Tipula maxima - Large Crane Fly
On bright and breezy autumn days, the daddy long-legs get blown onto
rivers and lakes in big enough numbers to cause quite a stir in the trout
world. These are large flies with wingspan up to 6 cm or more, and often
the largest trout, which generally feed below the surface, will rise to
take them.
Most cranefly species are terrestrial, although some of the smaller
ones are in fact of aquatic origin and do, therefore, return to the water
to lay their eggs.
This very effective pattern was devised by Derek Hoskin. The body is of
deer hair fibres, the thorax is ethafoam, coloured by a waterproof pen,
the legs are knotted pheasant tail fibres, and the wings are hackle
points. It takes time to tie really good imitative patterns such as this,
but the rewards can be very great indeed.
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