Crayfish

[awojo]

I fished Penns the other week and could not get over the number of crayfish that were in there. Anyone ever fish crayfish patterns for trout? If so what is a good pattern to tie up? Thanks

 

[Alpabuck]

Lots of good patterns on the web! Stay off of Penns till temps come down!

 

[jayL]

Here's one fred ties:

PDF WARNING!
www.hafft.ca/Crayfish.pdf

And I agree with alpa. Best to let the lovely lady penns be until she comes down to a lower temp.

 

[jdaddy]

I fished forum member Mike Heck clawdad exclusively during the jam. It is quite a mouthful for the fish and my purpose was to catch larger trout, however I ended up with 11 fish all around 12" in a couple hours Saturday morning of the jam. Everyone else I encountered was chasing the drakes that morning. I will put some photos up when I get back home on Thursday or maybe Mike would put up photos or directions. It's an easy tie (as evidenced by the fact that I can tie it) black dumbell eyes, black chenille, rubber legs and micro suede tail shaped for pinchers. Drift, strip, tight line/high stick around undercut banks and weed beds on limestoners. Great for lm and sm bass too. In fact I may go throw one at this here ocean I am looking at.

 

[teedee]

I like the Clouser crayfish in vayious colors and fish it frequently for trout.

 

[Alpabuck]

I like the Clouser as well!

 

[Chaz]

Brookies eat them.

 

[MKern]

One tied in pink (molting color) work really well.

I use caryfish patterns in the fall. The crayfish forage on warm days before they hibernate. I have been on streams that you couldn't walk without stepping on them, but this time of year I see none.

 

[midnightangler]

i really like kelly galloup's crayfish pattern. however, i also think that a woolly bugger will work as well or better as any other crayfish pattern.

don't fish penns right now. its way too warm to fish.

 

[wildtrout2]

My best wild brown (19") which I have mounted, had a crayfish in his stomach. Big fish eat big meals.

 

[Squaretail]

Another vote for the Clouser crayfish. Its been a top 5 big trout producer for me, many times after the other flies were refused.

 

[Fishidiot]

Crayfish are highly under-rated IMO as summer trout forage. On occasion I'll kill a stocked trout or two in summer and they almost always have crayfish in their bellies. I rarely see this in the spring but, considering that warmer summer creeks are literally crawling with crayfish, I suppose it's a given that trout love 'em. With due respect to the venerable Clouser Crayfish, it's usually tied to ride hook downward. I prefer crayfish flies that ride hook upward.

Here's my crayfish pattern:

 

[Squaretail]

I'll take 2 dozen please. :-D

 

[ryguyfi]

All I know is that PennKev and I saw the biggest crayfish of our lives the other day when out fishing. It was probably in the 10" range. I got a picture from up above the bridge which doesn't show it's true size. Definately could have been one for the dinner table!

 

[Fredrick]

Here is mine

 

[PACOFRANSICO]

My favorite craw' pattern.

And i also saw a giant craw in the W. Br. of the Susquehanna a couple of weeks ago. Bigger than my hand I'd figure 6 to 8 in.

 

[PatriotFly26]

I use pacofrancisco's in a brown and not a tandem. So its actually nothing like his....
Its just a woolly bugger with claws and eyes for me.

 

[sandfly]

I use 2 a Clouser and a Moose mane Crawfish, both tied with hook point up.

 

[jdaddy]

Clawdad photo attached. Really easy to tie, indestructible, cheap materials, easy to modify sink rates, all making for a great fly to crawl along the bottom and loose plenty of without vomiting every time you break one off.

 

[snuffysmith]

Clousers, from a size 12 to a whopping size 2/0, Bass, Trout, and Walleye.