December 26, 2025
By Matt Redmond
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When we understand the behaviors of our quarry and the mechanics of our equipment, fly fishing can be quite simple. Similarly, the flies we deploy need not be over-engineered or works of fine art. They just need to catch fish, and ideally, resist unraveling after the first couple of eats. Simple “guide-style” flies are often overlooked for the more intricate patterns we admire on social media, but the former catch plenty of fish and require significantly less time and materials to create than the latter.
Evolving Smallmouth Flies In recent years smallmouth bass have grown in popularity among fly anglers for their wide distribution, aggressive behavior, and their willingness to destroy flies in a variety of conditions. With this massive surge in attention has come the significant development of smallmouth-specific flies and techniques. The Midwest has been particularly productive over the last decade as tiers and guides have pushed smallmouth fly design into the modern age, churning out extremely effective patterns decked out with bass triggers via the latest materials and tying techniques. They come in all shapes and sizes, often including articulations and many ingredients, providing immense value to bass anglers, especially when the bite is slow.
There are occasionally, however, situations where complex (and often expensive) flies are contraindicated. Namely, when the chances of losing the fly are high and in situations where ultra-realistic flies are unnecessary to draw strikes. Crayfish patterns are perfect examples of flies that can be kept very simple without sacrificing efficacy. Routinely sent deep to probe rocky bottoms and submerged wood, they tend to suffer higher casualty rates than mid-column and surface flies. Indeed, even the most snag-resistant designs end up on the bottom of the river or lodged in a laydown before long. As such, it can often pay to streamline these patterns to necessitate less time, energy, and materials required for their production. Put simply, crayfish flies get lost more often than other flies, so we should consider making them as inexpensively as possible. For this reason, the Bou Craw is deliberately simple and quick to tie, allowing the angler to chuck it into the sketchiest areas without fear of losing it.
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Enter the Bou Craw The flies we deploy need not be over-engineered or works of fine art–they just need to catch fish. (Matt Redmond photo) The Bou Craw was developed as an expendable alternative to the more involved crayfish patterns I had previously deployed, which had too often found the river bottom. It is a suggestive crayfish pattern, meaning it’s intended to hint at a crayfish via movement and silhouette rather than closely imitating its image. This allows its construction to remain minimalist and not altogether different from a Woolly Bugger, the world-famous fish-catching machine. Like many crayfish flies, the Bou Craw is essentially a jig fly, incorporating front-loaded weight to operate on or near the river bottom with a vertical up-and-down action when stripped. It sports a double-plume marabou tail with rubber legs that imply claws rather than imitate them, and an uber-simple body of palmered Polar Fiber Brush behind medium or small lead eyes.
Bou Craw Fly-Tying Recipe The body of the Bou Craw couldn’t be any simpler, consisting of a tinsel or short chenille-wrapped shank and a few wraps of Polar Fiber Brush right behind the eyes. (Matt Redmond photo) Hook Choosing the right hook goes a long way toward achieving the optimal shape, weight, and action of any fly, and the Bou Craw is tied on the Ahrex TP650 for six specific reasons. The first is the hook’s 26-degree bent eye, which works in tandem with the underside’s lead eyes to help the fly ride hook-point up, mitigating snags. The bent eye of the hook also promotes enhanced vertical displacement when the fly is stripped on a floating line. It essentially helps the fly “pop” higher off the bottom instead of simply being pulled horizontally. The shank of the hook, while not overly long, is sufficient (even with the bent eye) to facilitate a crayfish pattern, creating a long and narrow silhouette.
The Bou Craw is a suggestive crayfish pattern, meaning it’s intended to hint at a crayfish via movement and silhouette rather than closely imitating its image. (Matt Redmond photo) The TP650 is also a light-wire hook which facilitates hookups on light bites and reduces the overall weight of the fly. The lighter hook is a small, but impactful consideration for a recipe which already calls for lead eyes, marabou, multiple rubber legs, and brush material. Another feature of the TP650 is its moderate-sized hook gap, which provides plenty of clearance without protruding so far as to unnecessarily increase the risk of snags. The Bou Craw is typically tied in sizes 1 and 2 for river smallmouth bass but may be scaled up or down depending on an angler’s needs.
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Head/Claws Perhaps the most striking characteristic of the Bou Craw is its lack of claws. This thoughtful omission stems from the realization that under most circumstances, smallmouth bass aren’t sticklers for detail. It’s a theory that's strongly supported by the efficacy of simple, yet successful offerings like the Ned Rig, a notoriously deadly conventional finesse lure that draws strikes from fish in the toughest of conditions despite only vaguely reflecting the visual signature of forage. Movement, rather than looks, is the Ned Rig’s key attribute, and the Bou Craw is built on this same premise. Free of common claw materials like rabbit and pine squirrel, the fly is highly castable and requires less time and materials to create, making it a valuable tool for anglers. Instead, the Bou Craw’s “claws” are simply rubber legs, often in contrasting colors and cut an inch longer than the marabou, that wiggle behind the fly, serving as adequate placeholders for conventional claw material.
The “head” of the fly, as is typical of crayfish patterns, is located at the back of the hook. Grizzly Flashabou is the first material, tied in about halfway into the bend of the hook. This material is great for color contrast, and it tends to be stiffer than regular Flashabou, allowing it to stand up and create lifelike antennae that extend off the back of the fly. Lady Amherst fibers can also be used as antennae with essentially the very same properties. Antennae aren’t a necessary inclusion, but they are a light and cheap addition that adds an element of realism.
Body The Bou Craw is tied on the Ahrex TP650, which is a light-wire hook that facilitates hookups on light bites and reduces the overall weight of the fly. (Matt Redmond photo) The body of the Bou Craw couldn’t be any simpler, consisting of a tinsel or short chenille-wrapped shank and a few wraps of Polar Fiber Brush right behind the eyes. The tinsel protects the otherwise exposed thread wraps that are susceptible to cuts from small teeth or rocks, enhancing the durability of the fly. The pliable fibers of the Polar Fiber Brush work well to create a body that retains its shape with only a few wraps. Other brushes can be used in a pinch, but the Polar Fiber’s ability to shed water and its subtle, built-in flash are valuable to the fly’s castability and look. Adding an extra wrap or two of the brush will slow the fly’s sink rate–an occasionally desirable tweak for slower presentations. Opting for lighter eyes can also accomplish this same effect. As far as colors are concerned, it’s hard to go wrong with black and orange in stained water. In clear conditions, olive and tan work well. Incorporating some form of contrast is key, and it can easily be accomplished with alternative colored rubber legs and the top marabou plume.
Head The head of the fly is left bare, incorporating only the lead eyes, thread wraps, and head cement. This austere design, coupled with the higher drag properties of the marabou and brush in the back, facilitates a head-first drop on a slack line. Eye color is typically selected to match the body material, but unpainted eyes work just fine as well as after just a short time in the water, most of the paint is chipped off anyway.
Fishing the Bou Craw The Bou Craw is often eaten on the drop and on the swing, proving especially effective when slowly swung across the river bottom with small, intermittent strips. (Matt Redmond photo) River anglers must control and utilize slack to maximize the action of their flies, and the Bou Craw is no different. It rides hook-point up and pops upward exceptionally well when fished on a floating line with a long, fluorocarbon leader. It is often eaten on the drop and on the swing, proving especially effective when slowly swung across the river bottom with small, intermittent strips. While stripping, it’s helpful for an angler to simultaneously pull the rod toward his or her body before re-extending it toward the fly. This “thrust-stripping” technique accentuates the jigging action of the fly by manipulating slack to speed up then drop it. When fished in this manner, the Bou Craw’s marabou tail drags through the water behind dense lead eyes, creating a realistic dart-and-drop action. Anglers can also pause and drop or “kill” the fly in key areas by stepping toward it, another method of adding slack to the system. This is deadly when utilized around boulders and current seams.
The Bou Craw is often eaten on the drop, and grabs can be nearly imperceptible at times. Quick strip-sets should be executed at every bump, tug, pause, or push on the line. In the event of a false alarm strip-set, simply let the fly fall back to the bottom and continue to fish it. The erratic movement of the set and drop can trigger fish to eat. All fishing requires daily calibration, and wise anglers let the fish tell them what they want. If the fish aren’t playing ball, consider downsizing to smaller eyes to slow the presentation and offer fish an easier meal. Lighter crayfish flies are powerful tools when the bite slows down, and anglers should fish them with shorter, less-pronounced pops as they skitter along the bottom.
Smallmouth Simplicity Simple flies like the Bou Craw are powerful tools that often catch fish just as readily as their more complex cohorts. They can bring added value, however, due to their increased expendability which promotes aggressive fishing. Putting the fly in the zone and bringing it to life, after all, is what consistently puts fish in the net. Spin a few up, fire them into cover, and let them do the work.
Matt Redmond is a guide, writer, and fly tier from Cleveland, Ohio. He owns and operates Northeast Ohio Angling LLC and has over a decade of experience fishing throughout the Great Lakes and their connecting waters for a variety of warm- and coldwater species.
