Artificial crickets often work on wooded rivers as well as on meadow streams. Cast your fly close to the bank, just up-current of the fish, and allow it to float tight to the bank. You can twitch the fly, but try to avoid drag, the current's pull on the line or leader, which causes your fly to throw a V-shaped wake on the water. Crustaceans Fly tiers have created many artificial flies to simulate shrimp, crabs, and other shelled creatures for saltwater fly fishing. Freshwater fly fishers use imitation crayfish and scuds, often called freshwater shrimp, to take a variety of fish including trout, bass, and panfish.
Most crustaceans camouflage themselves by changing color to match the environment.
Look in weed beds for shrimp and similar creatures, and among rocks for crustaceans with harder shells, such as crayfish and, in salt water, small crabs. Match the size and color of the natural crustacean, and animate your fly so it looks alive, moving in short, quick spurts, as though it is trying to escape. Though they are entirely different animals, worms and leeches often share the same slow-moving water, and their similar undulating movements attract strikes. Many artificial flies made with soft furs and feathers look like real worms and leeches when you animate them to appear as though they are swimming along with the current or, in still water, as though they are escaping a predator. Salamanders, Snares, And Eels Salamanders prey on fish eggs, and water snakes eat fish.