Bodkin / Patterns

Kwan

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

Classic Recipe

  • Hook Saltwater hook, 2-6
  • Thread Tan 6/0

Materials

  • Body Tan craft fur or EP fibers (flat, crab-like)
  • Eyes Lead dumbbell (1 pair underneath)
  • Legs Sili legs or rubber (sparse)
  • Weight Lead eyes (rides hook up)
  • Tail Craft fur tips (short)

How to tie it

  1. Mount hook, tie in lead eyes underneath the shank near the hook eye.
  2. Tie in a short craft fur tail at the bend.
  3. Build the body Merkin-style: crosswise clumps of craft fur or EP fibers, figure-8ed along the shank.
  4. Add a few Sili legs between clumps.
  5. Trim the body flat and rounded, something between a crab and a shrimp, and leave it exactly that ambiguous.
  6. Whip finish.

Substitutions

  • Body instead of Tan craft fur or EP fibers: Tan EP Fibers — Faster drying; Tan craft fur — Softer movement
  • Eyes instead of Lead dumbbell: Tungsten dumbbell — Heavier for faster sink; Bead chain — Lighter for skinny water
  • Legs instead of Sili legs or rubber: Barred Sili Legs (tan) — More realistic; Fine rubber legs — Subtler movement

Tying videos

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