Favorite Crayfish patterns?

[caddisflyer]

I was wondering what other guys are using in a crayfish pattern. I have always liked the Clouser Crayfish, the smaller one tied with turkey feathers not the furry foam one. I have ordered from Clouser but have tied them too. Sort of a hard tie for me. I like the darker version over the lighter one. I have caught trout and bass but it is also a very good carp fly . I haven't ever seen it mentioned for carp but I found out by accident that it is a good one for them. I fish underwater flies very little these days because I am mostly interested in dry fly fishing for trout but this would definitely be one I would use more if I did. Been getting interested in carp a bit lately because I find them very challenging.

 

[fcarp]

I liked the clouser for slow/dead drift presentations.

Klawdads are good anytime. I like em a lot in olive.

Foxee minnows are good too both carp and bass. Can add legs to them, change the eyes to mono eyes or vary up to med lead. I go fairly sparse on the flash especially for carp.

Also smaller woodsman’s and circus peanuts can be good too for active retrieves (and you can make them in the 3-4” range).

These are all fairly similar flies, lots of rubber legs. I don’t like to get too involved for bottom flies as I don’t want to spend an hour on something I’ll be trying to drag near the bottom.

 

[PennKev]

Woolley Buggers with lead or brass dumbell eyes and rubber legs.

The alternating swept back and then splayed out look of the legs and marabou when the fly is twitched or stripped key IMO.

There are a lot of realistic looking and intricate patterns out there, but they usually miss the mark in terms of imitating lifelike movement of crayfish.

 

[Bamboozle]

I tie a simple pattern consisting of Kreel Claws for the claws, Estaz or other less flashy chenille for the thorax & abdomen, Furry Foam for the "shell" & tail, D-Rib as ribbing over the abdomen and Spirit River I-Balz for eyes.

I have in the past added a few turns of hackle through the thorax for legs but usually I don't bother.

 

[jifigz]

Closer Crayfish. There is no better crayfish pattern than that.

 

[tomgamber]

Tan or olive bugger with bead-head of some sort. I have a few with lead eyes that you'd think would make it ride in a better position with hook up, but find them less effective. It's probably me.

 

[poopdeck]

My favorite is the Creamers HD craw. What I like about it is it features the claws and the tail and not so much on legs and eyes. It’s also tied belly scratcher style so it rights hook point up.

I’ve dumbed mine down a bit and just use yarn or dubbing for the body. Sometimes I throw some PT fiber legs in but mostly I don’t waste time with legs. I tie them a bit smaller, don’t mess with the hot tipping, and prefer pine squirrel strips over rabbit zonkers. I fish it on the drop and don’t really drag it much. I find the fluttering of the claws on the fall is a super trigger and something claws made of feathers or bucktail don’t do.

 

[JimNovo]

I’m a fan of this one.
Fun to tie.

 

[troutbert]

Closer Crayfish. There is no better crayfish pattern than that.

I agree that the Clouser Crayfish is very good.

But a small Wooly Bugger in an appropriate color is also good. I prefer the light colors (cream, light olive, tan, etc.) rather than dark colors.

 

[Beernut]

Cathy's super bugger is one of my favorites.

 

[Bamboozle]

FWIW - The first crayfish pattern I ever tied got me my biggest ever Letort brown, well over 25 inches whose presence was revealed to me by none other than Charlie Fox..

The fly was basically a long shanked hook wound with chenille with hackle wound through the thorax for legs. The back was a single piece of very thin chamois hand cut in the shape of a crayfish using a pattern I created.

Before the days of microfiber lens cleaning cloths, chamois like this was sold sold at vision centers to clean eyeglasses. The chamois was very thin & soft so it worked great for the purpose. It was almost white so I colored it to resemble crayfish I've caught in the Letort with Chartpak markers which were all the rage in those days.

I won't bore you with the details of catching that bruiser but I still have that crayfish and to this day it remains as the ONLY fish I ever caught on that fly...

...so I guess I just got lucky that evening on the Letort... 😉

 

[caddisflyer]

I agree that the Clouser Crayfish is very good.

But a small Wooly Bugger in an appropriate color is also good. I prefer the light colors (cream, light olive, tan, etc.) rather than dark colors.

Wooly Buggers in all sizes are my go to underwater fly. Really a versatile one. Most of mine are dark olive or black. Will have to try some lighter versions this year. Definitely an easier tie than the Clouser Crayfish or some of the others.

 

[caddisflyer]

FWIW - The first crayfish pattern I ever tied got me my biggest ever Letort brown, well over 25 inches whose presence was revealed to me by none other than Charlie Fox..

The fly was basically a long shanked hook wound with chenille with hackle wound through the thorax for legs. The back was a single piece of very thin chamois hand cut in the shape of a crayfish using a pattern I created.

Before the days of microfiber lens cleaning cloths, chamois like this was sold sold at vision centers to clean eyeglasses. The chamois was very thin & soft so it worked great for the purpose. It was almost white so I colored it to resemble crayfish I've caught in the Letort with Chartpak markers which were all the rage in those days.

I won't bore you with the details of catching that bruiser but I still have that crayfish and to this day it remains as the ONLY fish I ever caught on that fly...

...so I guess I just got lucky that evening on the Letort... 😉

Great story. Ive SEEN some of the monsters in Letort but never managed to catch one.

 

[brookiefan]

Funny how the Wooley Bugger is mentioned so much both here and elsewhere as a top pattern. I've tried it numerous times but have never even had a strike on it let alone caught something.

 

[Bamboozle]

Funny how the Wooley Bugger is mentioned so much both here and elsewhere as a top pattern. I've tried it numerous times but have never even had a strike on it let alone caught something.

I was TAUGHT how to be more effective with Woolly Buggers buy a balls-out rank amateur fly fisherman who I taught how to fly fish!!!

I always cast my Buggers and stripped them back to me. One day I met my beginning buddy Joe at the Little Lehigh and he was dead drifting a Woolly Bugger under an indicator. I remarked he was doing it "wrong" and he proceeded to make a monkey out of me by catching a fish. 😳

I learned something that day about Buggers and being dumb and since then I almost exclusivity dead drift Woolly Buggers.

If you are making the mistake I made, try a dead drift the next time...

Good luck!!

 

[Dave_W]

Agree with all of the above.
For the Clouser Crayfish, I think it's better if tied with dumb-bell eyes and with the hook facing up.

Here's my crayfish. . .
I like realistic flies with lots of marabou, rubber legs, and soft synthetics.

I've found it very effective if dead drifted (as Bamboozle recommends) right along the bottom - a killer for trout during high water events in springtime. While everyone knows about the role of crayfish in the diet of smallmouth bass, I think they are underappreciated as trout food.

 

[sandflyx]

 

[a23fish]

I was TAUGHT how to be more effective with Woolly Buggers buy a balls-out rank amateur fly fisherman who I taught how to fly fish!!!

I always cast my Buggers and stripped them back to me. One day I met my beginning buddy Joe at the Little Lehigh and he was dead drifting a Woolly Bugger under an indicator. I remarked he was doing it "wrong" and he proceeded to make a monkey out of me by catching a fish. 😳

I learned something that day about Buggers and being dumb and since then I almost exclusivity dead drift Woolly Buggers.

Did your catch rate go up when dead drifting? Stay the same? I've never thought about dead drifting the WB.

 

[tomgamber]

I've stripped buggers like a baitfish, jigged them from a float tube like a leech, trolled them in a drifting canoe, dead drifted them like a big black stone fly or hellgramite, dragged and bounced them along the bank, like a crayfish. Probably other ways too. Buggers rock.

 

[jifigz]

They say the only way to fish a bugger wrong is if it's dry.....I would have to agree. They just plain out catch fish.