Juvenile Crawfish

[Fred H]

Tied with monofilament and mono thread with .025 lead wire for weight and flex seal head cement. It has a monofilament weed guard to protect the # 8 hook.

[melk]

Impressive indeed! How did you get the claws to look so real?
Awesome!
Mike

[turvy]

Very nice! How about a step by step?

[bowfin47]

Too cool!!!

[Fred H]

Thanks, Kyle ,turvy and melk. The claws are made with 25 lb mono for the main arm with 2 pieces of 10 lb test tied to the ends to form the pinchers. The segment in the claws arms are buit up with thread wraps and sealed with a drop of head cement. The other eight arms are made from 4 pieces of 25 lb mono that are flattened and heat kinked to hold their position. The entire fly is very sturdy , even the antennae is tied into the hook as a single piece of 6lb mono.

[melk]

Thanks Fred, an SBS would be great. When you do the claws do you tie a bunch at one time? I have to try this, once I get my soft hackling down!
Mike

[Fred H]

Thanks Fred, an SBS would be great. When you do the claws do you tie a bunch at one time? I have to try this, once I get my soft hackling down!
Mike

Yes , if I'm going to a show I'll tie up a couple of dozen before hand . Then demo a few at the table thru out the day. Good luck with the soft hackle.
Fred

[Byron haugh]

Really impressive! How long do they take to "tie"?
Byron

[Fred H]

Really impressive! How long do they take to "tie"?
Byron

Thanks Byron. I'm still working that out. This fly is the prototype and it took about an hour to tie. I had to stop and back up a couple of times to keep the proportions correct.

[jimp]

VERY nice work indeed.