Big fish love crayfish flies. Here’s how to get in on the action

Whether you call it a crayfish, crawfish, crawdad, mudbug or mountain lobster, this common freshwater crustacean is an important food source for Canadian gamefish. Yet crayfish are often a bit of an afterthought among fly anglers, even though many of our favourite species—including larger trout and bass—will readily chomp up these armoured crustaceans. Here’s how to get with the crayfish program.

THE CRAW FACTS

Crayfish live in a wide variety of lakes and rivers, but prefer rubble bottoms and vegetation, which offer camouflage and sanctuary. Craws can be brown, black, green, tan, olive, rust-hued or a mottled combination of those colours. They crawl, scoot or hop tail first, both along—and within a foot or two—of bottom. While crayfish can get as long as six inches, predators to eat prefer the smaller ones, from one to three inches in length.