Taneycomo Green Crane Fly

[John W Kelly]

Over the course of several trips to Taneycomo, I've come across dense patches of green colored Crane Flies that rest on and hover around the large moss covered rocks. I don't know if trout would be too interested in consuming the Fly itself, but they may interested in the larva (worm) and pupa; especially when the water rises and covers the rocks. At some point, I would like to make some flies and try them out near the banks as a fun experiment. Here are some pictures, which I think are the separate stages of the green Crane Fly life cycle. 1. Larva/worm 2. Pupa 3.&4. Emerger 5. Crane Fly

[Phil Lilley]

Very interesting. And great pictures!! I tried a John Berry green butt soft hackle the other day with no results but they really weren't on the surface feeding that afternoon.

I think we'll get to tying and stocking shortly!

[John W Kelly]

Thanks Phil!

I found the Crane worm crawling around underneath the moss, there were a bunch of them, but I found the pupa floating along the surface of the water about a foot from the bank. Probably became disloged when the water rose (?). Came home from work yesterday and made a prototype of it. It needs a little refinement, but I'm looking forward to trying it out .

[Phil Lilley]

You nailed it. What material did you use?

[John W Kelly]

You nailed it. What material did you use?

I used a size 16 dry fly hook and hot melt glue. (EDIT: also a 1/16 black bead)

Here is a comparison pic. The live pupa was originally a more saturated green color, but unfortunately, it is no longer living...

[marcusearlt]

Well that looks about as natural as it can get, well done.

Question 1:How did you get the glue to be different colors?

Question 2: Have you got to try it out yet?

[John W Kelly]

Well that looks about as natural as it can get, well done.

Question 1:How did you get the glue to be different colors?

Question 2: Have you got to try it out yet?

Thank you!

1. The glue sticks come in different colors, so I mix them like paint to achieve the color range that I want, then I move through the range as I apply the glue to the hook.

2. I initially gave a larger prototype of it a few casts without success, but at the time I was working on some other flies that I really wanted to try out, so I didn't give it much of a trial yet. I made a prototype of the larva/worm just the other day, so hopefully later this week I can try out both the pupa and the worm. The worms are a semi-transparent light green 'bloodworm', which are still currently active on the rocks.

I ran out of brown beads, so I grabbed what I had at the moment (nickel black) ..it's a prototype. I still need to put some brownish/greenish turd looking stuff inside of it (lol):

[DaddyO]

Now, this, is a cool thread. The fly looks great! Can't wait to hear the results.

[John W Kelly]

Thanks DaddyO!

The plan is to fish them close to the rocks and banks in the early hours (probably low water/no generation). If that doesn't produce anything, then I'll drift them out in the runs to see if they are effective at all. If/when there is water generation, then I'll try them by the rocks and banks again. I don't expect them to be 'hot' flies, but if I can tempt a few fish to sample them then the whole experiment will be a success.

It is possible though that trout don't even feed on them... .

[Geoff]

These are some awesome flies, interested to see how they fish.