Fly Fishing Crawfish Patterns

Crayfish, crawdad, mud bug, crawfish: Names that describe one of the most under-utilized flies for both bass and trout. This staple food source in many rivers and lakes rarely gets any room in a fly box for some unknown reason. People have caught countless bass and mega trout on this common crustacean. I am specifically going to talk about tying and fishing this fly for smallies, but just about everything can be applied to trout.

A crayfish is a forage feeder that mainly eats small fish, nymphs, and decomposing flesh (fish, crayfish, dead animals, waste). They are nocturnal and sometimes move around during the day. They like to hide in cover like a bass in places like rocks, rock piles, erosion control areas, bridge pilings, algae, root systems and undercut banks. A crayfish, because it is a crustacean, has to molt to grow so for a time they are extremely vulnerable.

Tying the fly isn’t hard and you have a number of options for imitating the crayfish.

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