Cratfish patterns

Hi Bob, Yes I noticed that there always seemed to be a good number of crayfish around. My last time out I watched as a fair sized crayfish fended of a curious trout. I found a video for a crayfish fly using a glass rattle, a small zip tie, and squirrel strips. I believe it was a Tightline video. For trout, I would keep them small to moderate but for bass, larger sizes would be better. I always liked the Jig and Pig when bass casting on the lakes.

Bill

Hey Bill, can’t speak from experience but was told (or read) that a light gray or cream colored woolly bugger is a good imitation of a molting crayfish, which has shed its exoskeleton and is a soft and tasty morsel. I have seen these crawdads and they are practically translucent!

Bigger trout love “meat”. Yes, crayfish patterns work well for trout, especially bigger trout (Browns). Great place to get some nice crayfish flies for a good price is – Woolybugger Fly Co. Jason carries crayfish flies. I’d recommend when fishing to use a sinking tip line or a sinking leader (the poor man’s sinking tip line) and fish them slow on the bottom. Crayfish swim “backwards” so most flies will have the head/claws toward the hook end of the fly. Good choice for a fly in our streams. Give it a try and report back!!