Whats your favorite Crayfish patern

Fredrick

Fredrick

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I seen this fly on the TV show The New Fly Fisher . It called the Full Motion Crayfish looks like one of the beter crayfish paterns that I have seen so far . On the show they used Holschlags crayfish hop technique but of course they didn't give him credit for it .
Here is my favorite patern The Holsclag Hackle Fly
Flies013.jpg
 
Clouser crayfish and buggers for me.
 
A bugger with rubber legs and dumbell eyes for me...
 
Plain marabou in a bugger or Holshag Hackle Fly (as shown in Frederick's photo) are tough to beat - not only for smallies but trout too. I think crayfish are under-rated as trout food. Big browns love 'em in the summer, esp at night.

Anyway, in keeping with my preferance for very heavy and highly realistic flies, here's "my" crayfish. The claws are foam sandwiched with felt. The foam claws "stand up" in defensive posture when the fly is on the bottom. Under the cray's tail is a large dumbell weight. The hook is a jig hook. I find this pattern very effective when fished low and slow in a hopping retrieve or fished dead drift. In the end, though, less complex patterns that lean toward impressionism probably catch as many bass. I think the key with crayfish patterns is to use a LOT of weight.
 

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I agree.Presentation is most important.Then shape, size and color. :) But hey,I'm no expert .
 
The clouser or a Moose mane crawfish.
 
"Tan or olive bugger." I have to agree with that!
Years ago, I tested several crayfish soft plastic lures. The realistic ones (the ones that looked exactly like a crayfish with pinchers and legs) didn't do nearly as well as a simple tube bait. I had to cut the pinchers off to catch smallies!! LOL
I've tried several different hackles and several different rubber legs and found the best action with the best results are with no hackle at all.
Soft hackle seems to work OK, but not when I Palmer it, I just put a small amount on the head of the bugger.
IMHO simple is better. I test a lot of woolybuggers in the water and I must say that a good quality marabou is the most important thing.
A good thick marabou tail with properly tied on dubbing makes a killer crawdad!
Also, it's really a fall rate with a thin tippet that makes the bugger look alive. I found tungsten eyes to be the best. Heavy with little volume. I tie lots of different weights for different applications.
Finally, I still think that the woolybugger is the best fly to use on a flyrod. All freshwater fish seem to grab it with gusto.
 
Buggers and Clousers Crayfish for me (tied in the original pattern). The original Clouser Crayfish pattern is in Fly-fisherman magazine , sometime in the 80's. The use of both cork and lead in the fly is something i've never seen on any other pattern.
 
Fishidiot, how long does it take you to build one of those?

All,

I like a variation of the clouser crayfish. Basically the same fly but uses nymph skin for the carapace and has some rubber legs. Deadly.

Colors choice can be tricky: you should definitely spend some time catching a few on the water you want to fish before tying.
 
YRG,
That crayfish is actually fairly easy to tie - I suppose it takes me about the same amount of time as would a Holshag Hackle Fly - perhaps a couple minutes longer. With this particular version, I usually build the claws separately in groups and this of course adds some time, but only a few minutes. Much of the time, esp with smaller sized versions, I just use felt cut-outs for claws rather than the foam/rubber band version shown in the photo. It did take me a good bit of practice to get the felt overbody template right. I think many crayfish patterns are too narrow and too stiff.
 
That "rubbery" appearance the claws have on a natural that is scooting backwards is hard to imitate but the marabou comes pretty close. Thinkin about this i think there are two main scenarios i'm trying to imitate and two different flies to accomplish them. A crayfish in retreat is best imitated with the bugger type fly , A crayfish that has retreated and is in "hang" mode is best imitated with the clouser type , what do y'all think?
 
Here's a few crawfish patterns I tied.
 

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i like the backwards bugger with the marabou up front and i add 2 peacock herl for antennae i tie them in dark olive and brown and add weight back near the bend in the hook and a little flash doesnt hurt
 
Fred,

Didn't I show you Kelly Galloup's crayfish when we in GSMNP that trip?

http://www.slideinn.com/store/product_info.php?cPath=23&products_id=385

I tie it inverted... he fishes his streamers high in the water column. I bounce that beast along the bottom and crush bass, and big browns. I've also tied it with little rattles in it for the early season, dirty water pre-spawning bass. I think it helps, but its not easy to cast.

DF
 
You never crushed any BASS who you kidding Chairforce . Were are those bonefish pics at ?
 
I have to agree with the clouser pattern. I have had good luck with small mouth on the susky. They are the best looking pattern that I have come across.

clouserflyfishing_2083_5054264
 
hbgfsh...........whoot.........there it is!!!!!!
 
Its a nice pattern but it has little movement
 
frederick..........you know how when you startle a crayfish they scoot away from you in that jerky scoot , that motion is best imitated with the buggers and those type flies , but when they get to the end of the scoot , they kind of hang there a few seconds , thats the time for the clouser , you just have to figure out what stage of the scoot they are lookin for , but you will , that's what makes it so much FUN.
 
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