Creamer's HD Craw

Killer Mud Bug

The HD Craw

Out of Jeff's videos he's done for us, this is one of my favorites because I like to fish crawdad patterns and because this is a fun one to tie. The cool thing about Craw patterns is that trout eat them, bass eat them and they're in a lot of both moving and still water fisheries. Worst case, it passes as a cool bugger. Best case, you'll fool some huge fish that like to eat juicy cray fish.

In Jeff's words....

"I won’t lie, for years I thought we as fly tyers really overthought most craw patterns. Then I began fishing more super clean water for bass, and was watching my more generic patterns get refused more than I’d like. I revisited the idea of a more detailed craw, and my initial test pattern caught fish but had an issue: weight distribution. I had used a Sculpin Helmet for weight, which got the fly down, but it dropped like a rock and fell through the water column vertically with all the weight at the head of the
fly. I then began playing with Fly Fish Food’s “belly scratcher” system of weighting, hanging a tungsten bead off some tippet or mono, and that’s when the HD Craw really clicked. Hot tipping the claws of the fly adds a little hotspot and an added level of realism to the fly. If you look closely at crayfish in the wild, you can often see some coloration of the claw tips. Deer body hair for the mouth helps to keep the claws splayed out and separated in the water, the Diamond Dub gives the body just enough sparkle, and the Shrimp and Cray Tail adds another little dimension of realism to the profile. Color coordinating the bead and Cray Tail with powder paint, while not critical, helps blend everything together. All of the parts of this fly work together as a great craw profile that sinks at a perfect rate and a more realistic angle in the water, and rides point-up on the bottom. I often fish the HD both casted and stripped, as well as drifting on a tight line through deeper water. It’s also a money pattern to sight fish to clear water bass. I fish the brown version a lot, but tied in black and blue the HD Craw is my #1 confidence pattern on stream bass." -- Jeff Creamer

Material List

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Hook: Daiichi 1730 - Bent Shank Nymph Hook - 6
Bead/Keel: 6/0 UNI-Thread Waxed - Rusty Brown
Bead/Keel: Plummeting Tungsten Beads - Nickel - 5/32" (3.8mm)
Tail: Fish Skull Shrimp & Cray Tails - Gold - Medium
Under-body weight: Lead Free Round Wire - .020
Antenna: Senyo's Fusion Foil Legs - Barred Copper and Green Foil - Standard
Mouth: Wapsi Premo Deer Hair Strips - Dark Brown
Claws: Micro Rabbit Strips - Dark Brown
Claw Hot Spot: Rabbit Zonker Strips - Fl. Orange
Shell back: Montana Fly Company Skinny Skin - Mottled Brown
Body: Arizona Diamond Dub - Ice Blue Brown
Ribbing: RIO Fluoroflex Plus Tippet - 5X
Thread (for hair): Veevus GSP - White - 150 Denier

Other tools from the tutorial:

Loon Gator Grip Dubbing Spinner
Stonfo Comb/Brush Tool
Renzetti Magnum Hair Stacker