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Whilst not of significance individually to fly fishers Daphnia are certainly a common and substantial food source for trout particularly rainbows.

They are Crustaceans of the sub-order Cladocera (Water Fleas). Individually Daphnia are less than 0.5mm in size and colours range from pale green to dark olive. They are communal  in nature and are often described as clouds of Daphnia. It is this communal nature that puts Daphnia on the trout's shopping list. They are high in nourishment and when the clouds are dense the trout can literally swim through the cloud gulping down hundreds at a time and getting a feed. These clouds are mostly found at depths of from 20 to 70 feet in thermoclines or layers of water trapped between the warmer surface layer and the much colder deep water. When the weather cools down however and the Epilimnion or surface layer thins out, particularly in the evenings, the Daphnia can rise right to the surface. Tell tails signs of the presence of Daphnia are the presence of a green granular slime in the stomach contents of fish, clouds showing up on sounders, or as the water cools down, active surface feeding when there is clearly no hatch.

I designed this Daphnia fly to represent a dense part of a cloud of Daphnia. Because it has heaps of body movement when twitched it is also a good prospecting fly in its original olive colour or other colours even when Daphnia are not present.

Materials

Process

A	Wind the thread in touching turns to the bend of the hook. Tie in a marabou tail equal in length to the hook length. Tails on flies Return the thread to the bend of the hook and form a dubbing loop. Build up a uniform under-body on the rear 90% of the hook shank which is about as thick as a match stick.

B	Capture a section of marabou or Zonker in a clamp and cut it of as close to the quill or skin. Similar to dubbing with a dubbing loop

C	If necessary trim the but ends so that a uniform amount extends outside the clamp.

D	Place the quill or skin end of the Marabou or Zonker fibres between the dubbing loop and remove the clamp.

E	Twist the dubbing loop and fibres into a dubbing loop rope.

F	Wind the dubbing rope forward to the eye of the hook in touching turns stroking the fibres back toward the tail as you proceed. Tie just 4 strands of Krystal flash in directly behind the eye of the hook so that they trail evenly along the sides of the fly. Build up a neat head, whip finish and varnish. Neat heads

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