How to Tie a Whitlock's Soft Shell Crayfish Fly

Crayfish are a major food source for fish in warm and cold waters. Crayfish are especially vulnerable when they molt and lose the hard shell. Dave Whitlock, a famed innovative fly tyer and expert casting instructor, created the Soft Shell Crayfish to imitate the vulnerable stage for trout and bass fishing. The pattern is effective when retrieved with short strips and pauses that imitate the darting motions of a natural crayfish.

Things You'll Need

  • TMC 300 hook, Sizes 6 to 8
  • Orange 3/0 Thread
  • Black Krystal flash
  • 2 rust hen hackles
  • Crayfish dubbing
  • Orange bucktail
  • Black mono eyes
  • Black wire
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Instructions

    • 1

      Start the orange thread at the half-way point on the hook shank and wrap the thread forward to the bend in the hook. Measure two strands of black Krystal flash to match the length of the hook shank. Tie the two strands in at the hook bend.

    • 2

      Create a small ball of thread at the bend. Select two rust-colored hen hackles and measure them to one half the length of the hook shank. Place the base stem of each feather on opposite sides of the thread ball. Secure the feathers to the hook shank with two to three wraps of thread.

    • 3

      Secure the black mono eyes to the bend in the hook using figure eight wraps. Use your fingers to twist crayfish dubbing on the thread. Cover the thread ball and the base of the feathers with the dubbing. Dub around the eyes using the figure eight wrap. Tie in a few inches of black wire immediately behind the dubbing.

    • 4

      Cut a small clump of died orange bucktail fibers from a bucktail. Clean the bucktail by combing to remove the shorter, finer hairs. Place the ends of the bucktail in a hair stacker and tap the stacker on a hard surface to align the tips. Hold the tips and make several thread wraps to secure the base of the bucktail at the bend in the hook.

    • 5

      Form a dubbing rope by twisting a a liberal amount of crayfish dubbing to the thread. Wrap the dubbing forward and stop just before the eye of the hook. Pull the bucktail over the dubbing to form a shell-back. Make several wraps of thread to secure the shell. Trim the tips of the bucktail slightly longer than the eye of the hook.

    • 6

      Counter-wrap the black wire at an angle until you reach the eye of the hook. Make several wraps over the wire and trim away the excess. Use a whip finisher to complete the fly and cut away the thread. Use a dubbing brush to pick out the sides and create a fluffy body.