General Crustacean
I designed the General Crustacean 11 years ago for striped bass. Since then I have used it in fresh water to imitate a swimming crayfish. It has caught everything from Striped bass, bluefish and flat fish to rainbow trout, small mouth bass and walleye. I originally tied it in 1/0 SS but have used it is smaller sizes to imitate young crayfish. These flies pictured were both fished flies that took a number of striped bass, smallmouth bass and trout. They are not fresh off the bench flies. They are the only photos I have at the moment.
The history of this fly must return to the muddy outflow area of Little Great Bay in Portsmouth, NH. Bait fish abound there but I find casting and stripping so fatiguing at times I wanted another approach to fishing striped bass there. One would be blind to not notice all the crabs and the lobster boats in this area. Certainly, I thought there must be a better way to fish the deep water along the Piscataqua River than the minnow imitations I was fishing and relax a bit! The thought came to me as I looked over the various crabs in varied colors.
I returned to my fly bench in Sharon, Vermont and got to work. What is not pictured here is the General Crustacean in its other color form. I tie it with a tan body and brown buck tail dyed chartreuse green wing/caprice. Both are very deadly flies in both fresh and saltwater. Shortly after tying the General Crustacean I started catching more striped bass than ever. I prefer to cast up and across stream, allow it to sink and then pump it as it moves along into the swing. I strip line as I raise the rod then drop the rod tip which give the General Crustacean the stop and go swimming action of many crustaceans.
The third day I used the General Crustacean I hooked my first real striper! I cast the General Crustacean in a deep rocky area and allowed the General Crustacean to sink. Then I saw the line move with the take. I set the hook and I can still see the line shooting out through the guides as the striper headed for one of the red buoys in mid river and that was a long way away. Sure enough there was no stopping the fish and the cow went around the cable and broke off taking my General Crustacean with her.
Years later my son and I had some time to kill and only the saltwater gear in the truck. What the heck we thought and stopped to fish for smallmouth bass in the Connecticut River. My son Pete went down the run ahead of me and we both were catching very nice smallmouth bass when suddenly Pete set the hook and this was not a bass. After a good fight Pete landed a very nice 19" wild rainbow trout which he released but the first sign of trouble had begun. The 1/0 SS hook was sticking out of the rainbows eye. Next season in high water I gave the General Crustacean a try for river trout. First fish of the season came to the General Crustacean; a wild measured 22 inch rainbow which I C&R with no photo as the camera was at home. I really wanted a photo of the beautiful male rainbow but sorry. Well I figured I had the big fish thing going and I did but the next trout a very nice 18 inch wild rainbow had ripped her gills on the 1/0 SS hook; blood pumped from the gills. Since then I use the large size General Crustacean only in the salt and in a special situation but do use the fly tied in smaller sizes with good success. The big fish really do like the 1/0 the best however. If you use the fly for trout be advised to keep it at #6 and #4 and save the big General Crustacean for the salt and small mouth bass.
Hook: 1/0 SS - #6 SS
Thread: brown or dark olive strong un-waxed thread is good!
Antenna: Brown bucktail dyed orange keep it uneven. Do not stack the hair. Notice it is tied around the bend of the hook to angle up.
Body: rug yarn buff or tan
Wing: Brown or brown dyed chartreuse green bucktail
Hackle: One or two brown hackles depending on the size of the fly wound through the body butt ends tied in at the rear of the hook with the fluff remaining.
I got most of my hackle of the barnyard variety from Bryant Freeman at Eskape Anglers as the genetically bred hackle birds don't have hackle needed to tie the General Crustacean.
Barbell weights; tied in close to the hook eye.
Epoxy is used throughout the tying of the General Crustacean. I prefer slow drying epoxy as the 5 min is simply faster drying than I can tie and not as strong! I score the hook with a file to ensure a strong bond. When tied correctly the weakest part of the fly is the barbell which I have replaced on flies and fished again. Oh! The barbell is tied on at the very end of the tying process. The body and the hair wing butts makes a very good base for the barbell. It also moves the barbell away from the hook and ensures greater leverage for the fly to keel properly the hook riding up.
Enjoy the General Crustacean remember it is a killer; use it wisely.
Bobby
General Crustacean
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