By Dave Smith
This crab is a great pattern when targeting the elusive Permit. It looks really crabby, has a ton of movement with the 8 rubber legs, and is a simple and fun tie. Even if you’re not chasing Permit anytime soon, it’s still a great looking pattern to have laying around. I hope you give this pattern a go.
Materials:
Eye – Plain Lead Dumbbell – Medium
Boby – Furry Foam – Tan
Legs – White Rubber Legs – Medium
Step 1: Insert the hook into your vice and start your thread.
Step 2: Secure your dumbbell eyes with figure 8 wraps on the bottom of the shank. This will allow the fly to ride hook point up. Sand is abrasive, and this will help keep your hook sharper for longer. A little super glue helps keep your eyes from rotating and you looking like a tying pro.
Step 3: Cut yourself a piece of furry foam, about 3/4″ to an 1″ wide. This will form the crab shell.
Step 4: Tie the furry foam behind the eyes and down the shank right up to the bend. You want to keep these wraps fairly loose. In the next step you’ll know why.
Step 5: Take the loose furry foam and rotate it 180 degrees. The furry foam should be between the shank and the hook point. Secure the furry foam down with tight wraps to keep it all in place.
Step 6: Rotate your vice over and take 4 strands of the rubber legs. This step is made much easier if you keep all the legs together and don’t separate them yet.
Step 7: Pull the furry foam over the legs and body and secure at the eye of the hook. Cut off the remaining foam, leaving a little tag end that should cover the eye of the hook.
Step 8: Cut off a clump of deer hair, about the diameter of a pencil. You want the deer hair tips to just cover the hook point. Cut off the excess and tie the clump in.
Step 9: Whip finish the fly. You want to whip finish under the little furry foam tag that covers the hook eye.
Step 10: Separate all the rubber legs. It’s as satisfying as it looks.
Step 11: Conjure your inner artist and create some markings on the legs with a Sharpe or other permeant marker. I like three black strips and a red end. But you’re welcome to get crazy and change this up to your liking.
Step 12: Repeat on the other side and you’re done. Look at you, getting crabby with it. Nicely done mate.