Fly of the Week #16- Crane Fly- The Hidden Hatch

Copyright © 2007 Gayle and Jeanell Strickland

I can hear it now- "Crane Fly... You mean that wacky giant mosquito thingy that flies out of my yard and gets stuck in my screen door?"  Yes, and no.  That ungainly and seriously leggy bug we know as a "Mosquito Eater" or "Daddy Long Legs",( They do not eat mosquitos and we also call a type of spider Daddy Long Legs too, confusing I know) is actually a member of the Order Diptera, AKA Flies.  From my research, the Crane Fly family is comprised of 14,000 species and is considered the largest single group, or family, of flies in the world.  The Crane Fly we are almost entirely concerned with, unless your fishing above Cle Elum where some yards come in contact with the river, is the aquatic Crane Fly.  I am not sure of the taxonomic specifics, but calling it the ACF or just Crane Fly is OK around here.



The ACF is really a strange insect in a lot of ways.

The first oddity is that the larva can be huge and not many anglers use them, which is a shame as the fly is simple to tie.  Second oddity, the observant angler  will see the larva along shore, as they migrate OUT of the water to pupate in the loose shore soils.  A larva, fished similar to a Pat's Stone, is good year round, as they are ubundant and fish see them often.  That patter is extremely simple and I will include it as a supplemental fly in the recipes below.   The pupa is sometimes available when freak storms swell the river and high water washes the pupa into the river system, but not really something to tie or even worry about.  Keep throwing those Chubbies, in Orange, until the fish really start responding to the swin/skate of the fly, something all Yakima River anglers should be doing at the end of the drift.  When the fish really start keying in on skating- tie on a Crane Fly pattern and hold on!  The last oddity, when metemphosis is complete, the almost comical adult Crane Fly is nearing death.  Like many of our aquatic insects, adulthood is short and frenzied.  Short in lifespan and frenzied in mating.  After mating, they die.

Why is this a "hidden" hatch, well I write that in part because of the aforementioned multi-habitat life cycle, like bank side pupation, as well as the fact that the Crane Fly hatch is so dang unknown!  Who talks about this stuff?  How many book authors wax poetic on the value of an ugly, massive and clumsy trout delicacy such as the Crane Fly?  Few, if any... of course, except WBFC!  Don't get it wrong, the ACF is the fly to fish in fall.

Recipes!  

Bugger Crane by Steve Worley

Recipe
Hook: Dai-Riki #300 size 10-12
Thread: Color to match body- 6/0 Preferably
Body: Olive dubbing
Ext. Body: Olive foam cylinder
Hackle:Dun
Wing: Dun rooster hackle
2nd Wing: Grey Poly
Fore body: Olive foam, cut to make head
Legs: Hen hackle shafts, knotted

ACF by Joe Schliesman

Recipe
Hook:  Curved Caddis type-  size 10-12
Thread: Color to match body- 10/0 veevus Preferably ( I use Chartreuse)
Ext. Body: Tan foam cylinder
Wing: Silver Widows web and one strand gold Krystal flash per wing
Body Dubbing:  Lightly dubbed Arizona Simi Seal #41- Cranefly Tan
Hackle:White rooster, oversized for skatting
Over body: Tan 2mm foam, cut to make head
Legs: old 10lb tippet form last year, knotted

FLY OF THE WEEK

PRICE

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Bugger Crane Sz10

$2.50 PER FLY

Thanks for reading,

WBFC Pro-Staff,

 Joe