Bodkin / Patterns

Kung Fu Crab

Crab · Permit · Bonefish · Redfish · Intermediate · 1 version

Classic Recipe

  • Hook Tiemco 811S, 2-6
  • Thread Orange UTC 140

Materials

  • Eyes (weight) Medium brass or lead dumbbell, silver (1 pair)
  • Crab eyes Large black mono eyes (1 pair)
  • Hot spot Pink medium Cactus Chenille (2 turns)
  • Claws Tan zonker strip, tips stiffened with UV resin (2 short pieces)
  • Body Tan and brown EP Fibers (several clumps)
  • Legs Olive/turtle-grass Loco Legs or Sili Legs (3 pairs)

How to tie it

  1. Lash the dumbbell eyes on top of the shank just behind the hook eye so the fly rides point-up, then wrap back to the bend.
  2. At the bend tie in the two black mono crab eyes splayed in a V, and wrap 2 turns of pink Cactus Chenille around their base. The hot spot mimics an egg-bearing crab and gives fish a target.
  3. Tie in a short zonker-strip claw on each side, curving outward; hit the fur tips with a drop of UV resin so the claws keep their pinch shape when wet.
  4. Build the body with alternating clumps of tan and brown EP Fibers tied in cross-wise with figure-eight wraps, working forward to the dumbbell eyes.
  5. Add a pair of rubber legs at each of three points as you go, splayed to the sides.
  6. Trim the EP Fibers top and bottom into a flat, round crab silhouette, leaving the legs and claws untrimmed.
  7. Whip finish behind the hook eye and cement.

Tying videos

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