Bass flies

Got it. Thanks.

I believe I'll be focusing on my typical black bugger, the white bunny, and the crayfish. That should get me through the morning drift on Saturday!

 
had a guy show me some bass flies today. He had marabou and hackle tip tails with hackle wrapped tight for about 1/4" (tightly packed) then he cut flip flop foam, and the foam plastic puzzle pieces for kids and made some bodies. He poked a hole through the foam and pulled some rubber legs through. He said he was slamming smallies and farm pond bass with them. Seemed really simple to tie as well. He did them on streamer hooks.

Just a thought if you have some old flip flops laying around. ;)

Good luck. Post up some sucess pics
 
Honestly the only thing I'm thinking of changing is tying the eyes, claws and antenna off the bend of the hook rather than behind the eye, have the tail extend past the eye of the hook, and instead of marabou for claws, I think I'll fashion some claws out of turkey feathers.
 
The antenna and such is tied off off of the bend, and the tail is tied off at the eye. My step by step must have been mis-leading, or i miss worded.
 
Okay my crayfish sucked. Show me what you mean.
 
Okay my second attempt at a crayfish turned out much better. I ditched the turkey feather for the shell, and used a strip of clear plastic, sort of like scud backing. Then I wrapped it tight with thin silver wire. Much better. I'll post a pic when I get home from work tonizight.
 
"Okay my crayfish sucked. Show me what you mean."

That made me laugh a bit. I didn't get a chance to try it yesterday, but I imagine your fibers were getting wrapped up, twisting, or coming apart. If you have squatch fingers as well it may make using them tough.

When you grasp the turkey tail feathers angle your fingers with the turkey fibers. Before you cut them put your finger about 1/4" away from the base. Cut them and keep them held tight, i suggested holding your fingers with with fibers to add more area that you can keep them together. Tie them in first with a loose wrap or two then add pressure. You have to be careful when you wrap the chenille and hackle that you keep the feather in mind. Bumping those things can split them.

You can use some marker and color the plastic as well. One thing that made me think about the turkey feather, was that others had had expressed that they thought the natural skin looked too shiny to resemble a crayfish, and thought that might be a better sub-in material. Going off of their suggestion you may want to dull up the plastic.

Looking forward to the crayfish picture.
 
Idk if you've gotten a similar suggestion yet, but I've been using a really simple pattern I found that the website called "jamies krazy carper". It caught a carp, but I also caught quite a few sunnies and smallmouth on it. Basically dumbell eye, yellow or orange dubbing (substitute chinelle), and a rabbit strip (I used a brown/olive) tied to the bottom of the hook so it's facing up in the water.

I've been trying to find a decent crayfish pattern to tie... So I'm looking for forward to that picture you're posting too.
 
Here you go...I warned you, I suck at tying!

 

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Looks good SS. One thing, that dumbell looks like a very heavy lead one. Be careful, it may cast like a bowling ball. Try fishing it before you tie up a whole bunch.

One of the great things about tying your own flies is that you can tie flies to prepare for certain situations. Heavy flies deep/fast water, lighter flies for shallow and everything in between.

Nice job.
 
I like that pattern. You said the claws and tail are turkey tail feathers? And the body is just brown hackle with clear plastic over it?
 
I used long webby hackle feathers for the claws and the tail. Sorry, I don't know what kind. I've had it for YEARS, the bag was unmarked. Some kind of brown hen hackle.

The body is brown chenille, hackle wrapped over the body, cut a strip of clear plastic, then wrapped that w/ a thin silver wire. Nothing fancy. I used turkey feather for the antenna. The tail is just a hackle tip.

Afish-yeah it casts a bit heavy. It's workable, but I definitely want to get some lighter eyes. I just used what I had laying around for the entire tie. It'll be a "bottom bouncing crayfish"!
 
Looks good and will definetly catch fish.

My suggestion would be to put the lead eyes near the eye of the hook. It will keep your crayfish in a defensive position. I don't think the look of eyes in that important on them as much as how they move in the water. I think yours would move with its claws pointed down when you strip it. I tied one in a similar manner and that is what I had found. Might not be that big of deal. I would try one with the weight at the eye and see what you think. Cast them both out. I like the hackle claws but one thing i noticed when i tied one similar to that the hackle is really tough to see in the water, and is why I went with the brown hackle. Ill send you a pic of the hackle claws crayfish i tried.
 
The hackle is really tough to see, that's why you went with the brown hackle?

Did you mean, that's why you went with the brown marabou? I kept thinking about switching it up and trying marabou. Maybe I will on a couple of them.

I get what you're saying about putting the weight in the arse of the crayfish. I just couldn't bring myself to put the eyes at the anus ;-) I think what I'll do is, when I get lighter eyes I'll weight the back end of the fly near the eye with lead wraps.
 
Sent you a pm with a few of the crayfish i tied without lead eyes, but with hackle to check out. Your pattern has the look of a crayfish and should work well.
 
yeah I got it. I can't see the images at work for whatever reason (did you use photobucket? That sight is blocked at my office), so I'll check it when I get home.

 
Sas, that crayfish looks pretty good. I think it will catch fish.

You might want to check out the Clouser Crayfish. Clouser knows stuff about smallmouth fishing, and his crayfish pattern is very effective.

 
Thanks t-bert. I actually did look up the clouser crayfish last night! I don't have any of the furry foam, but I like the pattern a lot.

I'll have a couple of hours tomorrow evening to whip up a few more flies for Saturday's float. I'll probably stick with this crayfish pattern for now, see how it does, and adjust from there. I'll tie one up w/ marabou claws too, and with a little less weight. The heavy weight, I feel like I have a good chance at getting a carp to suck it up.

I'm also tying up that white bunny thing. I really like that idea. I'll try to post a picture of that beast when I'm done. Also a bunch of black buggers. I should be set. Thanks for the ideas, everyone.
 
Sas, I had used photo bucket, and i did mean Marabou not hackle. LOL

Your claws are a bit larger and thicker than the ones I had made but just something to think about before tying up a bunch of them.

I found that having the heavy lead eyes near the eye also ensured that the fly kept the hook point up wich is important if you are dredging the bottom. It will sit at a decent angle on the bottom and help reduce snags if you are pausing between strips. I would pick my tip up a bit and strip the line quick to pick up the crayfish and then let off tension to allow it to sink back down, much how people fish soft plastic craws. When you do this the fly will then have its claws pointed up as it sinks back down, in a defensive position. If you use marabou when it is sinking again the marabou will wiggle around a bit. Not like a real crayfish but that movement can help trigger a stike. When you are stripping the crayfish the marabou with be pulled tight an and look more natural, your claws will look natural no matter how you fish the fly and can see why you would be hesitant about using it.
 
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