Hmmm ... it seems counter-intuitive to add weight to the pinchers.
Don't crawfish raise their claws/pinchers when in the defensive
position? Seems like you'd want the pinchers to float higher than the tail.


......I don't add weight to the pinchers.
The pinchers are made from a U-shaped piece of
foam, where the ends of the U form the pinchers.
To add weight I put one or two split shots onto
the center-bottom of the U, wrap them with spawn
sack (see the photo) and then insert the U into
a slit in the thorax. That puts the weight dead
center in the middle of the thorax. I do this
because I like to make modular flies that are
independent of the hook.

To add a hook...well, I can't remember the hook-style
name, I'll have to add photos. I use hooks with a
slightly bent shank right behind the eye, that look
a little like a plastic worm hook. Then I push the
point of the hook through the thorax from below, so
only the point of the hook emerges out the top of
the thorax. The I wrap a few whips over the body,
at the tail at the eye of the hook, to keep the body
from sliding back on the hook. You can also add
a wrap or two (and/or skip the hidden split shots)
to the shank, before threading the hook, so the lead
is exposed on the shank, on the underside of the body.
Both methods work.

This hook arrangement is similar to the way spin
fishermen "bait" a soft molded worm or lizzard on
a much larger soft-bait hook. The advantage is that
a) it works
b) the hook is well hidden in the body.

I've had some major webmaster work bogging me down,
last few evenings, else I would have added more tying
sequence photos already. This isn't an experimental
fly anymore. I've been fishing it for a long time.
Years, in fact.