Inland redband rainbow trout share the river with bass and whitefish. The Crooked River is awesome in its own right, and its odd color is a sign of extraordinary aquatic life. The best catch rate is said to be in the first eight miles below the dam. Fly anglers should be well armed with scuds, pheasant tail nymphs, hare's ear nymphs, chironimids, caddis pupae, and elk hair caddis. Streamers also produce, fished around boulders and stripped through pools.
Grasshoppers take large trout late in the summer months.
A string of cloudy days, with the air temperature above 40 degrees, will bring the rainbows to the surface. This is a good time to work midges on the surface. Bait angling is permitted during general trout season, with worms and eggs consistently producing in the seams and pools. Lures swung across the current attract the larger trout and can be very productive. Fishing on the Crooked is open year-round, but from November 1 to the fourth Saturday in April, fishing on the river is catch and release only, and is restricted to the use of artificial flies and lures.