A)
- Wind the thread in touching turns from the 95%
position to the bend of the hook.
- If extra weight is required wind a little lead
wire along the middle section of the hook shank. This fly fishes best
on or around the bottom but care should be taken not to add so much
weight that it becomes difficult to cast.
- Tie in a small bunch of Super hair and a couple
of bits of Pearl Flash or Krystalflash to represent the sieves
and mouth parts. These are tied in very much as a tail would be tied in
on a fly.
- Tie in a set of dumbbell, real eyes or
bead chain eyes.
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B)
- Select a section of rubber band that is about
half as wide as the gape of the hook and about twice as long as the
hook shank.
- Cut the rubber band at an angle and cut out the
nippers as in the diagram.
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C)
Tie the two claws in along each side of the middle section of the hook
shank. The two claws should be the same length and when extended
forward should be between one and one and a half times the length of
the hook. Don't worry about the exact positioning of the claws at this
stage as that will be taken care of when the body is glued in.
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D)
- The legs can be tied out of silicon or rubber
leg material or out
of a sections of rubber band. I prefer to use rubber band for the legs
on the combo crab because they have a natural curve.
- Tie three sets of legs in the back two thirds
of the hook shank. If
your using sections of rubber band tie the rear legs in with the curve
of the legs backward the middle legs with the curve downward and the
front legs with the curve forward.
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E)
- The body is made out of a small piece of soft
leather. Sheets of this type of leather can be brought from most good
craft shops.
- Cut out the body shape as in the diagram.
- The width is about twice the gape of the hook
and the length is the distance from the eye of the hook to just behind
the eyes that you have already tied in.
- The hole has to be big enough to slide over the
eye of the hook.
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F)
- Put contact adhesive on one side of the leather.
- With the contact side of the leather facing up
slide the hole over the eye of the hook.
- Carefully position the legs and claws in their
final positions.
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G)
- Once you are satisfied that the claws and legs
are properly
located carefully lift the leather back of the fly into position and
squeeze the top and bottom together.
- I like to colour the top side of the body and
the claws of the
fly in with red, brown, black or green permanent marker depending on
the crab being imitated. I only colour the top side of the fly as I
think it adds to the realism of the imitation if the underside is paler
as in the natural.
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H)
As a final step you may want to give the top of the fly a thin coat of
5 minute epoxy.
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