I saw a fly made with this stuff called UV Chewee Skin that struck me as a great cranefly imitation. I don't have any Chewee skin, so I made one with what I had.
There are two places that I really want to try this - two opposite fisheries. One, a smallish tailwater that is known for it's craneflies - the Beaverhead; the other, a rocky freestone at which I can't quite figure out why there are so many craneflies - the Gallatin in the valley. No matter, I am itching to wet this fly.
Craneflies are a lot like giant midges - they go through complete metamorphosis (larva, pupa, adult like caddis) - as opposed to incomplete metamorphosis (nymph, adult like mayflies and stoneflies). The larva looks like a grub or wax worm, don't know about the pupa, and the adult like a midge-daddy-long-legs hybrid.
I've never fished a cranefly dry, but I had a day this summer where skittered hoppers were working so well that I wondered if the trout were keyed on craneflies - I'd seen a few that day. I gather that fishing cranefly dries is quite the wing-ding - I can't wait.
8 comments:
Not bad, not bad at all. What material did you use? The larva have that translucent quality to them... tough to replicate.
It's tied on a hook I had sitting on my magnet for a while, so not exactly sure, but it has a York bend (http://www.thebowriver.com/alberta/understanding_fly_tying_hooks.htm). Then thin copper wire for the rib, 1/8" clear scud back, and a dubbing mixture of natural hare's mask and Wapsi sow-scud rainbow. Then I just wanted to get that taper right. I tried to add a strip of pearlescent tinsel because I've seen some larvae with blue-green iridescence, but it would not cooperate. And there's some lead underneath it all. Pretty confident it's gonna get me a 40-incher.
I was at a high country lake this past summer and crane flies were hatching all over the surface. What I would have given for a crane fly dry. This larvae looks fantastic...!
Nice - I take it the trout were eating them.
Like crazy!
Good looking bug...well done sir!
Gracias!
I love chewie skin! You shouldpick some up
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