crawdad flies and tactics

[mikenfl]

I was wondering if anyone in the community had experience with using crawdad / crawfish files for stillwater. I see them on rocky bottoms and know the bigger trout eat them. Any information such as patterns that work, where to get them, retrieve or anything else would be helpful. Thanks
Mike, Northern California

www.norcalfishinglounge.com
Mike@norcalfishinglounge.com

 

[MoscaPescador]

I have not tried this technique for trout, but I have used it for Smallmouth Bass. Before I get into technique, I'm going to talk gear.

Rod - 9 foot 6 or 7 weight
Reel - Something halfway decent
Line - .024" intermediate running line with a 30 feet of T-8 to use as a shooting head.
Leader - 1.5 feet .024" leader material, 4 feet 8-10 pound test leader material

I fish from either a float tube or a pontoon boat.

Cast at a rock wall, and let it sink.

When the fly hits the bottom, lift the rod tip, and kick the watercraft back.

As the fly settles back onto the bottom, lift, and kick.

Keep repeating the process.

A fly that I use is Rick Anderson's Papi Chulo (loosely translated "bad a$$ daddy"). The fly has a lot of squirrel fur on it, so it sinks slowly even with its lead eyes. It has worked for me in both stillwater and moving water. Squirrel zonkers have lots of movement, and the UV flash glissens down deep.

Dennis

 

[Guest1]

I do quite a bit. It's my "see how many I missed" fly. Not many things work better on Smallmouth than a good crayfish pattern. I tie a pretty fair crayfish. It rides hook point up and has a thin skin tail that works pretty well at helping keep it from hanging up on the bottom. I let it fall all the way to the bottom and let it set for a good amount of time. Then do a series of short twitches and let it fall again. I try and mimmick the way a small crayfish attempts to swim away from a predator. Much of the time it gets hit when you pick it up. Here is the pattern I did for the site.
http://www.theflyfishingforum.com/forums/share-patterns/95742-dans-crayfish.html

 

[HuronRiverDan]

When I fish a cray on my local streams I use a fly similar to what MP uses. I cast upstream and let the fly sink to the bottom, then fish it back using small rod twitches to hop the fly through my target area.

Dan

 

[Rip Tide]

:secret:
Most people don't relies this, but smallmouth target crayfish after they molt.
The reason being that the pinchers are softer and smaller and less likely to pinch tender mouths and throats.
When a fly emphasizes the pinchers as a trigger, it's actually the opposite of what the fish is looking for.
I tie my crayfish "bugger style" with just a pinch of rabbit fur on each side to suggest under developed claws

 

[stimulator2]

I tie a cray pattern and fish it for trout some i just let it drift or twitch it some and have some success with it.

 

[troutdoorsman]

Tahoe local Tim Haddon has a cray pattern that works great for smallies and trout around here.

Umpqua - Dead Drift Crayfish, Haddon's?

Let it sink all the way and give it short strips back to you along the rocks.

 

[mikenfl]

Thank you all for the great help. This is exactly what I was looking for. Definitely going to give this a try. Great forum and I have found lots of good information.
Mike..

www.norcalfishinglounge.com