McFly's McCraw

Published on Aug 14. 2025 - 3 days ago
Updated or edited 9 minutes ago

This McCraw fly is one I developed specifically to fish bass in the creeks and rivers down in South Texas, however this works amazingly pretty much everywhere that bass eat crawfish (which is everywhere). From small creeks, to fast moving rivers, to deep and shallow lakes. You can fish deep holes with this, and even bump along the bottom in riffles or lake shores. It is tied with a tungsten bead and jig hook, so it gets down quickly and won't snag easily due to being fished hook point up. I like to fish this in and around cover, or use it to drop into deep holes.

I used to sell flies, and this was a very popular one. Ive sold these flies to customers in almost every state, and ive gotten reports back from all of them that the flies worked really well to fish a number of species, but especially bass. Ive personally caught bass in Texas, Colorado, Utah and New Mexico with this. Ive also caught trout, sunfish, a small native cichlid fish to Texas called the Rio, and even catfish and carp with the McCraw.

The McCraw is fairly easy to tie, with a limited amount of materials that dont cost too much. The most expensive part will be the brahma pelt, but one pelt will tie at least 50 or more of these flies, so it's totally worth picking one up. If you want the fly more durable, use something like thin skin for the back, but I really like the look of Swiss straw for this fly. And where it's tied in, it usually withstands quite a few fish strikes.

This fly is available now throughout fly shops in America, as it did get picked up by a distributor. So if you dont want to tie this, but want to try them out, ask your local fly shop to contact Yellowstone Fly Goods, and pick up a few of these McCraws.

Make sure you check out my sponsor Risen Fly. They have amazing deals on hooks and beads, but also sell some of the best fly rods Ive ever used, and at a price that is very reasonable. With the cost of fly fishing going up every year, it's refreshing to find great quality gear at prices we can all afford. Best off they are offering all of you a discount just for being my subscriber. So go to www.risenfly.com and type in McFly at checkout for 15% off your first order with them.

Also dont forget to pick up one of my fly boxes. I have both magnetic backed and silicone backed, if these sell well I plan on getting more styles as well and maybe even bringing back the shirts that everyone loved years ago. Check out my amazon store front to pick up the boxes. - www.amazon.com/shops/McFlyAngler

Materials
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Hook: Firehole Sticks 523 (size 8) - https://amzn.to/4mwpCSK
Bead: Risen Tungsten Slotted Bead (dirty olive, 4.5mm) - https://www.risenfly.com/collections/beads-and-weights/products/slotted…
Thread: Veevus 6/0 (brown) - https://amzn.to/40WCEkk
Flash: Crystal Flash (gold) - https://amzn.to/3JsCYkB
Legs: Nymph Sili Legs (orange barred) - https://amzn.to/3Ur6nhz
Flashy Dubbing: Antron Dubbing (ginger variant) - https://amzn.to/4mH7ea4
Claws and Body: Whiting Brahma Soft Hackle and Chickabou Pelt (mottled tan) - https://amzn.to/45Kszto
Shell: Swiss Straw (brown) - https://amzn.to/4mCOEj1
Collar dubbing: Antron dubbing (brown) - https://amzn.to/4mH7ea4
Head Cement: Solarez Ultra Thin - https://solarez.com/bone-dry-intro-kit.html