Fly Tying a Simple Crayfish (Don Brown Crawdad Fly Pattern)

Created by Don Brown and featured in Dick Stewart's "Flies for Bass and Panfish," this is one of the simpler crawdad or crayfish fly patterns out there. Can be tied unweighted for lake bass and panfish or weighted for trout in faster water.

Hook: #4-10 2x long, straight or curved
Thread: Black
Claws: Red squirrel tail
Body: Brown yarn or chenille
Legs: Palmered brown hackle
Shellback: Brown turkey or goose slip

** Some of the popular books used here: **

Dave Hughes, "Essential Trout Flies," 2017, https://amzn.to/3lbCZYX

Dave Hughes, "Wet Flies," 2015, https://amzn.to/33ac3lQ
David Klausmeyer's "Favorite Flies," 2020, https://amzn.to/3oeSNMa
Morgan Lyle's "Simple Flies," 2015, https://amzn.to/3qB1zW1
Fly Pattern Encyclopedia: https://amzn.to/34U0rUe
Mike Valla's "Tying the Founding Flies," 2015, https://amzn.to/354oSir
Mike Valla's "Classic Streamer Fly Box," 2020, https://amzn.to/3n3Vakf
Randle Scott Stetzer's "Flies, the Best One Thousand," 1992, https://amzn.to/34Q15mp
Terry Hellekson's "Popular Fly Patterns," 1976, https://amzn.to/2L4IyvS
Dick Stewart's, "Flies for Bass and Panfish," 1992, https://amzn.to/3aGpFs1
Fly Pattern Encyclopedia: https://amzn.to/34U0rUe

Savage Flies is a project with the mission of encouraging and teaching fly tying to as many people as possible. The channel is named after one of my western Maryland homewaters, the Savage River. I've been uploading at least three new videos a week (usually Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday).

Thanks for stopping by. Please let me know in the comments if you have any tying tips you would like to share or if you have any patterns you would like to see tied here.