Redfish and Specs Saltwater Swap

[vsyogi]

Anyway I can jump in on this I would like to tie up some merkin crabs if it's cool. Is the due date still in February?

[peregrines]

Luis- Sure jump in, great to have you in this one. I'll jump in too with something, so we have 6 tyers.

Due date is Feb 1, 2010 I'm thinking everyone should plan on tying 12 flies-- we may get more folks, but if not everyone will get 2 from each tyer back

[Kerry Pitt]

Sounds good to me

[vsyogi]

So this is my first merkin crab. I know it's not pretty but it should work. I feel like i should add marabou with the krystal flash. What color should I use, chartreuse? And I wasnt sure if I should crimp the barbs down on the hooks, so I left them barbed. Any other advise would be greatly appreciated.

[peregrines]

Luis that looks great. Nice job. It should fish well just the way it is-- but if you want to add some marabou (or rabbit, or fluff from the base of another feather) you might want to go with something in the tan or brown or orange family (I often add a bit of orange since it imitates eggs), but again it looks great as it is.

I also taper the body a bit into an oval (instead of round or squared off), with the narrower part near the eye and the wider part near the bend-- I think it helps the fly plane down towards the bottom, but other folks catch fine without trimming it like that.

Just as an example, in Keys Guide Lenny Moffo's version called a "fleeing crab" http://www.flyofthemonthclub.com/sto....asp?item=1513 you'll see that it just has the rubber legs coming off the tail position where you have a bit of krystal flash instead of from the body in a Merkin. Like the Del Brown Permit Fly (Merkin) it's a great bonefish fly in sizes 4-2 and in larger sizes 2, 1 and 1/0 for permit and reds. (A lot easier to tie since you don't have to worry about cutting off the legs when you trim the sparkle yarn). Other versions are tied with a sprig of squirrel or calf tail tail, marabou, small body feathers, rabbit, fluff from the base of a feather etc as a short tail, so feel free to "free style" it..

Just my 2 cents.

[vsyogi]

Thanks Mark hopefully when the weather down here lets up i'll test it with the flash, marabou and flash, and just marabou. Im pretty sure i'll go with an orange for the "eggs".

[Kerry Pitt]

I am tying the "Squimp." Shouldn't have any trouble getting it in on time.

[peregrines]

Sounds great Kerry.

[MikeyBob365]

so i have run into a problem, i have no way of getting the mylar because you can only order it online, and i will not have the time to tie once school starts to get in full swing... i'm going to try and laminate and see if that will hold. i tried just doing a lot of glue but that was easily torn regardless.

anyone have any other ideas just so i can have a plan c?

[Kerry Pitt]

Somewhere on YouTube I saw a crab being tied with a shell made out of foam with a film glued to it. Could you do the same for your spoon fly? You can by the rolls of pearlescent mylar wrap and foam sheets that are adhesive on one side. You may be able to do something with that combination.....Kerry