when your survival rates and redd counts are going up every year its kinda hard to complain too much.

btw crane prairie is still one of the top 2 trophy rainbow fisheries in the state and its been fishing great the last couple years....

Thank you for your response !

First i would like to point out that i have been to odfw meetings in salem for my local river , and know about the two year rule ! we didnt get what we wanted the first time so i went two years later also till the regs. were changed - i did mention - what groups are working for this area of lakes so i could contact them and help ! like trout unlimited , native fish groups - just point the direction - so i want to help and was just triing to point out to people how this lake was being managed !

you are the first i have heard of saying its the brook trout smolt competting with the rainbows ! werent the brook trout their in the 70 and 80s when trout numbers were much better !

sticklebacks - crappie and bass is what every other article i have read has said is the problem ! one sight said there was some 750 spawning pairs from bio counts of crane bows ! shouldnt that be about 7000 for that body of water ! just saying i wonder what the numbers were in its prime ?

the rest of the state isnt part of the best trout species in the state !
there should be no limit on the bass their period imho !

weve already lost davis to bass , and mann is in terrible shape also ! ive fished all over the western states and now dont want to chase steel anymore here at home so ive been reading and studying all i can about my own states trout fisherys and am shocked ! and i want to try and help ! thats why i started this thread .

ive read all the native steelhead threads i want too , read about people getting flamed for even showing a legal picture of a native steelhead . its like a broken record on ifish , everythings being done that can be - so whos triing to recover our trout fisherys so i can help !!!

ill go to the meetings - i can get signatures and do what i can !

now that diamond lake is a success shouldnt we keep moving forward , not being happy with just one lake restored ! heck odfw could stock klamath rainbows anywhere they want to that had the water quality .

what other lake has the timber and so many great head waters dumping into it and under ground springs - ive fished the henrys fork - silver creek - the madison , big hole - green river utah , green river wyoming heck so many waters around the states i cant remember - but crane with its timber and springs and dechutes - quinn - cultus - theres just nothing like it anywhere - the only place i have fished that is this unique is the henrys fork of the snake !!! and our state is managing for bass in it .

and yes at the meeting if more of the public want the warm water fish then so be it , but ill be one more their for the crane bow !!!

[leadeyedbugger]

As a stillwater fly fishing maniac i wish that more people put forth an effort into there care also. And don't take it that i was pointing at any one person about the ODFW meetings. It was meant to be more of a general point that if people want to change things then they need to get more involved.

the brook trout problem at crane that i mentioned came straight from the Fish Bio here. I know him well enough to know that if he says it then i believe it. No doubt that bass,crappie,sticklebacks etc have a effect also. The downturn of the damselfly population hurts as they are/were a major food source for the fish.

And i agree with you totally in that i would like to see no native fish being kept, but i will take only one being kept over 5. I can live with that as long as the population trends continue as they are moving right now.

Davis lake is just too complicated of a issue. Even if the bass weren't there at this point in time it is hard to say what kind of shape it could be in for trout. The depth and water temps in the summer/fall are not good for trout right now. By mid/late spring alot of the trout that are there move into the tribs or at the mouth of the tribs trying to find cooler waters. And getting rid of the bass is easier said then down. Poisoning off the lake has been looked into but there are too many complications and unknowns at this time to make it very viable.

Really when you look at it here in oregon we have amazing stillwater fly fishing....Completely superior to the river fishing in my opinion. Just on the cascade lakes loop alone you can fish any number of lakes from late april till end of oct and if you understand stillwater fly fishing you can expect to have great days on the water....

I am glad that you brought this post up. Stillwater fly fishing is pretty near and dear to my heart and it doesn't get alot of pub in oregon as our state is dominated with salmon and steelhead. Anytime you want to talk stillwater or want to get out on the water later this year just let me know.

[Wild Chrome]

Not to hijack, but one interesting observation I've had on Davis has been the effect of the bass on the chub. Chub were so thick in the north end 10 years ago that I literally couldn't cast my favorite red mini leech (shhhh) without getting a chub on every cast. This was after years of ODFW stocking Klamath bows in Davis, as they were supposed to eat the chub. Well, within a few years of the bass explosion, the chub were dam near gone! I don't know which are worse for the trout, but the presence of the bass got rid of the chub issue pretty quick. I just wish we'd get a series of high water years to get Davis back to full pool. With colder water, I bet the trout would bounce back and the bass would back off. Oh well, it won't be this year.

[AndyK]

If you're going to the Sportsman Show, Scott Cook of Fly & Field Outfitters has a presentation on fishing Crane Prairie (Sunday @ 2:30).

He says the Large Mouth population in Crane Prairie in on the decline because they have exhausted their food. The average Bass size is now only 1 ½ pounds.

He also said this may happening in Davis Lake.

Scott's booth is #1319 if you miss his presentation.

[fishcentral]

Originally Posted by AndyK

If you're going to the Sportsman Show, Scott Cook of Fly & Field Outfitters has a presentation on fishing Crane Prairie (Sunday @ 2:30).

He says the Large Mouth population in Crane Prairie in on the decline because they have exhausted their food. The average Bass size is now only 1 ½ pounds.

He also said this may happening in Davis Lake.

Scott's booth is #1319 if you miss his presentation.

thank you very much !!! have found his web site - and lots of pics of huge rainbows - i also wanted to get ahold of him to try and help with

crane prairie waters and native trout !!! thanks !!!

[oldbendbeav]

There are at least a couple of other things that have impacted Crane. First, a couple of windstorms in the late 90's fell about 70 percent of the dead trees in the reservoir. Most of these trees ended up on the shore at the southeast end. The Bureau of Rec. also took the action of cleaning out a lot of the floating or semi-anchored tree rafts. The Bureau action was a necessary step to protect the dam. However, the removal of the tree mass as well as the windstorm removal resulted in a huge cover loss as well as a loss of insect breeding ground.

Also, the 1990's also saw the population explosion of cormorants. There are still cormorants present, but the population in the 1990 period was incredible. At one of the local ODFW meetings, the official noted that the fish plantings in the 90's were merely a food festival for the cormorants, and the survival of the planters was next to nothing. Essentially, the loss of several years of planters had a severe impact on the fishery.

As far as the bass go, I haven't talked to any officials about that aspect, but my personal feeling is that ODFW views the bass as one of the only solutions to keeping the total trash fish problem under somewhat of a control. It is unfortunate that the <individuals> who planted those trash fish as well as the bass could not be hung from the bald eagle tree at Rock Creek.

Finally, my mind is a little fuzzy on this, but the reported number of native rainbow nests is very encouraging. If I remember correctly, the number of redds back about 8 to 10 years ago was down in the 90 to 150 range.