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Crane flies are of the family Tipulidae and of the Order of Diptera or true flies and are the largest family of flies in Australia with some 800 species. An alternative name particularly in the United Kingdom is 'daddy long legs' but of course they should not be confused with the wispy spider often also referred to as a 'daddy long legs' in Australia. They are wispy flies that dance across the meniscus of soft flowing rivers and still water and occasional find themselves on the trout's menu. Daddy long legs type flies are very popular in the United Kingdom and are becoming increasingly popular in Australia particularly in the middle summer weeks when the naturals find their way onto the water.

Whilst the size range from 2mm to 60mm it's the larger specimens that are of the most interest to fly fishers. They are a very buggy looking fly and useful as a dry fly, a top dropper fly when loch style dry fly fishing or as an indicator when fishing a team of dry smut flies or other small flies.

Materials

Process without optional rib

	Process with optional rib

A	Wind the thread in touching turns to the bend of the hook. Understanding hooks Dub on a thin cigar shaped body along the back 2/3 of the hook shank. Single strand dubbing

B	Tie in 2 legs on each side of the fly with each leg made up of two pheasant tail barbules knotted together. Knotted legs

C	Tie in two matching hackle wing tips directly in front of the body with one on each side of the hook and facing backward. The wings are tied in relatively flat with one tip on each side of the shank of the hook. The V between the wings should be between 30 to 45 degrees and the tips just slightly higher than the shank of the hook.

D	Tie in a cock directly behind in front of the legs with the shiny side forward. This is contrary for most dry flies as with the shiny side forward the hackle will slope marginally backward when the hackle is wound forward to the eye of the hook. Dry fly hackle Take the thread forward to the eye of the hook.

E	Wind the hackle forward in touching turns to the eye of the hook. Tie the hackle off with a couple of firm wraps of the hook and trim the excess. Build up a neat head of thread. Neat thread heads Whip finish and varnish the head.

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