Cable Tie Craw
Crawfish are a preferred food of most predatory fish species. Crawfish when available are valued for their high protein content and make for a substantial meal. This fly pattern mimics all of the crawfishes body parts with claws, antennae, legs, and tail. With the addition of the glass rattle eyes the Cable Tie Craw also adds the element of sound. The rattles mimic the clicking sound that a crayfish makes and will help fish locate your fly in stained or murky water. Seth Lewis has had success fishing this pattern on some of our local creeks and rivers around Fort Worth. Look for Seth to be doing a tying demo of this pattern at the March meeting of the FWFF. Stop by the tying table and see how this unique and effective pattern is tied. Recipe cards will be available. For a detailed on line video tutorial visit Tim Flagler’s Tightline Productions.
Resources and Fun Stuff
Website : www.ginkandgasoline.com. You might have seen the Scientific Anglers ad for Sharkwave fly lines with a U-Haul pulling a drift boat down a dusty road on the way to some trout Valhalla. That’s Louis Cahill and Kent Klewein living the life. Kent is a full time guide and owner of Reel Job Fishing. Louis is a renowned advertising photographer. These guys have put together a great website with solid information, a weekly blog newsletter and lots of current content with outstanding photography. One article I enjoyed was about saving money on road trips. The idea of renting a U-Haul? It makes for a great rolling base camp that sleeps four with plenty of room for gear and wet waders! Consider whether you mention this aspect of your move to the U-Haul booking agent. Subscribing to the blog is free and puts their latest news right into your in box.
Podcast : www.Orvis.com / The Orvis company has really shaken off their reputation as being a “traditional tweed and cane“ fly fishing company. This is one of my most frequently visited websites and has a huge amount of content devoted to educating fly anglers. Orvis just released their two hundred forty seventh podcast with over 5 million downloads. Tom Rosenbauer is the host and does guest interviews and answers listeners questions that are called or e-mailed in. The podcasts are a way to learn about casting, selecting a guide, gear selection, tying flies, fishing for almost anything that swims, new tackle trends, even a bit of Hank Patterson humor. These podcasts have improved my fly fishing knowledge immensely and made my commutes on I-35 much more bearable.
Book : Carp on The Fly by Barry Reynolds, Brad Befus, and John Berryman. Probably the first book devoted exclusively to catching carp with a fly rod. No excuses here! I’m a carp hunter that practices CPR (catch, photograph, release) . Carp are widely available, wary, strong, and at times will actually eat a well presented fly and then explode upon hooking them in shallow water. At some point you begin to wonder if your fly line to backing knot is intact and well tied. Sight fishing combined with stalking at its best! This book got me started in pursuing the elusive “Golden Bones“. The pages of my edition of Carp on the Fly are well worn. It has a place on my book shelf next to Ozzy’s Diary of a Madman LP.
Streamside Tool : Scissors. These might be a older pair of retired tying scissors or one of the small titanium carbide types suitable for cutting braided fishing lines. They come in handy for clipping your fly free from that bush or tree I always manage to catch on an errant back cast. They can be used to quickly modify a bushy dry fly into an emerger. Free yourself from that old trot line you waded into. Hang a pair on your zinger.
Mark Kolanowski
FWFF Tying Coordinator
