Best Crawdad Fly Patterns
Dead Drift Crayfish Brown
The Dead Drift Crayfish is a great size and color to mimic the majority of the crayfish found near Missoula. The Orange Rabbit and Orange Colored Hide acts as a trigger to get trout to strike. Don’t let the name fool you, once in a while the twitch moves the fish!
Fly Tying Material List
- Hook: 3XL Size 8
- Thread: Brown 6/0 Danville
- Tail: 2 Strands Pearl Krystal Flash under Orange Rabbit Fur under Pheasant Tail Fibers
- Carapace: Mottled Brown Thin Skin
- Eyes: Silver Bead Chain
- Dubbing Over Eyes: Olive
- Claws: Gold Dyed Variant Rabbit Strips, Hide Side colored Orange
- Hackle: Brown
- Rib: Brassie Brown Wire, reverse wrapped
- Body: Olive Dubbing
TJ Hooker
Originally designed as a stonefly imitation, the TJ Hooker excels as a Crawdad imitation. The marabou tail acts as the two front claws, while the rubber legs work as shorter legs. We know it doesn’t look exactly like a crawdad to us, but the trout disagree!
Fly Tying Material List
- Hook: 3XL Jig Hook 6-10
- Bead: Gold Slotted Tungsten
- Thread: Tan 6/0 Uni Thread (136D)
- Tail: Tan Marabou
- Rear Body: Tan/Brown Variegated Chenille
- Rubber Legs: Three Sets Tan Spanflex
