The bird turd crab and vinyl back mantis shrimp

[Piscineidiot 0]

Hi everyone,

 

I'm new here and just thought I'd upload a couple of fly patterns I've been mucking about with lately.

 

I designed these flies with golden trevally and permit in mind. I'm sure they'll also work on what we locally call 'blue bastards', a member of the sweetlip family that turns up on the flats here from time to time. Golden trevally feed a bit like permit, but are generally, much easier to tempt.

 

Either way, all of these fish like crustaceans and feed off the bottom, so the best flies are typically heavy ones.

 

I drew my inspiration for the bird turd crab from Hiromi Kubaki's crabs (Thought I'd tie an easier, more durable version). The mantis shrimp is inspired by one of Dronlee's (a member on this forum) patterns.

 

Anyway, enjoy.

 

Piscineidiot

[Piscineidiot 0]

For those who don't know, but are curious, here's a picture of a golden trevally too.

[agn54 0]

Welcome to the forum, you'll find a lot of good guys here and a few from your part of the world. Beautiful looking flies. Is the shell back made of felt coated with epoxy? Those things would work great here in Florida as well. Trevally look like they would fight like a beast with the forked tail and knot at the fork. Looks kind of like our jack

[Panama Red 0]

Welcome, beautiful flies, great detail. That trevally looks like a jack cravalle on steriods...

[Peterjay 0]

Welcome to the forum and great job on the critters. Excuse me if I missed something, but where exactly is your part of the world? Wherever it is, I want to go there. Preferably today.

 

BTW - if you have a link to Kubaki's work, I'd love to see it. He's supposed to be terrific, but I haven't been able to find anything online except a couple of patterns that may or may not be his. The ones I've seen are similar to Carl Richards' crabs, but like I said, I don't know if they're Kubaki's or not.

[Kirk Dietrich 0]

Crazy good looking flies!

 

Kirk

[lykos33 0]

I do believe that those would work on flats in any part of the world...maybe a lil color alterations...

Murray

[Piscineidiot 0]

Thanks for the compliments guys.

 

Sorry, it completely skipped my mind that I hadn't mentioned where I was... I live in Townsville, North Queensland, Australia - About halfway up the Great Barrier Reef.

 

Oh, and yes, the crab's carapace is tan felt with acrylic paint and covered with clear cure goo for durability.

 

Golden trevally are from the same family as your jack crevalle, but these ones feed much more like permit, doing the whole 'tailing' thing and specialising on crustaceans etc. since they have no teeth. They do eat fish too, but have a distinct fancy for things like prawns/shrimps and crabs. They certainly fight like jack crevalle too, taking long, fast runs and being incredibly hard to roll over.

 

Unfortunately, I don't have a direct link to Hiromi Kubaki's crabs... I just typed his name into google and sifted through the files until I found his crabs. They're the ones with deer hair/felt backs and silicone looking legs. He also ties his crabs with lead wire under the body instead of dumbell eyes, which I use (I like a bit of weight).

 

Thanks too for the warm welcome from all of you. I'm sure I'll enjoy being part of this forum - some very talented tiers here.

 

Cheers,

 

Owen

[FlyFishin'Jam 0]

Damn and i thought the crab shell was an arnott's pizza shape!

[Peterjay 0]

Thanks for the information, Owen - you guys have some great fishing down your way. I managed to find a couple of pictures of Kubaki's (Kuboki's?) crabs, and they are indeed beautiful, though I doubt I'd have the nerve to fish one. It looks like he uses pourable latex for the legs - I experimented a bit with it years ago, but got sidetracked and never tried it again. It might be worth another try, just for the fun of it.

[Angrypinfish 0]

That's a good looking shrimp on the first pic...

[Piscineidiot 0]

Sorry, Flyfishin'Jam, I didn't have any pizza shapes on hand. Not a bad alternative though.

 

No probs Peterjay, always glad to help out if asked. The fishing down here is pretty good, but you do still have to work at it... I laboured under the misapprehension that it would be completely, blissfully easy when I first moved up here from metropolitan Melbourne (about as far South as you can get on the mainland). Found out I was seriously mistaken. The rewards are much greater, but the knowledge, timing and skill still need to be there.

 

Thanks Angrypinfish - a 6kg (12lb) trevally thought so too, and took it home. Good thing I can tie more...

[mnorton 0]

Those are some very nice flies for just "mucking around"...

[Piscineidiot 0]

Thanks mnorton,

 

Tying flies is my creative outlet these days... Like to fiddle with a bit of feather and fluff.