On Jul 14, 6:16 am, sandfly wrote:
The best soft crayfish pattern I've used is the clouser, can't beat
it...

Yes indeed. I should have explained more. The Clouser Crayfish is the
best
pattern out there right now. I need to make mine look more like the
Clouser
(details details).

The problem I'm trying to solve is size. The Clouser is tied on a hook
shank,
from front front to back. So, if you want to make a big 2 to 2-1/2"
crayfish
(big crayfish do seem to attract the big browns) then, in the Clouser
case
you have to use a jumbo hook. And that nullifies the soft foam effect.
Fish feel that extra-big hook and spit the fly.

So what I'm making amounts to a Clouser Crayfish with an extended
body,
so a big crayfish can be tied with a small, short-shank #6 or #8 hook.
Then they bite the fly, chew on it and swim around with it still in
their mouths.

I tie a lot of streamers this way now (long fly with smallish hook).
To make a fly
that has a mid-fly or rear-end mounted hook, that still pulls from the
front,
you knot a shock tippet to the eye of the rear mounted hook. Then you
throw a double
or triple surgeon's knot over the front end dimple (the last dimple in
the crawfish tail
......crayfish swim tail first, not head first) and then knot the shock
tippet to
the leader.

Now you have a big fly with a relatively small hook, mounted towards
the rear end
of the fly..........but the whole rig still *pulls* from the front
(the front of hte crawfish
is the tail, for pulling purposes).