Crane has continued to fish well, and we are starting to see more in the way of summer-like conditions as the water warms. It isn’t quite warm enough to push the fish into the channels, so there is still opportunity to find fish in various areas of the lake. Chironomids and balanced leeches have been the way to find fish, but we are seeing the beginnings of some Damsel activity and it won’t be long before fish really start to key in on the nymphs around timber and other structure the Damsels hatch on. Moving frequently to find an area of actively feeding fish is the best approach, as it has been throughout the spring. Anyone spending much time on Crane will notice sporadic rises throughout the day, and while it can be difficult to bring these fish to the surface with an artificial fly these rises sometimes indicate an area of concentrated fish activity. Those who want to try their luck with the dry flies can use Midge and small Mayfly patterns as well as ants. I wouldn’t expect much consistency with this approach but there may be a fish or two to be caught on top.
Suggested Dries: CDC Flying Ant #16, Foam Beetle #16, Peacock Chubby Chernobyl #14-16, Griffith’s Gnat #18-20, Purple Haze #16-18, Parachute Adams #16-18, Parachute Callibaetis #14-16, Hackle Stacker Callibaetis #14-16
Suggested Nymphs: Black or Purple Zebra Midge #16-18, Black Ice Cream Cone #14-18, Juju Chironomid #14-16, Black Yankee Buzzer #14-16, Traffic Light Chirono #14-16, Dark Assassin #16-18, Parallel Dark Assassin #14, Bird’s Nest Hares Ear #14-16, Black or HE Depth Charge #14-16, Black Two Bit Hooker #16-18, Balanced Leech #10-14