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Crane Prairie Reservoir Fishing Report

Updated Fri, Oct 23, 2026 from live gauge and weather data

Crane Prairie Reservoir: a Reclamation reservoir on the upper Deschutes River where ODFW lists rainbow and brook trout, kokanee and largemouth bass.

2/5
Slow. Work for them.Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing.
Water temp
~47 F est.
Air / High
46 / 49 F
Wind
NW 7 mph

Sources: Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.

Satellite view
Friday
23
October 2026

Today's Fishing Report

Generated this morning from live readings: gauge, weather model, sun and moon. A fresh report is published here every morning.

2/5Slow. Work for them.Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing.

Crane Prairie Reservoir is in its winter mode: slow, deep and deliberate. Today brings clear skies, wind NW around 7 mph, rising pressure near 1022 hPa and a high of 49. Water sits around 47 F for the season (estimated). With the waxing gibbous, the solunar majors run 9:46 AM-11:46 AM and 10:16 PM-12:16 AM: the windows to build the day around.

The plan, species by species

Rainbow troutExcellent

In cold water rainbows use the deepest pools in rivers (Vermont), so slow, deep drifts there are the usual approach; Michigan DNR notes lake rainbows are also taken with bait or by jigging through the ice.

Brook troutExcellent

Below 50Β°F is the fall spawning band (40-50Β°F in Vermont), so stay off spawning gravel. In winter Maine IFW finds pond fish close to shore in 4 to 12 feet of water under the ice.

Largemouth bassGood

Below about 50Β°F feeding slows sharply, Iowa DNR notes; use small, slow baits near deep cover and fish the warmest part of the day.

Tomorrow: Warmer at 60 F. The solunar majors shift about 50 minutes later.Next report: Sat, Oct 24, 6:30 AMHow this report is made β†’

Before you go

Oregon requires a fishing licence from age 12, from $50.00 for residents. What a Oregon licence costs and where to buy it β†’

Chasing rainbow trout here? Check the size and bag limits with ODFW before you keep anything. The season dates for Oregon, read off the agency, are on the Oregon seasons page.

Water and weather

Live readings.

No live gauge on this water

Conditions here are modeled from weather, season and the nearest stations. Water readings appear when a USGS gauge is available.

30405060JanMarMayJulSepNovOct, ~47 F now

Right now

Latest readings

Air temp46 F
High / Low49 / 31 F
WindNW 7-9 mph
Pressure1021.6 hPa, rising
Sky / Rain0% cloud, 2%
Sunrise / Sunset07:31 / 18:10
MoonWaxing Gibbous, 91%
Water temp (seasonal)~47 F est.

Bite planner

Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today. Tap a bar to see why.

5 AM8 AM11 AM2 PM5 PM8 PMsunrisesunset

Which day to fish Crane Prairie Reservoir this week

The best day on Crane Prairie Reservoir this week looks like Wednesday Oct 28, at 4 out of 5, against 2 today.

Best day this week: Wednesday, Oct 28 β€” good at 4/5, falling pressure, usually the best window of a week.

Today, Oct 23 β€” Tough

Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing.

Solunar majors
9:46 AM-11:46 AM and 10:16 PM-12:16 AM
Minor period
4:11 AM-5:11 AM
Sun
07:31 to 18:10
Moon
Waxing Gibbous, 91% lit
Sky and wind
Clear, 12 mph
Rain chance
2%

Forecast-based scores, less reliable further out: how the score is built.

Species guide

The species that matter on Crane Prairie Reservoir: seasons, structure and how to fish each one. Today's ratings live in the report above.

Rainbow trout illustration

Rainbow trout

Spring and fall in most lakes; rivers fish year-round while the water stays cool

A cold-water trout native to Pacific drainages from Alaska to Baja California, now stocked in most states and fished in rivers, tailwaters and lakes. In cold water rainbows use the deepest pools in rivers (Vermont), so slow, deep drifts there are the usual approach; Michigan DNR notes lake rainbows are also taken with bait or by jigging through the ice.

Largemouth bass illustration

Largemouth bass

Best: the spring pre-spawn and the fall feed

A warm-water sunfish of lakes, reservoirs, ponds and slow river backwaters that holds tight to cover: weeds, logs, rock ledges and docks. In Texas, TPWD surveys rank it "by far" the freshwater fish anglers most want to catch. Below about 50Β°F feeding slows sharply, Iowa DNR notes; use small, slow baits near deep cover and fish the warmest part of the day.

Brook trout illustration

Brook trout

Spring and fall in ponds and lakes, when fish come shallow; summer in the coldest headwater streams

The brook trout is a char native to eastern North America, a fish of cold, clean streams and ponds, and the state fish of Michigan. Below 50Β°F is the fall spawning band (40-50Β°F in Vermont), so stay off spawning gravel. In winter Maine IFW finds pond fish close to shore in 4 to 12 feet of water under the ice.

When to come: the Crane Prairie Reservoir calendar

Activity by species and month, and how the water warms through the year. Tap any cell.

Species activity by month

1 = slow, 5 = peak. Current month highlighted.

J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
Rainbow trout
Largemouth bass
Brook trout
SlowPeak

Water temperature through the year

Typical surface temperature for this water type; today is around 47 F (estimated, not a reading).

30405060JanMarMayJulSepNovOct, ~47 F now

Angler reports

Real reports from real anglers, reviewed before publishing. The water log below tracks each day automatically.

No angler reports yet this weekBe the first: your report helps every angler who checks Crane Prairie Reservoir today, and we feature the best catch of the week.

Water log, last days

Auto-logged from live data
Thu, Oct 22

3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Rainbow trout led the card at excellent. High of 52 F, wind to 13 mph.

Wed, Oct 21

3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Rainbow trout led the card at excellent. High of 68 F, wind to 5 mph.

Tue, Oct 20

3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Rainbow trout led the card at excellent. High of 62 F, wind to 7 mph.

Where roughly, what depth, what bait. Skip anything you want to keep secret.
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Before you go

License

Oregon requires a valid fishing license for adults. Buy online from the state agency; one-day options exist for visitors.

Regulations

2026 Oregon regulations, Central Zone: Crane Prairie is open April 22 to October 31 and wild rainbow trout must be released. Zone lake limits otherwise apply: trout 5 a day, 8-inch minimum, only 1 over 20 inches; kokanee 10 a day; bass 5 a day, no more than 3 over 15 inches. Keep enough of a cleaned fish to show its size, species and fin clip.

Access

Boat ramp at Crane Prairie Campground; Rock Creek Campground (some bank fishing, fish-cleaning station); boat rentals at Crane Prairie Resort. Non-motorized boats need an Oregon waterway access permit.

About this water

A 4,940-acre Bureau of Reclamation reservoir on the upper Deschutes River in the Deschutes National Forest, Deschutes County, Oregon.

Fishing Crane Prairie Reservoir: the full guide

A Reclamation reservoir in the Deschutes National Forest

Crane Prairie Dam holds back the Deschutes River about 2 miles above Wickiup Reservoir and roughly 35 miles southwest of Bend. Reclamation gives the reservoir 4,940 acres of water surface, about 24 miles of shoreline and 55,300 acre-feet of capacity, and says the Forest Service administers recreation there. The earthfill dam, rehabilitated by Reclamation in 1940, is 36 feet high.

What ODFW lists

ODFW's fishing report names rainbow trout, brook trout, largemouth bass and kokanee, and its Bend-area guide splits the rainbows into redband and hatchery fish. ODFW describes boat fishing for trout and bass with limited bank access, and its warmwater article calls the reservoir a consistent producer of sizeable largemouth bass.

Water levels and the fall bite

In its September 17, 2026 update ODFW reported the reservoir 60% full and being slowly drawn down, with trout of 12 to 16 inches spread through the river arms and channels as the surface water cooled. ODFW asks catch-and-release anglers to avoid the warmest part of the day and land fish quickly, and not to disturb spawning kokanee or walk on redds in the tributaries.

Campgrounds, ramp and docks

ODFW lists a boat ramp at Crane Prairie Campground, some bank fishing and a fish-cleaning station at Rock Creek Campground, and boat rentals and services at Crane Prairie Resort. New permanent docks have replaced aging seasonal docks at Crane Prairie in a project led by the Deschutes Trails Coalition with the Forest Service, ODFW reports.

Common questions

When is Crane Prairie open to fishing?

April 22 through October 31 under the 2026 Oregon regulations. ODFW notes that the reservoir closes for the year on November 1, 2026.

Can I keep rainbow trout?

Only hatchery rainbows: wild rainbow trout must be released. Officers check fin clips, so leave the carcass identifiable if you clean fish on board.

Is there bank fishing?

Very little. ODFW calls Crane Prairie a boat fishery with limited bank access, and names Rock Creek Campground as a place with some bank fishing.

Is fishing good at Crane Prairie Reservoir right now?

Check the daily report at the top of this page: it is regenerated every morning from live data. Today's read: Slow. Work for them. Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing.

Nearby waters

Odell Lake19 miEast Lake30 miDiamond Lake47 miMetolius River56 miPrineville Reservoir58 miCrooked River60 mi

Where this page's numbers come from

Weather and pressure
Open-Meteo forecast model
Queried at 43.7859, -121.8007 in this water's own timezone. A model, not an observation.
Moon and solunar windows
Calculated on this site
Astronomical calculation from these coordinates and the date, not a third-party feed. How much weight it deserves.
Pages checked
The facts in the written guide were checked against these pages, from the agencies and operators that manage the water, on October 7, 2026. Anything we could not verify was taken out.
The written guide on this page
Pablo Ruiz Quintero
How this page was made. The daily report is computed by our scoring engine from live readings; nobody types it. The written text was drafted with AI assistance from the official pages listed above, and its facts were checked against those pages by automated verification on October 7, 2026; anything that could not be verified was taken out. Pablo Ruiz Quintero sets every guideline, the data-verification system and the minimum standards a page must meet to be published, reviews page structure and approves what goes live; the responsibility is his, and the AI carries out the work. We work this way because it is how one person can keep every page current with named sources. Errors are published in the verification log; the full policy is in the editorial policy.

Readings refresh on a 30-minute window. The full method, with every figure and its source, is on how our reports are made. Something wrong here? Tell us and it goes in the log with the date.