Here's one I call a softshell crab

[in-the-boat]

I tie these on 2/0 saltwater hooks. The body is flared deer hair clipped to a nice carapace shape.
http://www.intheboat.com/images/iveys-crab.jpg

[tyguy]

Nice crab! Can I assume you have a dumbell attached?

[mgustav]

Man, that is going to work.

tyguy, why would you assume putting a dumbell weight on it. I never put weights on these types of flies. The naturals swim freely in the surface. I live on the water and at night I will see juvenile crabs zooming all around my dock.

[striblue]

That's only one way to fish them . They all hug the bottom on flats for example

[mgustav]

They ALL hug the bottom of the flats? Untrue. Put a dip net in the water at the surface and see what you get. If you don't, you'll never know that they are not all hugging the bottom. You can't see them, you must net them.

[tyguy]

Most of the crabs I see in my area seem to hug the bottom - maybe I just missed the swimmers. Anyway, it is a nice pattern and would like to try it.

[striblue]

Look... ok they don't all hug the bottom... but where I fish they do 98% of the time. The point I was making though...is to tell a tyer to not consider putting a weight on it because you NEVER do is not good advice. Plain and simple! That's not just my opinion.... That's the school of never using a clouser and if you put any weight on a fly is not a fly..so I just don't agree with it..nor would I say to someone NOT to put a weight on a crab fly... and most bonefish patterns have that..not all..but most. Weighted flies can drift anyway..I would have said... "try it without a weight... see what happens where you are fishing".

[mgustav]

Yes, that would have been the thoughtful way of putting it.

[PeteV]

I like the deer hair crab. Just curious-- Do you think a fish will hold the fly a little longer because the hair gives a little when the fish munches on it? I've been having trouble with crabs and seem to be a little slow on detecting a take ...if the deer hair has the fish holding the fly just a little longer then that might give me an extra little bit of time.

[jjonas]

Do you think a fish will hold the fly a little longer because the hair gives a little when the fish munches on it?


Pete,
A friend of mine told me that he thinks that a crab fly should be “crunchy”. I never did anything with his theory but occasionally think about it. Your post reminded me of it. What he did was add something in dabs to the carapace to make them crunchy. So they were neither absolutely hard nor soft but would kind of crunch and give when you squeezed them. This crunchy business is for a hard shell crab, for a soft shell maybe rubbery is the texture you want. You got to think that texture has something to do with how long a fish will hold on to something. I haven't explore this much but thought it was kind of interesting.

Jason

[in-the-boat]

I didn't attach a dumbbell to this fly. I did wrap the hook with lead so It would sink since fish feeding in shallows often forage on the bottom. The fly could be tied without weight to simulate a swimming crab - I've seen a lot of Chesapeake blue crabs swimming, but they are usually much larger than this fly. Inmature crabs tend to hide or stay closer to the bottom since their small size would make them an easy snack if they spent a lot of time swimming near the surface - especially during the day light.

The fly could be tied with one claw larger than the other to simulate a fiddler crab, which I know is a favorite of Tautog. Adding weight would be appropriate for this situation to get the fly down to the rocks where the togs feed.

[striblue]

The internet is a funny thing and these questions have been discussed on other boards... I guess I should have said that ..."1) Crabs swim... 2) Crabs hug the bottom.... 3) Where I fish on the Monomoy flats.. I see them on the bottom and have not seen them swimming on the surface. 4) I should have said that the ones I see where I fish they hug the bottom, not that they don't swim. 5) Crabs move by walking on the bottom and swimming.6) Crabs are scavengers, 7) Crabs take flies stripped along the bottom or may take them while swimming. I have not , however, seen that take on a swim with my own eyes though. Except I have seen them take a stationary crab or one twitched on the bottom or dead drifted. 8) Maybe in certain fishing areas you can only catch fish with a swimming crab. 9).I have tyed swimming crabs but have not had the opportunity to fish them where I fish, 10) I only say this from my experience and NOT as an expert. I try to "sense" with my eyes and don't just believe.

[Yozuri-Man]

striblue you are an expert, stop being modest. ;)