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fly of the month 08.16
Dave's Cricket
Dave's Hopper
Fly of the Month 08.16
The ole timers used to fish for trout in the canopied Southern Appalachian mountain streams with a long “dapping rod” typically made of a hickory sapling that was soaked in water then tempered and straighten with heat. Eventually, fly rods made of wood, then split-cane, then metal, then fiberglass and today graphite have replaced the dapping tools of the past. A modern Japanese Tenkara telescoping graphite fly rod is much closer in function to the ole dapping tools. But this article is not about fly rods but rather the most common insect and fly used with these rods by the ole timers. The ole timer would collect bait and fish the three seasons for subsistence. That bait would consist of “spring lizards” which are salamanders, red worms, corn when in season, beetle grubs and crickets. Of all of these, crickets float and kick for a while on the surface making them the most useful and the most sporting with the dapping tools as the ole timer could watch the certainty of the trout take the cricket on the surface. The ole timer preference for crickets may also result from being easy to find due to their constant chirping. Also, as a side note, apparently one may determine the air temperature by counting the number of cricket chirps in one minute, divide by four and add forty to arrive at the air temperature, no thermometer required. Cricket In general, crickets, Gryllidae are nocturnal, exist world-wide only below 55 degrees’ latitude, and many are readily available in the forest where streams have a canopy. Field crickets, Gryllus domesticas are the target insect to imitate in the Southern Appalachians but there are a number of other species of cricket that are black or dark brown and live along streambanks. From late-spring to early-fall and especially during the summer months our mountain streams are warmer and terrestrials become a viable choice to entice trout – ants, beetles, hoppers, caterpillars and certainly crickets should be in the fly box. In late-summer the streams are beginning to get low and very clear. There are few hatches to be found. To find trout in North Carolina that will respond to these extremes you are either looking for the deeper waters along an undercut bank that is overgrown with vegetation or you are fly fishing remote, highly canopied headwaters where it’s cooler. So what fly do you pull out of the fly box that will most likely attract a trout from the only comfortable place it can find. Almost any terrestrial will likely work but considering what the ole timers depended on, a cricket fly pattern makes a lot of sense. In fact, a cricket fly pattern is a great fly to use three seasons of the year. The cricket fly pattern is fished as a dry fly, but not in a traditional since. Foremost a cricket fly pattern is a larger, bulky fly that defies a delicate presentation. However, as an exception to dry fly fishing, you really want your presentation to make a good, noisy splash just as a natural cricket would do as it falls into a stream. This would normally spook a trout when other hatches are occurring, but during a lack of hatch activity, a trout is typically hiding, feeding along the bottom or just into the shade along an overgrown or overhanging bank. In either case, the splash can invoke the attention of the trout. The larger, bulky cricket fly pattern will also not float very long before it begins to slowly sink. Normally, when a dry fly begins to sink, it is immediately time to re-apply floatant to make sure you have a long, high drift on the surface. However, as yet another exception to dry fly fishing, you really want your presentation to gradually sink just as a natural cricket would do as it drifts downstream. Trout will take a cricket fly pattern on the surface as well as in the upper water column depending on how long the trout takes to follow and move over into a position for the take. The cricket fly pattern may be tied in a number of sizes, styles and any color as long as it is only black or maybe dark brown. Sizes used on trout streams range from size 16 down to size 10. The styles vary from somewhat simple attractor patterns to very elaborate, almost realistic patterns. Watching Dave Whitlock tie his world famous Dave’s Cricket fly will give you a whole new meaning to fly tying. You have to practice to be able to tie a Dave’s Cricket in less than thirty minutes. But one must consider that the fly is so highly effective that you need a few in the fly box even if you have to purchase them. Other effective cricket fly patterns which are considered to be somewhat simple include the Letort Cricket, a number of Black Foam Cricket fly patterns and Han’s Cricket Fly. There are many, many more. There is one fly tying book on terrestrial fly patterns that has thirty-one cricket fly pattern recipes. To fish a Cricket fly, use a larger 3X-4X tippet size to better match the cricket fly size. Use fluorocarbon which is more transparent in water than mono such that a larger size is less noticeable. A cricket fly is presented in the same manner as a dry fly except the sheer weight of the fly will plop the surface with a good splash that demands the attention of any trout nearby. Cast upstream and across for a drift much in the same manner as fly fishing a traditional dry fly. The larger, bulky cricket fly will take some adjustment in the pause time on the back cast as it drops quickly. Drift the cricket fly down each feeding seam as well as very, very close to the stream bank, literally under the overgrowth if possible. Let the Cricket fly sink for a few feet further downstream just in case a trout is following or even waiting for the cricket to get close for the take. This is a “go to” fly for the “dog days of summer” and is effective on canopied waters from late-spring to early-fall in North Carolina. If you are an ole timer, then we are “preaching to the choir.” 
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