Sat down last night and knocked out a few simple Q red pelagic crab flies for some offshore fly fishing. These crabs are everywhere right now and make up a large source of protein for many pelagic species.
These are really easy to tie, you just need to prepare your materials ahead of time.
What I mean is the fly is very easy to assemble once you have the proper materials. For instance, my buddy Denny powder-coated some Flymen Flyfishing Sculpin Heads (small) for me, I pre-made, hand cut my claws with clear silicone/red ep fibers and had some EP shrimp eyes, or you can make your own? I am using a 3/0 “secret” hook that I am field testing, but any good hook will work providing you can get the sculpin head to fit the diameter of the shaft. The rest of the materials are red wool, barred orange/black sili-legs and orange krystal flash for (antenna). It’s a realistic yet simple fly that gets the job done…hope you like?
-Q
flies, sand & surf 
Al, oh fine! I just got done tying up some red crabs, and then along comes this post. Now I’ve got more ideas on what I should have done. Back to the red crab drawing board …..
– Kevin
Hey Kevin, hope these flies open your mind! Have fun!
Those look really nice! I have tied up a few different red crabs, but I like yours better. Thanks for the inspiration.
Hey Ronald,
thanks, the first versions I tied a few years back were a bit more complicated, less is more!
Always trying to simplify to get the essence and movement without over doing it…the best flies are the ones that fish well and are easy to tie.
Hi Al, any chance you might be able to purchase some of these fro
You?
Matt:
I try not to commercial tie these days, it sucks too much of my time and not worth the effort. I tie to fish! LOL I do tie for some specific high end clients taking exotic trips on occasion. The red crabs are not too hard to tie. Make some red clousers with a short red rabbit tail and orange sili-legs on both sides and they should work great. I may tie some Holy Moleys this year for corbina and put up on my store, so stayed tune. They are easy to tie and I will start to tie some up for myself, the end of May…
Cheers
-A