Of Hoppers and Crickets....

All about flies Fly Tying
1

I was tying up a few Elk Hair Caddis’s for a local shop yesterday, and my mind wa drifting to bluegill fishing, and how much I was looking forward to fishing for them this weekend. They LOVE crickets.

Then, I started really looking at the Elk Hair Caddis I was tying. Other than the general side sillouette, it doesn’t really look much like an adult Tricoptera. I examined it from the bottom,. the way a fish would see it, and realized this looks as much like a grasshopper, as it does a Caddis Fly. Tied in all black, it should make a good cricket pattern. Tied in green, yellow and/or brown, it’d be a great hopper.

My B.S. was in Biology, so I know that fish cannot count, so the number of legs is irrelevant. The large angled rear leg is also redundant, because a fish has mere seconds for a window of opportunity to decide to eat, or not, before the bug either drifts away, or another fish grabs it. This doesn’t leave a lot of time for the fish to examine it closely. As long as there is nothng obvious wrong with the fly, like ridiculous proportions, or wrong shape/size, it should work. I’ve been spending tons of time tryng to tie realistic-looking crickets (I hate tying knots in feathers or rubber legs for the rear jumping legs), and it may have been unnecesary.

Everybody else has probably already figured all this out a long time ago, but for me, it was something of an epiphany.

I have tied a few of these up in black, and I will see if the local panfish will accept my humble offerings tomorrow.

Here it is…the black Elk Hair Bug (I am dropping the Caddis from the name for this color).

Hook: #10 Cabelas Model 03, Dry Fly Hook 2X long.
Thread: black 6/0 Unithread
Body: black Superfine dubbing
Hackle: black Whiting Hen Neck, tied in by tip and palmered forward.
Wing: Black Elk Hair

I think that any self-respecting panfish is going to have a hard time passing this up. I’ll know tomorrow.

Ciao, y’all!

2

Hi Joel;

Looks very cricketey to me, hopefully the panfish agree!

Wayneb

3

Fish love attractors. You have a real nice tie there, and it should work well. Pls let us know!

4

Is the difference between the profile of a cricket and beetle - the little hump on the beetle, the bit longer body of a cricket - the only important difference? I guess crickets have longer legs? Anything else?

5

I’ve been wondering how to tie a really good simple cricket and here it is. Thanks Gig!

Tim

6

Very nice! Add a spun deer hair head to it and it would be very similar to a Latorte cricket, which is a very good cricket pattern.

  • Jeff
7

Gigmaster,
Your fly looks good! Here is a Black Stimulator, that is similar, and has added wing material and a hackled head:
http://hatchesmagazine.com/patterns/Black-Stimulator/7706/
Doug

8

As noted, looks like you pretty much reinvented Ed Shenk’s Letort cricket. Shenk himself, at least according to his videos, doesn’t actually spin a deer hair head, but rather just tied a deer hair wing a la an elk-hair caddis.

The Letort cricket has a plump black body, a black turkey slip underwing, and a black deer hair overwing/head. The Letort hopper is the same, but uses different coloring.

Just to comment on your tie, it looks as if a) you cut the tips of the elk wing off; and b) left a lot of under fur in the wing. Was the latter intentional for some reason?

9

Does elk hair have underfur? I guess I answered that question.
I cut the tips of the elk hair because I don’t have a hair stacker, and the recipe for an Elk-Hair Caddis says to put the hairs in a hair stacker. I cut them to make the ends even (sort of). And the length on a caddis is supposed to be the length of the hook shank, so I cut them that length. If I did wrong, I must plead ignorance. Sometimes, when one is faced with a lack of materials or equipment, one must improvise…for better or worse.

In reality, it is just an all-black Elk-Hair Caddis…simple, no-frills, and quick to tie.

Semper angli.

10

One sometimes has to make do.

I understand cutting the tips but get a hair stacker if you can. I think the tips make the fly look nicer - less blunt.

Those fuzzy hairs flying around is the under fur. Before putting your elkhair into the stacker (or tying it on directly in this case), try to get that stuff out by combing it out. Fly shops sell a certain type of comb to do this, but a mustache comb purchased at your local pharmacy would probably do the trick.

-Steven

11

Hi Gigmaster,

One way to get rid of the under fur is, after you’ve cut your clump of deer/elk hair, pinch the “good ends” and use a bodkin, or sewing needle, to just pick it out (run it through the clump).

Also, you can use a film canister as a hair stacker. Cut the bottom off, put the lid on, and put the hairs in through the cut off end. Doesn’t have quite the weight of a regular stacker, but will work in a pinch.

Anyway, I have no doubt that your cricket will work really well as tied. The rest is for the fisherman after all!

  • Jeff
12

Gigmaster,

I like simple flies, and the elk/deer hair caddis type patterns are great hopper/cricket imitators…I can’t see a need for ‘underwings/long legs/unneeded details’ on such a fly when the fish won’t care. Most flies are tied so that the tier can show off his skills, not so just to fool the fish…we’ve prretty much proven that fish aren’t too bright…

For what you are doing here, a hair stacker is not needed.

If you pull the hair to 90 degrees from the hide BEFORE you cut it, the hairs will be even enough. I hate that ‘straight even tips’ stuff on wings…real bugs don’t look like that…and the fish certainly don’t care, even a little bit. The natural tapering that th e tips of the hair gives you, along with slightly uneven lengths, looks more natural and save you time at the bench.

As far as removing the ‘underfur’, if you don’t already have one, you can get a set of cheap plastic hair combs from any dollar store for a buck…the one with the finest teeth will work just fine…better than many things made for the task.

The only ‘problem’ with the ‘underfur’ on a pattern like this is that it absorbs water quickly and can sink your fly…if you waterproof or aren’t concerned about it sinking, then it’s not an issue and it certainly adds to the shaggy appearence of the fly…not a bad thing all in all.

The only thing I do differently on the fly you posted is to cut all the materials flush with the body on the bottom, so it floats on the water flat and level…easier for the fish to take it there…the ‘round’ hackle profile can sometimes make it lean or even lay on it’s side…makes it harder to get the hook into the fish that way.

Buddy

13

Thanks for the suggestions. I will take them to heart. I especially like the one about trimming the bottom hackle flush with the body. It makes good sense.

BTW, I finally got to go try this one out at the local lake. I caught about 35 bluegills, all in a little over 1 hour. It took me longer to fillet them than it did to catch them.

I think this pattern works. I used a black foam cricket on a few casts with my other fly rod, just to compare them. The fish reacted differently to the foam. On the Foam cricket, they would rush up to it, and stop a few inches away and look at it. They wouldn’t hit it until I twitched it. On the Elk-Hair, they just rocketed up out of nowhere and grabbed it, viciously. It’s almost like it made them mad, or something. The panfish were in post-spawn.

14

Excellent outcome! Curious about the different reaction to the foam version though. I wonder if the hair wing creates the impression of moving wings, while the foam version actually requires movement (illusion vs reality). Maybe next outing compare the “flush cut” vs “hackle as is” to see if there’s a difference there as well. Anyway, thanks for the update as I’ve been wondering how it turned out.

  • Jeff
15

If I recall correctly, you can essentially use your hands and fingers to functionally create your own hair stacker without going out to buy one. All you do is take the clump of hair in you right hand, place the tips down vertically towards the palm of your left hand and loosen your grip on your elk hair with your fingers enough to allow the elkhair to fall to the flat surface of your left hand without loosing control of the hair. It evens up the tips pretty well and works fine once you get the hang of it. You could also easily make one with a pen cap and the pen body. Lastly as for the underfur comb, I found that using my fingers again works well. Just grip the ends of the elk hair with your left hand tightly and slightly less tightly use your right hand to grip the butt ends of the elkhair and pull, letting your right hand slide along the elkhair. Repeat a couple of times and most of the underfur comes out. Hope it helps and makes sense.

16

http://www.geocities.com/kafinlayson/Smallmouth_Swaps/Smally_VI/Directions/gavin_poppen_Directions.htm

Heres a pretty good cricket…a black madame X works really well too. Cheers.

17

I use a small ‘flea comb’ to remove underfur - a pretty cheap solution, available from any pet store.

Cliff