Tipulidae (Craneflies)
Anglers can encounter craneflies as early as June, but they’re more common in July and August and even into September. At dawn and dusk, these flies will buzz over the surface or rivers or near the shore to lay their eggs.
Tipula abdominalis or craneflies have long bodies, legs, and wings are mostly brown, tan, and sometimes black. They are sparse and spread out across the surface of the water causing excitement for trout that are keyed in on them with their twitching behavior.
Anglers fishing the Beaverhead River in late summer will find trout actively feeding on the adults in the riffles of the upper river. Montana fishing guides will rig up a "dapping" setup with an adult cranefly tied off of a dropper loop about 3' above a large soft-hackle to mimic the vertical, flittering action of an egg laying female just above the water's surface.
When fly fishing Montana lakes, these should be in your fly box as they prefer lakes, but slow-moving sections of rivers can see hatches as well. It is also possible to take fish on nymphs as they’ll key into them during the larval stage as well.
While not a common hatch on the rivers near Bozeman, Montana, it is worth keeping a few larvae and adult imitations in your fly box for that special occasion when trout are eating these large flies.
3 Essential Cranefly Patterns For Fly Fishing in Montana
