Small dry
Crane Fly
Skated leggy searcher
Trout · GraylingSurface
Long-legged crane-fly adult blown onto the water in late summer; a big leggy dry, deadly skated on a wave.
Fish this when
Gusty late-summer days when naturals get blown onto lakes and slower pools and a skated pattern can pull fish up from well below the surface.
Why it works
The long trailing legs create the same skittering disturbance a struggling natural crane fly makes, a movement cue that draws attention from much further away than the fly's actual size would suggest.
Naturals it imitates
adult crane fly / daddy long-legs (Tipula)
Typical zone & fishable range
usually
Surface
Film
Subsurface
Deep
Setup sensitivity: medium
Quick facts
Tying difficulty
Intermediate