Smallie class #3

  Well, you can not have a Smallmouth tying class without some kind of Crayfish pattern. This week we tied TP's Brandywine Crawler. The issue with many Crayfish patterns is that there are just too many steps and the patterns take too long to tie. On the flip side there are many "speed" crayfish patterns out there but, many of these seem to be lacking the important features. The pattern we tied last week is a great blend of detail, functionality, and tying time. The class seemed to agree as I believe the completed flies were the best we have seen across the board. 

  First lets take a look at some Ska-opper, homework from the prior week. I was happy to see several great Ska-opper's come in last week. 

Here are the flies "One Boot" Ed tied last week

Some nice homework from Paul R

Dale F has a couple of nice patterns here

Paul R decided to use yellow deer and a diamond shape head.

Although not technically part of the class I wanted to share this mouse tied by "One Boot" Ed. The hair work on this fly is exceptional and anyone who has spent any time spinning Deer hair can appreciate the work that goes into a fly like this. Great job Ed, this was too good not to share! 

 The Speed Pattern for last week was the Rubber Legs. A true speed tie that can be used in many situations.  Chris R came with a beautiful box of flies. He says he has been using this for a Stonefly pattern for years. 

Here is Chris's box. The verigated chenille looks awesome!

Some nice homework from Dennis Z. I am curious how that pink one in the middle is going to do.

 As mentioned you just can not have a Smallmouth class without a Crayfish pattern. Many people don't realize when those big ole' Browns decide to strap on the feed bag right at dusk a Crayfish pattern can be deadly. This pattern can be fished as a nymph, swung on a tight line or stripped like a streamer. It is a very versatile pattern and does not take to long to tie. 


Here in the first step the marabou has been threaded through the Pro Tube junction tube and tied on each side of the shank. We have also added the dumbbell eyes on the top of the hook shank. 

Here the Furry Foam has been cut to length, pushed over the hook shank and folded in between the "claws" to split them and make them lay out to the sides. 

This is Davede's fly. The chenille has been tied in as well as the pumpkin neck hackle that we use for the legs. We are coming down the home stretch. 

Here is a great example of what the palmered legs should look like. This is Paul R's fly. While looking at his fly from the other end of the table he said "man, it really looks good from here" I must say I agree. 

After palmering the legs the last step is to fold the Furry Foam over the top to form the top of the fly. 

Once you get the progression of this fly down it is really a 10 minute tie. Not bad for a semi-detailed Crayfish pattern. There are many others out there that take much longer to tie and don't have the versatility of this one. I think the boss hit one out of the park with this one!  


Speaking of progression the second pattern of the night was "Gary's Albie Fly". Simple in design and materials (Ostrich Hurl and Cross Cut Rabbit) This fly is right at home on the Smallmouth river as well as on Martha's Vineyard searching for Albies.  


Marblehead note; I fished this fly on a wild Trout river all day Sunday. the results were great. Stay tuned for the next fishing report to read about it. 

Simple yet effective. Does it get any better?

Well, another week and two more great patterns. One more week left and we have a good one on tap for the final class. See you all on Wednesday.