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Crane: How does one find "the reefs?"


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I'll be up in late August with the extended family to spend a week at the Kuder's "Island Cabin" on Bear and was wondering where one finds the reefs I've read about in several posts. We've been vacationing on Crane for more than 30 years (Grandpa & Grandma used to live in The Narrows, across from Hubbard's), but we've always worked the shoreline with spinnerbaits. But that bite's been pretty slow since we've switched from June to August, so I'm seeking info about tactics for late-summer Smallies on Crane/Sand Point/Grassy/Little Vermillion/etc.. I've read in several posts about hitting "the reefs," but I don't know anything about fishing deep up there. I've got maps and a new Garmin -- how do I pinpoint said reefs? Thanks fellas!

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I found a "reef" at the South end of Sand Point, just about a 1/2 mile North of the King William entrance to Crane . . . and this particular reef tore the bottom out of my Sylvan! Hangin' on the top of the reef with a wife, two dogs, and all my camping gear for an hour wasn't much fun, but sure gives you time to do alot of reflecting on how dumb you can sometimes be! Thanks to two boats of fellow Iowans, and the good folks at Hamberg's, we got back safely and in one piece. The only thing hurt worse than the boat was my pride. Sure was glad it happened at the end of the trip, and not the beginning . . . . So, the moral of the story is sometimes you don't find the reefs, they find you! No markers on this one . . .

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1st answer as seen above...the shallow ones will find you. Not poking fun and glad you were all ok. I replaced a prop a few years ago because I had one find the rental that we had. Ouch!

2nd answer...the cheapest way to find the reefs is buy a underwater topographic map of the lake. you can buy the maps at Scotts on the water or you can get a digital if you are using a gps on your boat.

Good luck

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  • 2 weeks later...

LazyIke,

Since you have a Garmin I would suggest getting on the Voyageurs National Park website. Right on the main page they have a link to GPS information. This link includes alot of coordinates on campsites and such. It also has alot of the reefs or "hazard rocks" which may be places to try for the fall. I was on the website earlier this spring a just printed out the page of coordinates. It's pretty handy to have it along when navagating in the park. It doesn't help you on the Canadian sides of the lakes though.

Always be carefull when navagating with the GPS though. I've heard there have been a few accidents on the lake system this summer caused by people watching the GPS screen instead of the horizon.

Have fun and good Luck.

themav

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LazyIke,

Crane doesn't contain much in the way of reefs, other than shoals that jut out from land. To my knowledge, there isn't much in the main basin other than deep water. I've never seen a map that says otherwise. We tend to fish relative to the shoreline and earlier on Crane has always been better for us (May, June).

As for the reefs "finding you" - it's always a concern, but if you stick to the channels you should never have a problem. Anytime you venture off the main channel, you need to understand the risk.

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