Crayfish Fly - Tail Only?

[Guest]

Read this post for the full story: http://www.talkflyfishing.com/index.php?showtopic=11408&hl=

 

I am looking to try out the theory that bass will strike just the tail of a crayfish more often one with a complete body. Anybody got any suggestions on what would make a nice "tail only" crawdad fly?

 

I'm thinking maybe a large caddis style hook to give it a nice curved look but so far that is about as far as I gotten.

[Joe Hard 0]

Your crayfish spey. I think predotary fish are used to crayfish and other things that have defense. I saw a program once about striped bass attacking a lobster. They were very weary of the lobster in its stance. One striper tugged a leg off, and then another. soon there were several stripers attacking the lobster and a larger striper came in and made off with the tail. The head and body and the legs wetre taken and the last thing was the claws. One of the claws was left to sink to bottom. A striper did return and grab it and spat it out. This fotage was near a warf where the were throwing tinkers back. If the lobsters floated slowly to bottom they were nailed and if swimming they were left alone.

This is very similar to a dying baitfish, it has lost its colour and is pale and weak. A bass would sooner eat an easy target than something it might have to expend alot of energy on.

[Redwings1 0]

I fish primarily Foxee Red and soft craw patterns with little to no definition on the claws. I will say that late season I do see a difference with smaller craws or a shadow rep of the claws, but early season it does no seem necessary.

[cornmuse 0]

There is a pattern I've read about and tied called "The Already Crushed Craw" - I think it might be a Skip Morris pattern. I know it is an Oregon pattern. It consists of orange chenille body and white rubber legs. Might have been a sparkle chenille or similar with a green/olive back. The idea is that it mimics a crayfish that has been hit by a smallmouth and regurgitated during a fight or simply swept away before it could be consumed. Fished dead drift, of course. The white, round rubber legs imitate the muscle flesh. I'll have to see if I can figure out where I saw this - it was a couple years ago.

 

I tied a few up to use on Twin Creek which is as clear as any piece of water I've experienced. I know the original pattern was designed for sight fishing smallies in very clear water. To tell the truth, I didn't have much success with the fly.

 

The Foxee Red clouser is a much more effective pattern for me. It's translucent and imitates the color, density and action of a soft craw just beginning to regenerate its carapace.

 

Joe C.

[mdwsr 0]

Interesting topic. I can remember fishing a feeder creek with live crawdads after seeing some lunker kentuckies hanging around several different rootballs while snorkling. I only got hits until I pulled the claws of the crawdads, and then my success improved dramatically. I tried to mimic this but was never completely successful. I also noticed that they would hit the lighter colored craws two to one over the hard shell dark craws, and all of them nearly every time on the fall.

[madkasel 0]

Very, very interesting. Great information, people.

 

I had no idea on any of this. It's illegal to fish with live craws in Wisconsin so it's not something I've thought a lot about.

 

I'll be following this thread with great interest!

[letumgo 0]

madkastel - This in an older posting and there was some other very interesting discussions about the use of a crayfish tail-only imitation. I believe the additional discussion was listed under a topic heading about crawfish pattern proportions (or something like that). I remember Redwings1 posted an outstanding fly pattern at that time which he called called crawtail. You may want to look the pattern up in the database. Enjoy.

 

http://www.flytyingforum.com/index.php?act...amp;showid=2565

[flytyer56 0]

When I fished large rubber crawdads on my spinning rod, I would always rip one of the claws off. The bass would hit them quicker that way because there was less chance of getting pinched when they ate it. You might try tying a craw with only one pincher.

[letumgo 0]

Here is the link to Redwings1 Crawtail posting:

 

http://www.flytyingforum.com/index.php?sho...amp;hl=crawtail

 

and here is the link for the discussion of crawfish proportions:

 

http://www.flytyingforum.com/index.php?sho...amp;hl=crayfish

[fly time 0]

Will, There is a lot of truth to this study, I heard the same thing a couple years ago, I have tried it, on a nymph hook tail was tied with deer hair, of course I weighted the hook "alot" and fished it on a sinking line, and the largemouth crush it, I dont have any at the moment, but Ill tie a few up and post a pict or two. I know this is about fly fishing, but I can also tell ya, if you do any spin fishing, you can buy rubber crawls, cut the tail off and weight it and it works very well too!!!

[Guest]

I know I prefer the tail...

[jschmidt63 0]

cornmuse

 

I believe the already crushed craw is a Deke Myer pattern. Nice pattern. I have tied a variation of that with good success.

 

I like the foxyred pattern too, or the sculpin.

 

I often use short rabbit for claws in two bunches. A pattern just with a little rabbit with some krystal flash may do it on a short hook, like a 3407 mustad.

[madkasel 0]

madkastel - This in an older posting and there was some other very interesting discussions about the use of a crayfish tail-only imitation. I believe the additional discussion was listed under a topic heading about crawfish pattern proportions (or something like that). I remember Redwings1 posted an outstanding fly pattern at that time which he called called crawtail. You may want to look the pattern up in the database. Enjoy.

 

http://www.flytyingforum.com/index.php?act...amp;showid=2565

 

Thanks!

 

.... oh, the things I didn't know I didn't know....

[wiggleminnow 0]

In the summer months when smallmouth are really pushing crayfish it really doesn't make that much of a difference. I've caught alot of smallmouth on big and small crayfish patterns, some with big claws some with small ones. I used to believe the theory on small clawed crayfish were eaten more than the big clawed crayfish. That theory changed a little for me this year when alot of the smallmouth I was catching were caughing up some big crayfish with big claws, and these were 1 to 2 pound smallmouth. I think when people tear off tails in a bait fishing situation Its the smell that draws the smallmouth to the tail. But I never tried a crayfish tail pattern before, maybe you guys are on to something.

[fly time 0]

Damn, I didnt know this was from 05 :wallbash: