On certain Spring and Summer new moon tides, at night, juvenile blue crabs will drift in the surface. The majority of crab patterns are weighted and where I fish that would not be practical because of the mussel beds and thick vegetation on the bottom. Plus, weighted crab flies do not drift in the surface. I have seen some spun deer hair crab patterns but they neither address profile nor juvenile size. The beauty of a spun deer hair fly compared to foam or other types of artificial materials such as epoxy is that it can be trimmed down to the size and profile the stripers want. This fly is ¾" long and I've seen some juvenile crabs around an inch and down to a ½" floating by on the surface. When I've seen these creatures drift by their crushing claws are tucked in but their other claws are out. The thinner it is trimmed the lower it will sit in the surface. The splayed hackle add some movement to the fly and the yellow band also acts as an attractor and helps when the water is stained. How to fish this fly. Get the fly into moving current and dead drift it. If you notice that the crabs are an inch or so below the surface add one or two split shot(s)(18" above the fly) to slightly pull the fly down.

Tying Sequence

Step One

Step 1 (Tail and Wing): Start thread at the hook point and tie in flat a pair of splayed grizzly hen saddles. Tie off thread. Start thread again just behind the eye and tie in flat two more splayed grizzly hen saddles. Tie off and coat thread with head cement (optional).

Step Two

Step 2 (Body): Tie in a clump of olive deer hair the thickness of a pencil in front of the tail. Make 3 wraps and on the third wrap gradually tighten the tread to force the deer hair to spread evenly around the hook shank. With the nails of your thumb and forefinger (or a hair packing tool), pack the hair tightly by pushing the hair back toward the hook point.

Step Three

(Step 2 continued) Tie in another clump of olive deer hair,tie in a clump of yellow deer hair, then two more clumps of olive deer hair. Repeat the tie in process for each clump and then tie off with a whip finish and add head cement. Be careful when tying in the final clump to not disturb the splayed hen hackles.

 

Step Four

Step 3: Trim the spun deer hair to the shape of a juvenile blue crab carapace.The thinner the spun deer hair is trimmed the lower the fly will sit in the surface.

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