crayfish prototype

[GeorgeMcFly]

made 2 up. realized shellback should be on opposite side after 1st one i tied. seeing its inverted like a clouser minnow. just used squirrel tail for claws. that buggy olive chenille for body and olive swiss staw (raffia) for shellback and tail and copper ribbing. oh and used some tan rubber legs for attenae up by the squirrel. heres some pix and 1 pic of what it looks like underwater. looks decent enough. will perfect it tomorrow tho. am gonna make it up in brown too. made this after a friend gave me a pattern he got from ebay and he couldn't figure out the pattern materials and well neither could I and I don't got um anyways so i just used other materials instead. what ya think? any suggestions on it??

[sandfly]

try building the thorax up a little more, will give it a better look.

[GeorgeMcFly]

i used some lead underneath to try to bulk it up but it muust not of helped much. hah

[Joni]

MAN!!!! I would take a dozen........BURNT ORANGE but the Green is cool.

[Joni]

Are those chain eyes heavy enough to make it float hook up?
You got me thinking Crayfish now. I do think they are a grayish green, here anyway. I have this PEACOCK sheeting material that might give the right effect...Hummmmm
I might have to hit the tying table.

Tell me though, how do they float or swim. I know backwards so you want the pinchers coming out of the hook area, but do the bounce/float butt heavy or head heavy? In other words, should I weight the eye area or the hook area?

[Frank Whiton]

McFly, that is a darn good first try, I like it.

Take a look at this crawfish. I really like the side profile. They won't let me copy a picture but you can see it here. It might give you a couple of ideas about your fly.

I don't mean to imply that there is anything wrong with your fly. Just a different approach. I might use some rubber legs material up front.

Frank

[GeorgeMcFly]

Joni. I think the beadchain eyes are enough you make it ride point up but I have not tested it out yet so i am not 100 percent sure.. thanks for the link Frank thats a great looking cray! I did add 2 tan rubber legs to the front for antenae but they are hard to see in the pix. maybe should I make them longer than the claws or or use black instead.

[GeorgeMcFly]

Originally Posted by Joni

Are those chain eyes heavy enough to make it float hook up?
You got me thinking Crayfish now. I do think they are a grayish green, here anyway. I have this PEACOCK sheeting material that might give the right effect...Hummmmm
I might have to hit the tying table.

Tell me though, how do they float or swim. I know backwards so you want the pinchers coming out of the hook area, but do the bounce/float butt heavy or head heavy? In other words, should I weight the eye area or the hook area?

not sure if the weight in the back or front matters much. weighting the front can work too I am sure. just like a wooley bugger or clouser would. I usually use just a brown wooley bugger for a crayfish but this guy gave me this one crayfish and told me to try to make something kinda like it so I gave it a try thats why its the olive colors. I am gonna make brown too now that I get the idea of what i kinda wanna do.. I got all spring anyways. crays around here are good in the summer but not much in the spring.

[sandfly]

Anytime you add weight to the top of a normal style hook it will flip upside down..just the way a hook is made.with balance from the hook bend and point. When you add the lead did you add it in the thorax area ? I like clouser crawfish for trout and bass myself..

[GeorgeMcFly]

I added it up the body from beadchain to front. but I am not sure if its really lead. on the roll it says 28 guage wire. its silver and not to thick and is easy to break off without cutting it by bending it back and forth