Ben Lubchansky

It does maintain that standing position - which is the main aim of the fly. It can also be done by subbing rooster hackle for, or along with, the hen hackle. The runners would work for sure and you could probably get away with much thinner stuff than 40#. Originally I used just the hen w/out any mono props, and they worked fairly well but the fly was prone to lilting in the water, or rolling over with some current. I've never worked with furry foam, but be careful of adding too much bouyancy to the fly. You want it to get down without being a chuck-and-duck rig, and the claws and webby legs do create a good amount of surface area and subsequent drag as the fly drops through the water column. Let me know how things come out. I think there are some streamlined versions of this recipe that would be effective for when you need some crays and need 'em quick. They would be more impressionistic You could probably do the whole body with cactus chenille and an unsegmented shellback pulled over the whole thing, or perhaps none at all- at which point you begin making some variations of a tube-fly-which I am getting into lately. I am also experimenting with mohair yarn as a body material. It creates a great 'halo' effect and makes knockout wollybuggers but is generally underutilized. The keys, I think, are the squirrel tail claws (note the contrast produced by the barring and light tips)and the dumbells. Anyway, speed was a design criteria of this recipe-and while not a 5 minute fly, it's not 15 either. Its hard to sink a lot of time into a fly whose job it is to scratch along a rocky river bottom. That, I think, is the great paradox of the crayfish fly period.

"Is this the one you were tying at the Urbana Library get-together? I didn't get a good look at it then, but the finished product looked good from across the table." Yep. And very much looking forward to tying some more in Blooomington this Sunday for everyone to check out and try. Also, I'm including some in the fly pack I'm donating for the Blowout auction. Also, thanks for the compliments folks.

Remember a belly color too!

This is a cray recipe that I concocted about three years ago looking for a cray pattern that was hook up, used simple materials, and relatively easy to tie. Its unique characteristic is that it mimics the crayfishs defensive fighting posture when threatened. This fly is proven on smallies and trout, and even a carp. Not necessarily a searching pattern, I love throwing it as a changeup to likely holes in fall, after hits on other flies have slowed, or into the head of a spillway or fall under one or two indicators. This fly consistently lands my largest fish of the season. This fly is NOT difficult. Try it. The only tricky parts are splitting the squirrel tail at the hook bend, and working with three loose material at the middle of the fly. Freely sub material you have for those I list. Grey squirrel tail, for example, works just fine. Hook: Streamer 4x long size 2-6 Thread: 6/0 Weight: dumbell eyes Claws: Squirrel tail Prop Legs: Very stiff, heavy mono, at least 40# test. Shellback: Swiss straw Legs: Webby hen hackle Body: chenille Tie in the eyes on top, near the hook eye and then flip the hook over, as in a clouser. Now tie in the squirrel tail clump at the hook bend and divide it evenly as if tying a Wulff wing. Next tie in the mono legs on either side of the fly. The swiss straw goes on next followed by the hen feather and the chenille. Move the thread to the middle of the hook. Wind the chenille to the thread, wrap the thread to secure the chenille and continue wrapping the chenille to the hook eye. Let it hang from a hackle plier. Now wind the hen feather to the mid point and tie it off. Stroke the barbules to the sides and bring the swiss straw over top tying it down at the midpoint to make the cephalothorax. Wrap the thread over the swiss straw to make the segments of the tail as you bring the thread to the hook eye. Tie off the chenille and straw at the eye. Trim the swiss straw longish, whip finish, glue and spread the tail. Trim if necessary.

I plan on being there. I am going to put the recipe for the Cassius Cray in the bass buggers submissions forum. Bring materials to tie them and I'll be happy to show you how. The one odd material is heavy mono, which I will supply. I also have extra squirrel tails, so don't let that stop you from bringing anything else. Also, I bought an STP foam frog cutter, so bring some 2mm foam sheets if you want to make a supply of them.

I'd be happy to, and I would also love others to offer tutorials as well. Getting to see how others do things is just so valuable in fly tying I think. I bet we would all like another look at those worm fly patters swimming around too. I'm down with any location in B-N. Unless we can use the pole, then no question - the firestation!

does anyone attending this have a STP foam frog cutter? If sowould you mind bringing it...i'd love to cut a seasons worth of fros, tie some to donate and show others how to.My link

Any good leads on ringers? I've tried Meijer and Walgreens with nothing but blank stares from employees.

Yesterday was great! I can make it on that Sunday the 28th, and my son will safely be at the childrens museum at Normal! I'd love to tie a bunch of donation flies.

Mike G.'s suggestion of using an embroidery hoop worked like a charm. I found that the key is to keep things taught. The best way to do this is to make your cuts incrementally, scoring all the lines first with a fresh razor and then going back to cut a little deeper, perforating the lines; and, finally teasing them apart or cutting all the way through. Next, free the pelt from the hoop and trim out your series of strips leafing a 1/4" tag on each end that allows the strips to stay attached to each other as a group until you need them. Note that I only used the widest part of the hoop, and that I placed the last working edge at the midpoint allowing me to work continuously down the pelt. This yielded excellent results. DO resist the temptation to work over your thigh! The cutter in the video above would certainly work in conjuntion with this hoop idea, but yeah, wear gloves! That thing is stitches waiting to happen.

Wow, thanks for the great leads everyone. I really appreciate the feedback. I had almost thrown in the towel and concluded that hand cut zonkers (fairly effective with scissors) can just be used in lieu of crosscut for palmering as in the hairy fodder. And I still think they can for personal tying. But crosscut looks so good. Anyway, My wife has the hoops upsatirs and I'm about to try that. Heres a link to a site with hides http://www.anglersworkshop.com/items.aspx?catid=1033 I like this places selection, price and selection of hooks in particular and they had everything I was looking for in materials all from one place - those shipping costs will eat you alive. Otherwise I sure prefer buying in person at shops (none near C-U) or at shows. Thanks again.

Does anyone have any tips for making your own crosscut and zonker strips. I'd much rather spend $7 on a lifetime supply ( or nearly) from 1 rabbit pelt than get nickle and dimed for 3'- if it can be done effectively. Ive tried freehand with scissors, and using a straightedge and razor from both the fur and flesh sides. So far nothing is satisfactory. Thanks!

yes please place a photo and recipe in the newsletter! There is no better prize than seeing your name in print.

I'd like to share a crayfish recipe I've made at the tie-in. I'mnot sure that I can sport all materials for everyone, but its made with common stuff like chenille, swiss straw, streamer hooks, and dumbell eyes so I'll be we can all make some. I've aso got a hellgramite pattern I really like.

This is fantastic news. I'll be there. For those who travel with kids and perhaps a spouse, the childrens library is just down the hall from this room and is fantastic! I know mine will be there.

We can't let that happen, not this year.....not ever. If ever there was a time the resource needed us, it is right now. Hey, Mike I'm in... Thanks for the opportunity to help!

Is there any formal approach that ISA is taking? What resources do we have as an organization to get involved with this issue. I'd like to participate. This feels like a sucker punch.

Thanks to everyone with the very complimentary remarks. I'd be happy to put something together for a newsletter if you like. Just let me know what I can do. The next major thing on the itinerary seems to be addressing the park closings. Kickapoo and Middle Fork would eba real loss to an area already somewhat depapuerate in scenic outdoor opportunities. Ben

OK. Here's the scoop: A contractor was pumping bentonite clay discharge as a by-product of some construction work they were doing for the local sanitary district. Not toxic stuff, but we all know how destructive sedimentation can be. Especially nery fine particulate. What if all that clay had dropped on spawning beds ? Below is the follow up I recieved from the investigating officer. "The discharge was an accidental discharge of bentonite clay material and naturally occurring material that is used in many applications. Yesterday, the contractor placed sand bags around the largest deposit of the material and vacuumed as much as possible into a truck for proper disposal. In this case, a violation notice will be sent to both the sanitary district and the contractor. That notice will be sent in a letter from our Compliance Assurance Section (CAS) in Springfield. The notice gives the responsible parties a chance to explain what happened and requires them to provide a plan of compliance to prevent further releases of this type. Since this is the first improper release by this contractor, it is likely that CAS will accept the compliance plan if it meets their criteria. The sanitary district will have to modify their pollution prevention plan to prevent a recurrence. An incident of this type could lead to a referral to the Illinois Attorney General." A little beaurocratic to be sure, but I am impressed that they had to clean it up, and that both the contractor and, more importantly, the sanitary district, will have to be more considerate of this sort of thing in the future. I hope they realize that peole care and will catch them if they fail again. Thanks to ISA for providing a venu to share this. It was empowering, and I am not sure that I would have been as comfortable to investigate my suspicions If I had been working in a vacuum. Good Fishing Everyone Ben

I went back this afternoon and found the possible sourceof the turbidity. Material of some sort from constructiuon work appears to be dumped into the waterway. The material is very fine like stone cutting waste or concrete powder etc. I snapped a bunch of photos and have been in touch with the EPA. Thet say they will notify me of any developments.

This on a much larger scale, its filling the stream channel. I checked one access above and below my point last night and the one above is clear as a bell. The one below shows more turbidity. I'm going to hike the stream bank to investigate. There is some heavy equipment use going on above my access point. My only other guess is beaver activity. We'll see.

While fishing this evening, a plume of sediment suddenly coursed throught the waterway withought a change in water volume. I have looked at regional radar and saw no real storms in the watershed. I also hiked upstream to where there is a major discharge pipe. The discharge was normal. In fact, the clearndischarge seemed to have dammed up the sediment flow above it causing a backwater of sorts. The sediment was then integrating with the discharge water and continuing on down stream like a branch spilling clear water into a flooded stream. I hope to investigate more tomorrow, but has anyone ever seen anything like this before ?