Saltwater Flies:
The Hammerhead Crab
When tying crab flies, we tend to pay a lot of attention to detail to make the crab look perfect, and then we attach an unsightly hunk of lead to get the fly to sink.
I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about ways to conceal those ugly lead eyes within the fly itself. The method I’m about to show you came to me in a dream (I actually got out of bed in the middle of the night and went downstairs to my vise to try it).
I use a hammer to tap a lead dumbbell eye so that it resembles a flattened 8. You’ll still be able to use figure-eight wraps to attach this to the hook. You can then sandwich the flattened dumbbell between two crab coins; the weight is thin enough that it disappears within the crab’s body.
It’s difficult to know what other fly tiers are doing, so I don’t know if I’m the first tier to weight a crab fly like this. However, I demonstrated the method at a tying session one evening at my club, the Cape Cod Fly Rodders. We have some very experienced tiers there, and not one person in the room had ever seen it done before.
Materials
- Hook: Tiemco 800S, size 4 or 6, depending on the size of your crab coins.
- Thread: Clear monofilament.
- Tail: Tan Super Hair, UV Krystal Flash, and black Krystal Flash.
- Eyes: Artificial stamens (available in craft stores) or commercial crab or shrimp eyes.
- Dumbbell Eye: Lead, small or medium, depending on the size of the hook.
- Crab Body: Wapsi Crab Coins; the top coin (carapace) should be darker than the underside.
- Legs: Rubber (Sili Legs, Crazy Legs, round rubber, etc.).
- Glue: Bondic or other UV resin for the crab body; Super Glue for the figure-eight wraps.
- Color: Sharpie or other marking pen to color the top of the crab’s body and legs to your liking.
Step 1. Wrap a base of mono thread along the length of the hook shank. Tie in a very small amount of the Super Hair, along with a few strands of both the UV flash and black flash material. Wrap all of these materials slightly into the bend of the hook so that they point downward. This will help the finished fly ride hook-point up.
Step 2. Fasten the artificial stamens (or the commercial crab or shrimp eyes) to either side of the hook so that they protrude about a quarter of an inch past the bend of the hook.
Step 3. Place a small or medium lead dumbbell eye on a very hard surface and tap it with a hammer until it’s flat. Notice that it will still retain its hourglass shape.
Step 4. Once the dumbbell is thin enough, secure it to the top of the hook shank, just behind the eye, using the same figure-eight wraps you’d use to fasten any dumbbell. Whip finish and apply a small amount of Super Glue to the figure-eight wraps.
Step 5. Take your bottom crab coin and crisscross three crab legs to the coin, then place the hook over those legs on the coin. Next, cut a very small V notch in the top coin. Place that notch at the bend of the hook and press down firmly on the coin so that it becomes the top of the crab.
Step 6. Using a thin-nosed applicator or a bodkin, apply a small amount of UV resin around the edges of the fly where the two coins meet and hit it with your UV light to set it.
Step 7. Trim the Super Hair and flash as desired. If you wish, use marking pens to color the top of the crab’s body and its legs.
Bio: Vin Foti is an avid saltwater fly angler who calls Cape Cod his home waters. He’s a past President of the Cape Cod Salties and a founding member of the Cape Cod Fly Rodders as well a current board member. When he’s not fishing on the Cape, Vin enjoys fishing in the Bahamas, Mexico, Belize, and Cuba, as well as numerous US destinations.
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