Sexy Crab

Sexy Crab

Pedro Pablo Yañez Duran

History

I made this fly many years ago. I was looking for a crab fly made with extremely resistant materials, but at the same time keeping a natural look, full of movement and with a solid structure. After a few prototypes and a testing process I found the one which I was looking for.

Fishing it

Now Sexy crab is one of my best selling flies. Great for bonefish, permit, striped bass or any other crab cracker around the globe.
Where to use this fly? Well at any location where crabs are present. It is a good way for successful fishing to match the color of the fly with the bottom of the local environment.
How to fish this fly? A good way it is making some long and slow retrieves followed be an accasional short and fast strip.

Tan crab

Pedro Pablo Yañez Duran

Clawed monster

Pedro Pablo Yañez Duran

Step 1

Tie in the dumbbell eyes near the front of the hook with figure-eight wraps. Cinch the wraps down to the hook shank by wrapping the thread parallel to the shank at the base of the eyes. This pulls the thread even tighter and helps keep the eyes from spinning. Apply a little CCG Hydro or super glue to secure them in place.

Step 1 - 1 - dumbbell eyes

Pedro Pablo Yañez Duran

Step 2

For the rostrum wrap the thread to the back of the hook shank, then take a bunch of Deadly Dazzle fibers and tie them in using the folding method to obtain more volume with less material
At first make just a few loose wraps and push the fibers using the forefinger and thumb together. Pinch the butt ends top to bottom and then side to side to equally distribute the fibers 360 degrees around the hook shank
This way you will spread the material uniformly around the hook shank
Then make tight wraps to secure them in place
Fold back the rest of the fibers and make a few tight wraps and then use Clear Cure Goo, Hydro or super glue to secure them. Then trim the fibers to obtain the desired profile.
I recommend to use a cardboard cutter blade to give a natural shape. Don't trim the fibers with a straight cut or the fly will look to unnatural.

Step 2 - 1 - rostrum

Step 2 - 2 - rostrum done

Pedro Pablo Yañez Duran

Step 3

Take two pieces of zonker strip to form the claws. Use the hook shank length as a reference for the claws, in this case it's almost 1 inch
Tie them at each side of the hook and make tight wraps to secure them.
To add the eyes tie them in the internal side of the hook shank. To obtain the right length, keep almost 5 millimeters from the hook gap to the eyes. Make tight wraps to secure them and then pull them forward to create a V shape appearance.

Step 3 - 1 - claws

Step 3 - 2 - top view

Step 3 - 3 - eyes

Step 3 - 4 - side view

Pedro Pablo Yañez Duran

Step 4

To create the antennas take two centipede legs. The length of the antennae it is almost the double of the hook shank. Tie them in just in the middle of the eyes. You can use a few figure eight wraps to secure them. Fold them back you will obtain two antenna per side. Make tight wraps to secure them.

Step 4 - antennae

Pedro Pablo Yañez Duran

Step 5

For the body take a piece of Enrico Puglisi Crustaceous Brush and place it just behind of the rostrum. Wrap it forward making tight wraps and always pull the fibers back on each wrap. This way you will avoid fibers that tangle. You can use a dubbing needle or your free hand. Go just behind of the dumbbell eyes with the thread make a few tight wraps to secure them in place and whip-finish
Apply Clear Cure Goo Tack Free to finish the fly.

Step 5 - body

Step 5 - 2 - ready to trim

Pedro Pablo Yañez Duran

Step 6

Brush the body using a dubbing needle or a comb to distribute all the fibers in a correct way. To create the crab's shape, start trimming the sides of the fly making a V shape and then trim the top and the bottom of the fly to reach the desired shape.

Step 6 - 3 - side view

Step 6 - 3 - trimmed

Pedro Pablo Yañez Duran

Done

Pedro Pablo Yañez Duran