DF's Streamlined Cranefly Larave

This is a fly that was born out of a problem, like many of the good flies out there. You see on the limestone spring creeks we have here in PA there is a common abundance of crane fly larvae.

 Now is most situations the venerable Walt's Worm would get the job done with flying colors. However one of the "Waltz" strongest attributes is its' buggy hares mask body which seems to drive fish crazy. Even though crane fly larvae are not buggy in the slightest trout still seem to find waltz a good match for them and many other aquatic insects. But, the buggy body has a catch, it slows the sink rate of the fly. You see, all the guard hares and fibers create drag when the fly hits the water causing the fly to sink to the bottom, not shoot to it like a bullet.

In many situations this is fine, and even a plus at times; But sometimes when you are fishing fast pockets and riffles a fly that slices the water column quickly, but uses less weight, is key as you can achieve a more natural profile and drift. To combat this I would simply weight the waltz more causing it to sink quicker. This worked, but caused the fly to have a unnatural profile and also made the fly larger that the fish really wanted.This fly was created for that very reason. Although the Waltz is still my go-to anchor in many situations, this guy can be the key to a better drift and more hookups. The fly sinks quickly and is a good match for many of the crane fly larvae in our streams. It is quick and easy to tie and also is near bombproof. With all that said, here is the fly.




Hook - TMC 200r BL or any longer shanked hook 14-8
Bead - 2.5 Millimeter unfinished tungsten bead (Adjust bead size to fit hook)
Weight - .15 Lead or Lead free wire
Thread - UTC 70 in Olive Brown
Feelers - Natural Brown CDC
Body - Bronze or Honey Flexi Floss, Life flew will also work
Collar - Brown Olive SLF Squirrel Dubbing or anything to cover thread collar

Place the bead on the hook and secure it in the vise.

Take 8-14 wraps of .015 wire and slide them up to the bead

Start your thread and secure the wire with a few wraps, end near the bend of the hook.

Select a natural CDC feather and tie it in to form a short tuft of fibers at the hook bend. This step is optional and probably doesn't increase the effectiveness of the fly, but is something I like to add.

Snip a section of Flexi Floss from the pack, you need less than you think you do.

Tie in the Flexi Floss behind where the wire ends and wrap back to the CDC, pull of the floss in the process to maintain a smooth underbody.

Spin the bobbin counter clockwise to flatten the thread, UTC is the best thread for this. Once the thread turns into a floss make a smooth lightly tapered underbody to wrap the floss over. 

Wrap The Flexi Floss forward stretching it has you wrap, secure it behind the bead.

Find some dubbing for the collar, this is simply to prevent a nasty looking thread collar.

Dub a short noodle on your thread.

Wrap the dubbing to make a small collar.

Whip Finish the fly and snip the thread off.

And there you have a completed DF's Streamlined Cranefly. I used the bronze floss in favor of imitating a olive colored crane fly. Below is a size 14 tied with the honey colored floss. Both are effective.

Fly Tying - Quill Jig Nymph By Doug Freemann

This is a fly that I have constantly been adapting since Cam Chioffi first showed me a similar fly on Big Fishing Creek. My version is a little different but the general concept and look is the same. Obviously this fly has been tied by many others before but this is my take. O, and this fly hammers fish from Penn's Creek to Lehigh Valley Limestoners to the Yampa River in Colorado. It is a staple in my box, here is how it's tied. 

Hook – Hends BL 120 Jig hook or Dohiku Jig hook 18-16

Bead -  Tungsten Slotted 2.5 or 2.0 millimeter bead

Thread – UTC 70 Florescent Orange, you can also use a dull thread if you wish to omit the hot spot

Tail – Medium Pardo Coq de Leon

Body – Polish quills natural, olive, or ginger, you can also strip your own quills.

Collar- Dark Brown SLF Squirrel Dubbing

Take a hook and slide a tungsten slotted bead on it. Here, I am using a Hends Jig hook but Trout Legend and Dohiku also make nice small jig hooks.

Start your thread behind the bead and wrap back to the bend.

Take some CDL and snip a few fibers off for the tail. Keep it very sparse 3-5 fibers.

Take a few wraps forward to secure the tail.

Find your quills and remove one from the package. Because the quills are very dry and fragile, to prevent them from breaking or splitting during the wrapping process, I like to dip them in a little dish of water to rehydrate them.

Snip the fine tip off of the quill and tie it in with the dark side facing up. The quill should be bound to the near side of the hook. You can then wrap forward and make a nice smooth and slightly tapered underbody.

 Wrap the quill forward to create a nice smooth well-segmented body. Take care to keep any of the orange thread from showing through.

You can now take your dubbing out, here I am using dark brown but natural grey, olive, and black will also work.

Dub a sparse noodle on your thread; remember this is a collar not a thorax.

Wrap the dubbing behind the bead and then whip finish the fly.

And there you have a streamlined small nymph pattern that will shoot threw the water column and imitate a host of insects. By changing the quill or hot spot color you can cover bwo’s, PMD’s, sulpuhers or most any mayfly nymph. You can also see I choose not to lacquer or epoxy the body as I prefer a slim clean profile but you certainly could coat the body to increase durability if you like.