I'm convinced crane flies are one of the most underrated trout flies of Fall. I've spent hours watching trout become airborne for flies they are obviously tracking under the surface in hopes of timing a near touch down at the surface. While I'd guess I've tied six different crane fly patterns over the last few years, I have yet to find the perfect imitation.
Given that Fall is such a great season for virtually all outdoor activities, it is not ideal for swaps. I think this has made exposure to crane fly patterns suffer from a swap perspective. Winter, however, is a different story. I'm proposing a swap in hopes of gathering the collective wisdom and experience from this board in a quest for new patterns to experiment with next Fall.
I'm hoping for 10 -12 participants. Ideally, all flies would be dry fly versions (no larvae please) with a description of the best technique (dead drift, skated, etc) for the given pattern included at some point here in the thread. The holidays are a busy time of year, so I'm thinking of a Groundhog Day due date (Feb 2nd).
For those who may not be into swaps but have insight into patterns or techniques for fishing crane flies, I welcome their input for teaching purposes to further spur conversation on this topic. From my own perspective, I have patterns that have worked well skated in riffles or dead drifted along a seam. I have yet to find a pattern or technique that will reliably raise trout in the calm stretches of water where I frequently see them aggressively chasing originals.
I will tie one of the flies pictured above, most likely Quigley's spider crane.
1) Riseform.............................. ......(done)
2) Calvin1.......................................Flies received
3) hooked1 (Scott)............................Flies received
4) steeli.........................................Flies received
5) kelvin.........................................Flies received
6) Pat Lat.......................................Flies received
Given that Fall is such a great season for virtually all outdoor activities, it is not ideal for swaps. I think this has made exposure to crane fly patterns suffer from a swap perspective. Winter, however, is a different story. I'm proposing a swap in hopes of gathering the collective wisdom and experience from this board in a quest for new patterns to experiment with next Fall.
I'm hoping for 10 -12 participants. Ideally, all flies would be dry fly versions (no larvae please) with a description of the best technique (dead drift, skated, etc) for the given pattern included at some point here in the thread. The holidays are a busy time of year, so I'm thinking of a Groundhog Day due date (Feb 2nd).
For those who may not be into swaps but have insight into patterns or techniques for fishing crane flies, I welcome their input for teaching purposes to further spur conversation on this topic. From my own perspective, I have patterns that have worked well skated in riffles or dead drifted along a seam. I have yet to find a pattern or technique that will reliably raise trout in the calm stretches of water where I frequently see them aggressively chasing originals.
I will tie one of the flies pictured above, most likely Quigley's spider crane.
1) Riseform.............................. ......(done)
2) Calvin1.......................................Flies received
3) hooked1 (Scott)............................Flies received
4) steeli.........................................Flies received
5) kelvin.........................................Flies received
6) Pat Lat.......................................Flies received