Flymen Blog
Everyone Can Use a Few Good Crawfish Patterns in Their Fly Box
The thing with crawfish fly patterns is you tend to lose them in the rocks faster than you can tie some of the intricate flies that imitate these bottom-dwellers. The Fish-Skull CrawBody on the Sparkle Craw makes tying a crawfish imitation foolproof and fast.
But what is a Crawfish pattern if it doesn't get to the bottom? The Fish-Skull Shrimp & Cray Tail gets the Sparkle Craw to the bottom in no time.
Fly Recipe
- Hook: Kona Nymph Streamer 2XL (NS2), size #6
- Tail: Fish-Skull Shrimp & Cray Tail, medium
- Under Body: Ice Dub
- Antennae: Magnum Sili Legs
- Under Antennae: Fish-Skull Faux Bucktail
- Rib: Mono
- Over Body: Fish-Skull CrawBody, large
Learn To Tie Chase Howard’s Extended Body Drake, a Nymph With Movement That Is Out of This World
Dead drifting this fly into a swing works flawlessly as the Nymph-Head Evolution tungsten beadhead will get the fly deep quick, and as the fly swings, the Wiggle-Tail Shank offers tons of extra movement.
The weight of the bead isn't a compromise for realism as the Evolution Mayfly Swimmer & Burrower tungsten beadhead is molded after the common mayfly swimmer and burrower head profile – oval, elongated, and gracefully curved at the front but flattened at the back near the thorax with prominent, egg-shaped eyes.
We hope you enjoy tying and fishing this fly!
Fly Recipe
Rear
- Rear Shank: Nymph-Head Wiggle-Tail Shank
- Tail: Pheasant Tail
- Wing Case: Pheasant Tail
- Body: Rabbit/Synthetic Dubbing Blend
Front
- Hook: Kona Terrestrial Nymph Dry (TND), size #10
- Bead: Nymph-Head Evolution Mayfly Swimmer & Burrower tungsten beadhead, large, brown
- Connection to Tail Shank: Fluorocarbon Tippet, 2X
- Tail: Soft Hackle
- Wing Case 1: Pheasant Tail
- Body: Rabbit/Synthetic Dubbing Blend
- Legs: Soft Hackle Fibers
- Wing Case 2: Pheasant Tail
- Body: Rabbit/Synthetic Dubbing Blend
- Legs: Soft Hackle Fibers
- Collar: Rabbit/Synthetic Dubbing Blend
Intruder Style Flies Are Designed to Provoke Aggressive Strikes From Steelhead.
As the name suggests, the idea is to "intrude" on the steelhead's territory and trigger the "fight" response of fight or flight.
Meahan's Intruder is an approachable pattern for all fly tyers. So many Intruder fly patterns call for some exotic material, but with everyday materials Meahan's Intruder is a good fly for beginning steelhead tyers, but also a quick, good-looking fly for veterans as well.
The small rear loop on the Fish-Skull Senyo's Articulated Shank makes it easy to attach the rear Kona Big Game Hunter hook and allows the shank to be held straight in any vise, avoiding the need to tie the fly at strange angles. Not to mention, the splash of color added from the Senyo's Articulated Shank and the different variations available give you nearly endless color combination options for this fly.
Fly Tying Recipe
Hook Section
- Hook: Kona Big Game Hunter (BGH) hook, size #1
- Tag: Floss
- Body: Sparkle Braid
- Wing: Schlappen
Shank Section
- Shank: Fish-Skull Senyo's Articulated Shank for Steelhead and Salmon Flies, size 40mm
- Tag: Floss
- Body: Sparkle Braid
- Hackle: Schlappen
- Spreader: Deer Hair
- Wing: Schlappen
- Feelers: Ostrich Herl
- Hot Spot Wing: Schlappen
The Body Tubing Baitfish Is a Great All-around Baitfish Pattern
This fly can be sized up to chase peacock bass in the Amazon, or sized down to target small-stream smallmouth — any fish that eats baitfish will eat this fly!
The extended portion of the Body Tubing Baitfish has 2 main benefits for fly performance:
- Keeping the flash well behind the hook point makes it impossible for the flash to "foul" around the hook like is so common with flash tails.
- The Body Tubing acts as a rudder, giving the fly great movement in cross-current situations.
Fly Recipe
- Hook: Kona Big Game Hunter hook, size 2/0
- Tail: Flashabou
- Tail Extender: Fish-Skull Body Tubing
- Underbody: UV Polar Chenille
- Body: Craft Fur
- Underwing: Bucktail
- Wing: Craft Fur & Ripple Ice Fiber
- Eyes: Surface Seducer Dragon Eyes
- Head Sealer: UV Resin
The Devo Diver Is a "Best of Both Worlds" Sculpin Fly.
Most sculpin flies that we see are designed to do one thing — get deep in the water column.
While these flies certainly are useful in many fishing situations, a lot of flies tied in this style of fly do not have much swimming action. The Devo Diver, with its multiple articulation points of the Articulated Fish-Spine, is a fly that will get deep but also have lifelike movement in the water.