Crane Creek (Missouri)

Crane Creek is a 23.2-mile-long (37.3 km)^[1] stream that flows through the town of Crane, Missouri and is notable for its trout fishery. The creek, a tributary of the James River and part of the White River drainage basin, is a part of the Missouri Department of Conservation's trout management program and is classified as a Blue Ribbon Trout Area. It is one of five wild trout management areas in the state that receive no supplemental stocking of hatchery-raised trout. Even more impressively, it is home to one of only three remaining populations of the pure-strain McCloud River rainbow trout — even the McCloud River no longer has this strain of fish in residence.

This creek was originally stocked in approximately 1890 by railroad workers. At that time, the railroads were commonly supplied with barrels of fish fingerlings and directed to seed stock waters that the railroads crossed. Clear spring-fed streams were to be stocked with rainbow trout, and many Ozarks streams received their first resident trout in just this fashion. As luck would have it, no additional stockings were ever to take place, nor would they be needed.

Crane Creek has enjoyed some notoriety over the years, including articles published in well-known outdoor magazines and segments on sporting television shows. However, this publicity has not led to crowds of fishermen, largely due to the remoteness of the stream and the toughness of the fish. Even so, the creek has its share of devoted anglers who try their luck throughout the year, attempting to catch this truly rare trout which lives in a very small and rugged brook. Even though the water is small, there are trophy-sized fish present, with 20+ inch fish caught throughout the year and several documented catches ranging from 25 to 30 inches and nearly 10 pounds in weight.

Fishing regulations call for flies and lures only, and harvest is restricted to no more than 1 fish daily of at least 18 inches in length. While spin fishing is permitted, fly fishing is generally the most productive fishing tactic.

References

1. ^ U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data. The National Map, accessed March 9, 2011