Backward crawdads

[SilverDoctor 0]

This thread is all about bass, but trout love crayfish once they get big enough to tangle with them. Once I started looking for them on my local trout streams here in the eastern Catskills (and in the Poconos), I started to see them everywhere, and last season I caught more trout on a small crayfish than on any other pattern. (The Esopus in particular is full of them.) I tie a miniature version of Chuck Kraft's Klaw-dad on a no. 10 or 8 TMC 5263, and cream (for the molting ones) was my most effective color. For crayfish this small, you'll need to cut your ultrasuede claws yourself (shops sell the pre-cut claws only in sizes appropriate for bass flies), but you can tie a lot of flies out of one small swatch of the material. Try using the ultrasuede for both the claws and the shellback. The more legs the better, and I use a shaggy dubbing for the body rather than chenille. Cohen's carp dub comes in great crayfish colors, as does some of the stuff from Fly Tiers' Dungeon. Cast up-and-across, mend so the fly gets to the bottom, and twitch back in 4-5" strips. I don't have a terribly high percentage of hook-ups, but I sure get a lot of nips and flashes, sometimes four or five on the same cast.

[Guest]

There are tiny rattles that are sold for tying into flues. I use them in dragonfly larvae and crayfish, but can't say I've noticed a big difference in hit ratio.

 

I do notice that, unlike when I'm using spinning gear, I get more strikes on a smaller craw (10-8) than a bigger one. I don't mean the smaller craw opens up the party to smaller fish, I mean more nice-sized (pound and up) bass.

[Guest]

By the way, a weighted "tied down caddis" makes a really good crayfish.

[JSzymczyk 0]

Metal bead chain scraping on rocks will make a different sound than crayfish exoskeleton scraping on rocks.

[milkman 0]

Metal bead chain scraping on rocks will make a different sound than crayfish exoskeleton scraping on rocks.

Interesting point. I was looking for "the scrape", without considering the characteristics of the underwater sound. Bass might sort the metal sound into some category other than crawfishy.

[mikechell 0]

Metal bead chain scraping on rocks will make a different sound than crayfish exoskeleton scraping on rocks.

Probably ... but I doubt ANYTHING we do accurately mimics real sights and sounds underwater.

I would say, any sound in the water will draw more attention than rejection.

I've watched fish sit still as a "rattle trap" swims within inches of them. If that loud rattle doesn't spook them, I don't think the sound of metal bead chain on rocks will. But it will make them investigate ... and that might be all it takes to incite a hit.