Fiddler Crab

[Fred H. 0]

Trying to come up with an easy to tie and cast fiddler pattern. First attempt. Any thoughts on how to make it better.

[riffleriversteelheadslayer 0]

looks good bro are they edible?

[Kirk Dietrich 0]

Well Fred, a few extra photos would help. From the top, that claw looks killer and I would imagine is the key trigger for redfish or any fish used to eating fiddlers. Don't know if the fish would care, but the shell looks a tad bit narrow but I doubt they are measuring. I like the little wiggly legs out the back too.

Now, my only thought on making it "better" would be to substitute the mono wrapped body with a spun/clipped to shape wool body/carapice or a Merkin style body. I think the claw is key and would certainly keep that. The little wiggly legs could stay and I'd put some kind of prong weedguard. I think that claw is the killer key and as long as you can make a body that allows the fly to be gently stripped and move natural then you have a fly that Sheepshead and Redfish will ravish. Now, that is whether the body is wrapped mono or another material, although a dead fall after a splat would still probably get a strike with it looking so realistic.

I'd have to cast it and fish it on the end of a fly line/leader to provide any real thoughts on it.

Great work again,

Kirk

[Fred H. 0]

Well Fred, a few extra photos would help. From the top, that claw looks killer and I would imagine is the key trigger for redfish or any fish used to eating fiddlers. Don't know if the fish would care, but the shell looks a tad bit narrow but I doubt they are measuring. I like the little wiggly legs out the back too.

Now, my only thought on making it "better" would be to substitute the mono wrapped body with a spun/clipped to shape wool body/carapice or a Merkin style body. I think the claw is key and would certainly keep that. The little wiggly legs could stay and I'd put some kind of prong weedguard. I think that claw is the killer key and as long as you can make a body that allows the fly to be gently stripped and move natural then you have a fly that Sheepshead and Redfish will ravish. Now, that is whether the body is wrapped mono or another material, although a dead fall after a splat would still probably get a strike with it looking so realistic.

I'd have to cast it and fish it on the end of a fly line/leader to provide any real thoughts on it.

Great work again,

Kirk

 

Thanks Paul and Kirk. Kirk the body on this fly is deer hair wrapped with thread. Lead is first tied on under the hook to ensure the hook will ride point up . I could have controlled the shape of the body and made it translucent using mono but tying in a batch of deer hair works for this pattern and its a simple and quick way to get the shape I wanted. A weed guard will be added on future flies . Thanks for the imput ,it's much appreciated.

 

Fred

[Kirk Dietrich 0]

The deer hair body sounds good, it will help turn the fly over hook point up. I like it a lot more now. If you put some ram's wool in a dubbing loop or a synthetic material, you could make a body, trim to shape and it may be quicker than spinning deer body hair. Although, you won't have the floatation of the deer hair to help turn the fly over, which on a fly without a wing like this one is probably needed. Just thought I'd throw that out there as a way to quicken the tie but that's coming from someone that his fastest fly to construct is about thirty minutes, so, I wouldn't take much stock in what I suggest as far as speeding up a process.

It really comes down to what you're comfortable with and I've just always found deer body hair a pain to work with. I envy you guys that just go right to it for making stuff.

 

Kirk

[Fred H. 0]

The deer hair body sounds good, it will help turn the fly over hook point up. I like it a lot more now. If you put some ram's wool in a dubbing loop or a synthetic material, you could make a body, trim to shape and it may be quicker than spinning deer body hair. Although, you won't have the floatation of the deer hair to help turn the fly over, which on a fly without a wing like this one is probably needed. Just thought I'd throw that out there as a way to quicken the tie but that's coming from someone that his fastest fly to construct is about thirty minutes, so, I wouldn't take much stock in what I suggest as far as speeding up a process.

It really comes down to what you're comfortable with and I've just always found deer body hair a pain to work with. I envy you guys that just go right to it for making stuff.

 

Kirk

Kirk , this is not spinning deer hair. This shot is from a different pattern but it shows how to add bulk to a pattern easily.

 

And I don't know why I let the speed of the tie into the conversation. Noone , when faced with a fish that being very selective , looks into their fly box for the fly that took them the least amount of time to tie.

 

Fred

[Kirk Dietrich 0]

The deer hair body sounds good, it will help turn the fly over hook point up. I like it a lot more now. If you put some ram's wool in a dubbing loop or a synthetic material, you could make a body, trim to shape and it may be quicker than spinning deer body hair. Although, you won't have the floatation of the deer hair to help turn the fly over, which on a fly without a wing like this one is probably needed. Just thought I'd throw that out there as a way to quicken the tie but that's coming from someone that his fastest fly to construct is about thirty minutes, so, I wouldn't take much stock in what I suggest as far as speeding up a process.

It really comes down to what you're comfortable with and I've just always found deer body hair a pain to work with. I envy you guys that just go right to it for making stuff.

 

Kirk

Kirk , this is not spinning deer hair. This shot is from a different pattern but it shows how to add bulk to a pattern easily.

 

And I don't know why I let the speed of the tie into the conversation. Noone , when faced with a fish that being very selective , looks into their fly box for the fly that took them the least amount of time to tie.

 

Fred

 

Picture says a thousand words.

 

I like that quote about facing selective fish.

 

Kirk

[Peterjay 0]

Nice tie Fred - looks just like the fiddlers I've got out in the back yard, except yours probably smells better.

[mikechell 0]

This is ugly, but I modified your picture to draw the changes I'd recommend. While in the military, I spent a lot of time around salt water ... maybe that's why I don't like it so much now. What I obsserved was this: Fiddler crabs, like most crabs, only spread their claws wide for display purposes. While they might do this to fend of an attack from a large fish, it's more likely they tuck and run to get away. So, the claw would be more correct if folded in front of the crab. And if the crab IS fleeing, they always swim so the claw presents the least drag, with the claw trailing the "elbow" , so the hook would be reversed. So here's the ugly picture for an example.

 

 

[Fred H. 0]

Thanks for all the kind words and imput guys. Kirk , here's a better look at how deer hair is tied in for this fly.

And Mike , since the big claw is tied apart like an extended body you can have it comming or going.

 

Thanks for the suggestions , keep em comming. This pattern is still evolving.

 

Fred

[mikechell 0]

NOW you're cooking with gas !!! I like the folded version !!!

[AndrewP 0]

Fred: Just a thought ...

 

I have no idea how you are constructing the claw arm. But I do like the earlier mention of having the claw folded in. My thought was if the arm was somewhat elastic (rubber band?), that when stripping the claw would "fold in", and when the fly was paused, the arm would slowly spring back out .....

 

Make sense?

 

 

AP

[Fred H. 0]

Fred: Just a thought ...

 

I have no idea how you are constructing the claw arm. But I do like the earlier mention of having the claw folded in. My thought was if the arm was somewhat elastic (rubber band?), that when stripping the claw would "fold in", and when the fly was paused, the arm would slowly spring back out .....

 

Make sense?

 

 

AP

Andrew, it's do-able and probably solves more problems than one. That would have less wind drag than a fixed claw and should move to let the fly track straight when retrieved. I used Spanflex to solve a similar problem on a frog pattern I'll give it a go here . Thanks Andrew.

Fred

[P.G. Beckett 0]

I make a very similar crab out of natural chamois . The easiest way that I found to make a "swinging" fiddler crab claw is to first fashion the claw and arm with a single layer of natural chamois, then at the claw end, only, add another layer of chamois to both sides, using GOOP, to give it that typical "club" look. Be sure to to put a coat of flixament or lacquer on the finished claw part only; not on the actual arm. When the chamois arm becomes wet, it will be very flexible and with even the slightest movement of a fly line it will cause the claw to move in an almost life like manner. I hope this can be a help to you- Phil