Hook Standard dry-fly hook, plus a dubbing needle or bobbin cleaner used as a mandrel for the extended body
Thread Tan or natural to match the moose hair 8/0
Materials
Moose body hair (extended body) Natural (dyed olive, tan, etc. for mayfly versions) (One fairly long, generous bunch)
Moose body hair (post, legs and wings) Natural deer hair (A second small bunch of 8-12 fibers)
Head cement Clear head cement (A drop on the extended-body whip finish and on the post base)
How to tie it
Clamp a dubbing needle or bobbin-cleaner shaft in the vise as a mandrel. Cut a long bunch of natural moose hair, clean out the underfur and short junk, and set it aside.
Attach the thread to the needle in one tiny narrow band of wraps, then lay the moose bunch on top of the needle and take two loose turns; wiggle the bunch so thread torque fans the hair evenly around the shaft, and bind it down onto that thread band so it cannot unravel later.
Gather the whole bunch of hair, hold it against the needle and spiral the thread up the hair to form evenly segmented extended body, stopping at the length you want.
Take three or four turns at the top, then cross-hatch back down the body catching the existing wraps, take a few turns at the base, and spiral back up the original track to the tip.
Whip finish about four times at the tip, cement the wraps if you like, cut the thread, then twist and pull the finished extended body straight off the needle.
Put a hook in the vise and lay a small band of thread in the front third. Tie the extended body down on top of the hook by its whip-finished front end.
Lift the butt ends of the moose sticking up in front of the tie-in, wedge thread in front of them and wrap a base so they stand up as a parachute post; add a drop of head cement into the post base. Crane flies have no tails, so trim the rear of the body off short and stubby if needed.
Take a second small bunch of 8-12 moose fibers, clean out the underfur, and split it into a left and a right half alongside the post. Reach behind and tie both halves down at the back of the post, then pull the front ends forward and tie them down in front.
Split the fibers again and pull them out to the sides so they splay as legs, temporarily securing them; tidy up any strays.
Whip finish at the front, then pull the leg fibers out to the sides and stand the post fibers up as wings to finish.