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Featured Fly - Epoxy Back Cray

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B.C.Trouthunter has sent me this amazing tutorial on tying the Epoxy Back Cray. This fly was the winner of the bass categories and was awarded the new St. Croix rod. For this tutorial he has taken 30 very detailed images that shows us exactly how he ties the pattern and how to prepare the materials.

 

Note: There are three pages to this article so be sure to read the entire article wink.gif

 

Thanks to B.C.Trouthunter for our latest featured fly, you guys have really be sending me some amazing patterns lately.......keep em coming!

 

 

Epoxy Back Cray

 

 

user posted image

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Totaly AWESOME! Killer looking fly, a proven contest winner, but much more valuable in the water, I'm sure. Excellent tutorial, I just printed it, and will tye up a dozen of those real soon. Thank you B.C.Trouthunter! I really appreciate this.

 

Graham

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Great tutorial and photography. Very detailed. I will for sure tie up some of these. Thanks B.C. Trouthunter

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Wow....

 

I'm going to give this a shot. Should be easy, due to the awesome, detailed tutorial.

 

Thanks a ton, BCT!

 

Cheers!

 

Gary

 

P.S. What is the purpose of the bead-chain "eyes' at the critter's back end? help.gif

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Good question Gary! I was wondering the same.

 

I tied some of the earlier version of his cray but I like the look of the bent shank and epoxy back much better.

 

Michael

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Thanks for posting this Smallie, and thank you guys for the kind words.

 

The bead chain eyes can be replaced with a heavier wieghing dubmbell eye, but since I did not have any availible I used a bead chain. The purpose of the dumbell eyes is to counter the weight of the thorax, and thus let the fly pass through the water a bit more upright. Also, if you are stripping the fly through the water with occasional rests, then the heavier dumbel eye will let the fly sink tail first, much like a real cray does when comming to rest.

 

Hope this helps, and if I did not say this clear enough, PM me and I will try to make an illustration. dunno.gif

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Looks awesome! headbang.gif

 

Though I was thinking I might add some to the tail by the eye (do they call them fins or what on crayfish?). I might tie the fly both ways, the fin looks better for a more dead drift or slow crawl retrieve, but I like no fins when stripping the fly. My ultimate dream is to develope a crayfish pattern where the tail folds under the fly when you strip it, I haven't figured that out yet, or found one like that. Other than that I might trim the tip off the feathers for the claws to give them a forked look, not sure about that one either though. All in all, I can find nothing wrong with this fly, again awesome.

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Excellent tutorial and very impressive looking fly! Just for the sake of simplicity, how necessary is the epoxy?

 

Best-

Stack Scoville

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Flytyer-1,

The epoxy is there to add more durability to the fly and it gives it a bit more shape. If you look through the tutorial, you will see that the fly only has two wraps of thread holding the strip of thinskin onto the thorax. Also, I think the ostrich herl might break while fishing, so as you can see it is more for the sake of durability.

 

Recently I have been experimenting with this pattern. I noticed that if you wait until the epoxy is almost dry, but still not hard, and then just slightly press on the epoxy a couple of times, then it will dry rough because of the finger prints (I don't think I have ever seen a crayfish with a polished, smooth exoskeleton laugh.gif ).

 

 

Scarface Z

Try making the pattern without the dumbell eyes and add a piece of tail shaped swiss straw to the hook in the following way. (Red line represents swiss straw and how it might move during the retrieve, green arrow indicates direction the hook is moving, and the black shape is the hook as it is roughly meant to be bent for this pattern).

 

Tell me how it works if you get a chance to try it. dunno.gif dunno.gif dunno.gif

post-2-1110351291.jpg

Edited by B.C.TroutHunter

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QUOTE (B.C.TroutHunter @ Mar 9 2005, 02:54 AM)
Tell me how it works if you get a chance to try it.

Yeah, swiss straw is what I've used in the past. It may be a while before I can try tying this pattern, I'm at college without a vice or any of my materials. crying.gif

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Been playin around with the pattern and using my biology book and Scarface's tail idea, I got this.

 

user posted image

 

It also includes the antenules, has two pairs of claws for durability, the claws are tied in behind the eyes and are clipped near the stem, and I added a tail that will fold when stripped.

 

Thanks for the kind words guys and the ideas. cool.gif

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Have you tried this on the Browns in the Cowichan River? When I was a kid, in the pre-flyfishing years, sometime after the Tyranosaurus and just before the invention of the wheel (the round version) I used whole baby crays for Browns there. I used to fish for perch under the Six Mile bridge as well. Of course I hung out all over that area, fishin' wastin my life away.....them were the days.

The View Royal, Metchosin area were my home for a long time. smile.gif

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