For some reason crayfish have been on my brain. I have been trying to find a good fly pattern for quite awhile. I have never really seen a baby crayfish pattern. I was curious to what exactly a baby crayfish looks like. I found a few pics on google. I liked this one the best
You can see the crayfish are almost iridescent. The thing that really stands out are the eyes and antennae. There's basically no sign of the claws. I found some pictures of juvenile crayfish and the claws are pretty prominent.
So the challenge is what is the best way to imitate these. I have seen several crayfish patterns but nothing that was similar to the transparent baby crayfish. I decided to take a shot at it.
I'm not totally in love with these but they do have a small crayfish look. The bad part is I really didn't have anything for a tail.
I could have clumped the dubbing really thick at the tail but I was worried about too much buoyancy. I tied quite a bit of wire on the hook to get this fly down. I was thinking about maybe shaping the wire like a tail and wrapping the dubbing around that. The only bad thing about that is the wire is soft and would become misshapen easily. I'll have to wait a few months to try them out. Until then I'll just keep playing around and making prototypes.
I've continued to work on some other patterns I'm sure will work in VA by my Father In Laws.
It must be the cold that has me thinking about warmer water and bass.
Kevin
ReplyDeleteCrayfish is a killer when it comes to fishing for bass with the fly rod. I have landed some nice spots using both the dark color and the lighter color you experimenting with. I will be anxious to see the results of the new pattern. Thanks for sharing
A piece of felt cut in a triangle works great for crawdad tails. Nice looking fly.
ReplyDeleteI like the color you chose for them- I think the fish will too.
ReplyDeleteThey look great dry, how do they look wet?
ReplyDeleteDaniel, I have no idea. I haven't fished them yet. They have so much dubbing on them I hope they sink. I wrapped most of the hook with wire but even then I'm not sure.
ReplyDeleteI am convinced there is no better bait for big bluegill and sunfish that a 1-2 inch crayfish. They hammer them! I used to have a small pet bass that I fed a steady diet of crayfish. The little guy was RIPPED. They're full of proten and a very efficient meal for fish.
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