Thread 6/0 Uni Camel (any suitable rusty brown thread)
Materials
Eyes Double pupil lead eye, medium, black with yellow; plus a large black bead chain eye
Claws Rabbit Zonker, crawfish orange
Flash Ripple Ice Fiber, orange
Body Simi seal dubbing, brown
Legs Fly Enhancer, brown or pumpkin
Weed guard 50 lb nylon with a 20 mm Exchanger shank
Head Marabou, brown
How to tie it
Put a 20 mm Fish-Skull shank in the vise. Cover it with a thread base of dark brown 140 denier thread. This is the rust colourway.
Take a pinch of black Ripple Ice Fiber and a pinch of copper, and mix a few fibres of each in your fingers. This blend makes the antennae in front of the claws.
Tie the blend in at the middle of its length, fold it back over itself and tie it down, letting it roll around the shank so it is not all in one spot. Leave it long for now.
Spin a ball of brown Simi seal dubbing onto the thread and wind it on tight, close behind the antennae.
Split a magnum rabbit strip down the middle with scissors to make two claws, or use two standard strips. Stop the cut short of the end so a small tab holds the two halves together and level.
Fold the strips over on that tab and tie the tab in. One tie-in point puts a claw on each side.
Cut a length of 50 lb mono and split it into two pieces. Even the ends and tie them in. Put a touch of super glue on every mono tie-in so nothing pulls out.
Trim the mono tabs to a short stub. Leave enough to tie the body onto the hook later.
Make a short dubbing loop and fill it with brown Simi seal dubbing, stacked and spread evenly. Spin it, keeping the rabbit clear of the loop.
Brush the dubbing out hard so the loop winds easily. Wind it up the body in palmer turns.
Near the front, pull the dubbing back to make a small V for the thread to sit in. Tie it down with a couple of tight wraps, then cut the loop away.
Brush the body out again until it looks buggy. Take care not to catch the thread.
Take four gold, amber and black Fly Enhancer legs per side. Find the centre of the bundle, at the middle of the gold band so black shows each side. Tie them in on one side, pull through and catch them on the other.
Bind the legs down over the thread wraps and whip finish. Hand whip if the mono is in the way. The body is done.
Put the hook in the vise and lay a small thread base.
Tie in medium double pupil lead eyes at roughly 3.5 hook-eye lengths behind the eye. This leaves room for the bead chain eyes and for the mono and marabou tie-in. Use X wraps, then posting wraps, and repeat.
Turn the hook over and tie a large set of bead chain eyes on the top side of the shank. They prop the body up for a Texas rig effect, not to add weight. Leave a gap so the thread fits between the two sets of eyes.
Trim the mono tips a little long and flatten them with pliers to make a flat tie-in point. Check the mono does not stick out too far and the body sits right.
Tie the mono in with the flat side facing down, touching the bead chain, so it lifts the body and springs back. Add super glue, cinch it down and wedge the mono against the bead chain.
Tie in one full, fluffy marabou feather on top of the tie-in point, about the length of the body, to cover the tie-down and fill out the body.
Cover the butt ends and make a smooth thread head with flat thread. Whip finish behind the eye.
Take the fly from the vise. Trim the antennae at an angle to a tight, tapered point. Trim the legs to about the length of the body at the tab.
Coat the eyes, the tie-in points and the marabou tie-in with resin or head cement.
Other versions
1 more in the app: As tied by Charlie's Fly Box (olive).