Episode 40 Notes: Crayfish Patterns
Mar 9, 2020
Hey Folks, Here are some the crayfish patterns I mentioned on the podcast.
First we'll talk about Rick Hafele's pattern. I'm pretty sure he calls it the creeper crayfish, but I'm not 100% sure. The original pattern is pretty simple:
Claws - Red Squirrel bunches tied either side of hook and divided
Thorax - dubbing to match color
Legs - soft hackle to match color
Carapace - Red Squirrel butts from claws tied over dubbing. (I find it helps to fold the squirrel forward, tie it down and then fold it back over the dubbing to form the carapace).
Rib - gold wire
Abdomen - continue with dubbing
Overbody on tail - continue with red squirrel butts
Telson - tail - leave the butts long but trimmed even
Modifications I add include mono eyes and a bead at the tail. The bead is nice in that it adds weight, but also forces the telson up so it doesn't get in the way of your eye.
The thing I really like about this fly is that you can tie
smaller sizes and easily modify the color based on what you have
locally. Check out this picture: 
Where from left to right, the claw/overbody material is:
Either fox squirrel or grey dyed red squirrel
Reedbuck (for my South African readers - and because the color is a good match for my local crayfish
Red Squirrel (the teeny Eastern US species)
and Grey Squirrel
Another of my favorite patterns is Kelly Galloup's "Galloup's Craw. Super simple and very suggestive: Side view:
Top View:
which is super simple.
Head/Antennae - spun deer hair - small bunch with a few fibers left long for antennae
Claws - Zonker rabbit strips
Body - cross cut rabbit strips to match claws. Palmered
Telson - a trimmed bit of the cross cut rabbit strip
I love this because it is super simple and it is easy to modify. I love using squirrel strips in place of rabbit. And because there is no top or bottom, you can tie lead eyes on and it will ride hook point up (and be weighted).
Lastly Selene's Orange Sure Bet:
This fly is a killer-
Head - brass cone
Body - trimmed deer hair - orange, tied muddler style
Tail - Orange and Chartreuse Zonker Strip (and good luck finding this!).
So, with that I'll sign off til next episode!