Crawdaddy

[fish_4_all]

Well you asked for it so here it is. I will make more but when I fish them I am using 30lb. braid and a sturgeon rod! It only took me 57 minutes to tie it.



I don't know how many I will make but I am gonna experiment with other materials. The claws and tail for this one are pheasant cress feathers. Gonna try bug skin and leather and other stuff to see what looks best. But I think the pheasant cress looks like a young soft shell with the transparent look of the claws and legs.

I know it only has 6 legs but I couldn't fit in 8! I doubt the fish will care. And I know they aren't even but I haven't decided if I will knot them or not.

What does everyone think? Any ideas on materials for the claws and tail? I am gonna try hackle next. Thinking grizzly hackle would be best match. Cut the tips off for the claws and flatten the wider parts for the tail.

[JUNGLEJIMJIGS]

This Looks Great.if I Was A Smallie I'd Eat It.i Think A Tan Or Ginger Grizzly Hackle For The Claws Would Look Great On These.maybe Some Long Hackle Fibers For The Tail Would Work. 57 Minutes,i Couldn't Do Something Like This In A Day.

[fish_4_all]

Yah it needs some tweaking to make a broader tail and get the claws more out where they belong. Gonna go work on the grizzly hackle one and see if I can make it better.

[fishing buddy]

Looks cool like the idea

[fish_4_all]

Second edition. Not sure I like the tail but otherwise it is an improvement. At least the tail doesn't come to a point and then flare out again. The claws look better and have better spacing, to me they do anyway. Now if I could find hackle in the same coloration as the body it would be perfect, well as close as I can tie one anyway.

[AtticaFish]

Second edition. Not sure I like the tail but otherwise it is an improvement. At least the tail doesn't come to a point and then flare out again.

Wow! They look good. Hope you don't mind a critic, I would always rather get honest thoughts myself. I would say you don't even need the tail section added, maybe that can cut some of your time. When I try to imitate a craw with a tube or beaver-tail jig, I mostly hop it off the bottom and a live craw would have his tail flipped under and out of sight. Only other thing I can possibly think is to cut the legs shorter, but thats something I would do after I saw how they fish. Just wondering if it may make em' spin in the current.

Nice work, I will pm you once I figure out what size I may want, thinking total size of 2"-3" max size with claws. Is that possible? Probably only get a few, not sure what a 1 hour jig would cost!!!!

[fish_4_all]

Price for an 1 hour jig, hmmm. Minimum wage went to $8.55/hr. materials and hook, second mortgage maybe. :D:rolleyes:

Removing the tail will speed it up a little but not much, lol. I can make it so the crochet ends right at the eye of the hook and is wide there so that might do it good enough for a tail. I am always open to criticism. Second one took me just over an hour but I am sure I will get at least a little faster after I get used to it and have things a little more set before I start each one.

Both of them are the same size, just over 2 inches long from tail to tip of the claws. The legs on the second one are a little more in line with each other than the first one but it is really hard to get them to lay right under the crochet. Is what I have to work on next. Somehow tie the legs in so they are held tight right at the sides so when I crochet around them the legs stay in the right position.

[8fishermen]

That's really cool. What is the body material?

[fish_4_all]

That's really cool. What is the body material?

Larva Lace, same with the legs. Expensive way to go but I haven't found a cheaper material that looks the same or works the same. A lot come close but nothing yet with the same workability.

[bowhunter23]

Those look awesome Wish i had the paitence to try to do something like that.