Carl's Easy-Crab .

This is probably the easiest and quickest way to make crab patterns. I usually tie these small to represent baby crabs and they have even caught mullet tied on a size 12 and 14!

What you'll need.

• Black or brown thread 6/0 or similar.
• Pheasant Cock tail feather
• Green marabou (or any colour that takes your fancy)
• Seals fur in various colours (the real stuff)
• Dumbell eyes or lead wire (if required)
• Nail Varnish
• Mustad 34007 hooks in size 6, 8 10 and smaller if required. I go as small as 14. This is a size 10.

Step 1

Start the Thread on the hook and work down the to the hook bend above the barb.

Step 2

Tie in a small tuft of marabou about 1 cm long

Step3

Over that, tie in a good pinch of Long pheasant tail fibres. These need to be tied in at a lenth where they can be taken bacb to the eye and then back to the tail (see below). Basically, you need about two times the length of the hook shank sicking out. Trim. As shown they are a little long.

Step 4

Wind a large pinch of seal's fur around the thread and wind this in a ball back to the eye.

Don't wind it too tightly as we need to pick out some straggly bits.

Step 5

Take take the phesant tail fibres up to the eye of the hook making a "Shell" over the seal's fur and tie in facing over the eye.

Step 6

Fold the protruding fibres back ove the hook with equal amounts on each side of the hook. Tie them in making sure they lie along each side of the fly.

Step 7

Take a dubbing picker and tease out some of the seals fur. You can also use a bodkin or velcro if you don't have a fancy dubbing picker.

Step 8

Varnish the "shell" to make it a little more resitant to the teeth of the fish that are going to munch it.

Step 9

An that's it. Fly Finished and ready to swim. If you wan to add weight you can use dumbells or lead on the hook shank.I fish mine unweighted as baby crabs usually get washed about.

Being honest, I'd have liked to have seen the legs on this crab above a little bit shorter so they end about where the front of the shell is but it'll still work like this.

That's it, you have crabs!

Happy tying and if you have any problems, We're in the Forum
Tight loops.

Carl

Carl Hutchinson is a qualified instructor with the EFFA and FFFUSA and runs saltwater fly fishing Mullet with www.corporateflyfishing.com He is a member of the 55 yard club and current Roxtons International Saltwater Fly Casting Champion and has fished extensively in many saltwater locations and specialises in saltwater fly fishing for Salmon in Canada.