The creation of the MOAD

The Mother of all Dads…

The obsession with creating the ultimate crawdad began one day while sitting on a high boulder overlooking a crystal clear pool of a high country lake in AZ.  I was taking a short lunch break while I watched as two larger than normal rainbows cruised slowly over the rocky bottom below, slowly meandering back in forth in no particular direction.  Suddenly the bigger one stopped.  Its tail tipped up for a second, then a puff of mud from the stream bottom appeared as it scooped up something invisible from the bottom of the pool.  It paused for a second then rejoined his partner and continued cruising along the rocks.  Moments later both fish stopped alongside a small boulder and did the same maneuver, this time both fish digging headfirst into a pile of small rocks and gravel.  Crawdads.  Again.  I had seen this behavior before.  As I watched these fish cruise I counted no less than 7 of these crawdad stops between the two before I got busy re-rigging my setup.  I had seen smallmouth do this time and again on one of my favorite home river.  In fact it was a common occurrence there.   

I remember days of pure frustration for trying to catch these fish.  There just never seemed to be a fly that would work on these fish consistently.  I could catch a fish here and there but more often than not, I got rejected time and time again.  Often I could pull of fish out of the fast waters but when it came to the slow pools where the big ones hunt, I always got what my buddy and I called the “bump and run”.  The fish swims up, touches the fake lobster with its nose, then swims off.  Time and time again.  …Also called the “peck and leave” survival technique.  Out of all the different patterns that I tried, a plain brown wooly bugger seemed to work as well as anything on these fish and at my young age at the time that just wouldn’t do.  Fish feeding on crawdads should be caught on crawdads and besides, I hadn’t gotten into fly fishing just to fish with woolly buggers my entire life. 

Finding fish that were feeding on crawdads wasn’t the problem.  The problem was finding a crawdad pattern that actually worked.  There just weren’t any.  Most patterns were way too big and need a light saltwater rod to cast, most don’t look right, some look right but don’t swim right, come in ridiculous colors and are even harder to tie.  Some look very realistic but don’t move in the water like they should.  One I tried didn’t even sink.  It was obvious a new crawdad project was in the making.

To the Vise

I had developed other fly patterns in the past and I had learned that if certain criteria were defined right up front, the whole process would go smoother, not to mention you would save a whole lot of hook money.  The bigger fish in the stream didn’t hold in fast moving water waiting to dart out and snag a bite.  They sat motionless on the bottom in the slack water of the pools and behind big rocks, and when they wanted a meal they went looking for it.  This meant this fly would have to sit right on the bottom and get there fairly quickly so added weight was on the list. Added to that was a way to keep it from being snagged on every rock in the river, so a weed guard of some type would have to be designed.  I quickly decided a fly riding hook up would be the easiest and most reliable. 

This also meant a pattern that would catch fish when it was absolutely motionless.  That meant a perfect crawdad-like silhouette against the river bottom.  One a fish could see at a distance.  One key to this is claws that match the body.  Patterns with claws that were a different material than the body acts like camouflage and breaks up the outline. Using the same material for both would be ideal.

The fly also needed to be easy to tie and with few components.  Crawdad patterns of the day were notoriously over complicated and time consuming to make.  Smallmouth rivers are rocky and to fish the fly on the bottom where it needs to be, you go through a lot of flies in a day.  Taking half an hour or more to make one fly was out of the question. 

So over the next several seasons, I went through a mountain of different materials and hooks and styles, rejecting anything that didn’t perform in the bathtub.  I went from rabbit strip claws to hen feathers to bucktail and squirrel hair.  I tried several different body materials, most of which were too bulky and created hook gap issues and casting problems.  I made a lot of trips to the water and caught a few fish and after no less than 7 different iterations, something still just wasn’t right.  I was catching more fish but I was still getting the snub from the majority.

The Moment of Clarity

Having a short lunch one day while overlooking a pool I watched two 12” bass corner a huge 6” crawdad along the rocky bottom. Slow and methodical they corralled this lobster and began to work it over. The two brutes would peck and bite and then back off and watch.  Before long the claws popped off.  A few more grab and shake attacks and the tail and head separated.  They continued this activity until the crawdad was nothing but pieces, which they casually inhaled.  This completely and suddenly explained all the short strikes and failed hookups with some of the over sized patterns I had been using.  I had just witnessed what the bump and run technique was all about. 

Inversely, I noticed when a small 1 ½” mini crawdad crawled out from under a rock, they scooped it up without hesitation. It became clear that a mature smallmouth might eat a 6” crawdad here and there throughout the day, but he’ll eat dozens of the smaller versions in the same period of time. 

This turned out to be the biggest breakthrough.  Smaller sizes were better and big oversized claws demanded a cautious approach.  It also put probability on my side, meaning that if a fish eats a dozen small craws for every big one, then one of those small craws might be attached to my leader.  I’ll take all the help I can get, even if it’s just mathematical theory.  After that episode I scaled everything down, which opened up a whole new possibility of materials and I quickly came up with a fly that sits directly on the bottom, gives a perfect silhouette, crawls like a crawfish, rides hook up to prevent hang ups, is easy and quick to tie and can be cast on a five weight.  Essentially all the pre-determined criteria had been met.  And believe it or not, the pattern uses only two different materials, some lead eyes and a piece of wire.

The mother of all tests

The first trip out with this newest version, it was springtime just after runoff and I picked out a predetermined pool that, on this day, was holding exactly 9 bass that I could count from my favorite flat rock.  The pool was smooth and clear and the would-be test subjects were stacked in the back end facing into the barely detectable current.  24 minutes later, my fish count was exactly 9 and I hadn’t moved from my granite casting platform.  These were all juniors in the 8” to 10” range and it was early in year so the fishing was pretty easy, so a real test?  Not really, but a good way to start, nonetheless.  I came back in late July looking for the giants that cruise the flats early and hang out in the deep pools during the day and got the same positive results with several over the 2 pound mark and two more in the 4-5 pound range.  After this trip and after several seasons working on it, I finally called the pattern done and I haven’t changed it since. 

Tying Tips

First off, start out with a good wide gap hook for clearance.  I also found a straight eye such as the Mustad 3366 worked much better at the tail end.  I now extensively use the excellent Allen B200 hook in sizes 12 to 6.  Tie the lead barbell eyes up front Clouser style near the bend just across from the hook barb.  This not only lets the fly ride point up but allows it to stay naturally flat on the fall instead of a tail first jigging motion.  Adjust lead size to meet your needs.

The claws and shellback are made from the same pheasant tail material so they match perfectly, just like their living counterparts.  Remember the key is size and silhouette.  My all-time favorite go to size is just under two inches total.  The longest pheasant tail fibers are from the center tails near the base.  Keep the claws short, about the same length of the body.  Don’t go wild. 

The body and head is made from AZ Simi Seal dubbing which being from my home state, has quickly become one of my favorite materials.  Just dub a thick body and give it the velcro treatment after the fly is finished.  This is key for the illusion of a thick body and head like crawdads have without the bulk of casting weight and also without interfering with precious hook gap real estate.  That along with dozens of colors, including one called “crawdad”, it has proven itself to be the perfect material. 

Tactics and gear

Crawdads act differently than minnows and insects so likewise, your techniques should change also.  I found a variety of techniques work with this dad including actually dangling it under an indicator in fast currents.  But overall, crawdads are either crawling slowing on the bottom amongst the rocks or darting backwards in spurts higher in the water column when they’re in escape mode.  Keep this in mind and you’ll get a lot more hookups. You’ll notice this pattern doesn’t have a lot of action or movement and it works best when fished that way.  It’s at its best when sight fished in slow clear pools either sitting motionless or slowly stripped over the bottom.  It’s a dream for sight fishing.  If a fish is near, bump it 8 or 10 inches across the bottom to get its attention.  One of my favorite tactics is to find a light colored rock or patch of sandy bottom and settle the fly directly on it and just wait for cruising fish.  I’ve had fish swim from 12 feet away in clear water to attack it.  If they hang up and the last moment, a small twitch usually does it.   Finally, no more bump and run. 

Gear is uncomplicated.  No special rigs needed. Your regular trout rod works fine.  For deep water a sink tip with a short leader works best.  Longer leaders with a floating line for rivers and such.  Use heavy tippets and wide gap bass type hooks.   

For the deep water desert lakes of AZ I use a Deep 6 fast sinking line to get down to the behemoth largemouth that hug the bottom during summer.  For some reason, channel catfish love this thing.  The biggest so far is a four pounder. Even though this was targeted for smallmouth in rivers, I have found that the brown trout in the high country of AZ absolutely love this pattern.  Fished slow or fast makes no difference.  Strip it deep in one of the mountain lakes or tumble it through the fast water of a stream, they absolutely destroy it. 

A word on color

In a world of “match the hatch” mentality, this isn’t always the best route.  Crawdads will actually change color depending on their habitat at the moment.  They also change colors depending on season.  I’ve even noticed that they will be one color in one part of the river, a few yards  downstream they’re another.  The point of all this color changing is camouflage for survival.  I want my fly to be seen which is why I carry a variety of colors.  Not so much to match the naturals but to contrast the bottom in a natural way.  So in addition to the olive and brown look-alikes,  I also use an all-black version for sandy and light colored areas and use the bleached out tan version for darker river bottoms.  With 47 different colors of AZ Simi Seal and counting, combined with several colors of dyed pheasant tail available, the possible color combinations would seem endless.