Heff2 0 Report post Posted February 16 10 hours ago, niveker said: Way too involved for a crawdad pattern Thx Niveker, appreciate the feedback and you picking up that complicated little crawdad. Thx, @muskyFlyGuy Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
niveker 0 Report post Posted February 17 14 hours ago, Heff2 said: that complicated little crawdad Tied 2 so far, not really happy with the results, mainly proportions. Will try one more tonight and then post them up. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
niveker 0 Report post Posted February 18 Cowbell Cray Tied three, I'm done. I found it to be an aggravating fly to tie. Now I know why I have seen them selling for $7-8 a pop. Left to right: first, second, and third tie. I found getting the portions correct to be the hardest part. Happiest with the last one, as far a proportions go. Of course, I tied mine hook point up, which complicated the tying a bit. It makes no sense to me NOT tie a crawdad with the hook inverted. I think in the comments section of Charlie Craven's YouTube tutorial, he mentions the fly is meant to be fished under a bobber so there is no need to invert the hook, but fishing a crawdad under a bobber makes even less sense to me. Anyhow, here are my meager offerings for this challenge. I didn't realize until I was writing up the recipe that I had forgotten to tie in the rubber legs along with the claws, probably saved myself a couple of choice curse words with the omission. Hook - # 6 octopus / #6 bass bug / # 6 caddis pupae Thread – Tan Eyes – Melted mono Mouth – Natural pheasant tail Claws – Pheasant breast feathers Back – FTD SP Pearl BB brown/ FTD Baby Bug Back gold Rib – Copper wire Hackle – Brown Dubbing – FTD UV-X Rainbow Dubbing, rust / Aunt Lydias Rug Yarn, tan Hook #2 – Any ol' ring-eye hook Cone – Tungsten to size Joint – Dacron backing Back – FTD SP Pearl BB brown/ FTD Baby Bug Back gold Rib – Copper wire Front Legs – Burnt orange hares mask Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
niveker 0 Report post Posted February 18 Next challenge fly: Brammer's Mini Feather Craw Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Heff2 0 Report post Posted February 18 2 hours ago, niveker said: I tied mine hook point up, which complicated the tying a bit. Nicely done, point up is likely a good idea for this one Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
niveker 0 Report post Posted February 19 Thanks Heff2. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
flytire 0 Report post Posted February 26 On 2/18/2025 at 4:18 PM, niveker said: Next challenge fly: Brammer's Mini Feather Craw anybody? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
niveker 0 Report post Posted February 28 I'll tie one up tonight. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
niveker 0 Report post Posted March 2 Brammer's Mini Pheasant Craw side view top view bottom view Hook - #4, down eye Bead - 4mm flat black Thread - black Keel - 2 strips lead wire on top of shank Antennae - pheasant tail Claws - back feathers from melanistic pheasant Body - 4 back feathers from melanistic pheasant Carapace - red neck feathers from normal pheasant with an aftershaft feather to fill the gap in behind bead. Tied a little differently from Gunnar, who ties it streamside here: https://youtu.be/_oSB1OkQmEw. - used down eye hook instead of 90 jig - added a keel to ride hook point up - used darker melanistic pheasant - added the aftershaft feather as I didn't like the gap after tying in the last 2 neck feathers I like it more than I thought I would, its got a nice impressionistic shape on the vice, will have to find out how it swims. Photos failed to load again not going to deal with it tonight. Hopefully the photos will stay this time. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
niveker 0 Report post Posted March 2 Let's get small! Next challenge: Jack Tucker's IOBO (It Oughta Be Outlawed) Humpy Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
gadabout 0 Report post Posted March 2 Hi niveker, I believe that fly already appeared in the Challenge - in January. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SilverCreek 0 Report post Posted March 2 Perhaps some of you might be interested in the history of the IOBO Humpy. The origin of the IOBO Humpy goes back to the very early days of the internet before the World Wide Web and Netscape Navigator. Fly fishers all over the world communicated by email using Flyfish@, a worldwide mailing list. The lack of images led to some interesting discoveries. Hans emailed us his directions for tying the CDC and Elk. No one in the USA tied with or knew about about CDC before Hans introduced it to Flyfish@. You need to understand that no one had a photo of the CDC and Elk before the WWW. All we had was the Flyfish@ mailing list, in which a description of how the fly was tied was emailed to each member. Think old school type written instructions except you read them on a monochrome computer screen. No graphics except what you can draw with ASCII characters. So although Hans described how the fly was tied, we could not actually see how it was tied. There is a bit of serendipity in all this because, members tried to duplicate the CDC and Elk. One of our members, Jack Tucker, tied up what he thought was a CDC and Elk from Han’s directions. It was a killer fly. It was later discovered that Jack’s fly was not a CDC and Elk at all. It was not until the The Flyfish@ dry fly swap that members saw the CDC and Elk tied by Hans himself. Once Jack realized that his fly was NOT a CDC and Elk but an effective fish catcher, he called it the IOBO for "It Ought to Be Outlawed." From that fly was spawned the IOBO Humpy. Although it is not as well know as the CDC and Elk, the IOBO Humpy is a pattern that has caught many a trout for members of Flyfish@. Hans has put both the pattern and a video up on the WWW. The original IOBO is basically a single type 4 CDC feather wrapped around the hook with the tips forming the upright wings. IOBO Humpy Regards, Silver Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
flytire 0 Report post Posted March 2 IOBO already has been a challenge fly https://www.flytyingforum.com/index.php?/topic/120413-challenge-fly-pattern-list-2025/ 308 please revise your selection Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
flytire 0 Report post Posted March 2 challenge flies to date Challenge Fly Pattern List - 2023 - 2024 - 2025 - The Fly Tying Bench - Fly Tying Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
flytire 0 Report post Posted March 2 6 hours ago, niveker said: Brammer's Mini Pheasant Craw side view top view bottom view Hook - #4, down eye Bead - 4mm flat black Thread - black Keel - 2 strips lead wire on top of shank Antennae - pheasant tail Claws - back feathers from melanistic pheasant Body - 4 back feathers from melanistic pheasant Carapace - red neck feathers from normal pheasant with an aftershaft feather to fill the gap in behind bead. Tied a little differently from Gunnar, who ties it streamside here: https://youtu.be/_oSB1OkQmEw. - used down eye hook instead of 90 jig - added a keel to ride hook point up - used darker melanistic pheasant - added the aftershaft feather as I didn't like the gap after tying in the last 2 neck feathers I like it more than I thought I would, its got a nice impressionistic shape on the vice, will have to find out how it swims. picture didnt come through? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
