Henry’s Crawfish
I was introduced to this fly by Chip Hall at Gillionville Plantation,
Albany, Georgia. Chip’s version was a take-off of a bonefish fly
by Tim Borski of Islamorada, Florida, but this final crawfish is a
simplified rendition by Henry Williamson. Henry is a fly fishing
instructor from northern Georgia with an eye towards designing flies
that are easy to tie and catch fish.
This crayfish pattern is simple, but deadly for largemouth and smallmouth
bass, and for any fish that eat crayfish. The mottled effect of
natural deer hair mimics the broken camouflage of natural crawfish; when
crawfish swim, their claws are swept straight back behind them, as suggested
by the deer hair tail. Also, when bass bite this fly, the deer hair is kind of
crunchy, just as the natural crayfish must be, so bass tend to hold onto the
fly long enough for you to set the hook.
Tying Tips
Don’t try to make a work of art when tying this fly; it’s designed
to be a rough approximation of a baby crayfish, and as such, don’t
sweat the artistic dignity of this fly. You can enjoy the skill of fly
tying when you’re extricating the fly from the mouth of a husky bass.
Henry’s Crawfish is meant to be fished, and is most effective in the
smaller sizes.
Variations
You can add a palmered body hackle to this fly, but it’s really not
necessary. The lead eyes are tied on top of the hook, so when fished,
the fly swims upside down, keeping the hook point up away from snags,
making a weedguard unnecessary. Because the underwater take to this
fly is often light, and because the fly is so easy and inexpensive to tie,
it makes sense to just tie up a bunch of the, without worrying about
a weedguard. A weedguard is often a fishguard that makes hooking
fish more difficult.
Materials
Hook: 2X or 3X-long shank, heavy wire, sizes 4-10.
Thread: To match hair, 3/0.
Tail: Natural deer hair.
Hackle: Optional, brown.
Body: Natural deer hair.
Eyes: Lead barbell, or other weighted eyes.
Weedguard: Optional.
Originally published November 27, 2000 on Fly Anglers Online by Deke Meyer.