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Whilst not as realistic looking as my Leather Crab pattern the Combo Crab is my preferred crab pattern because it casts so much better and as a consequence you get more fishing time. You may notice that the fly has only three sets of legs plus claws whilst the natural has four sets of legs plus claws. You can add an extra set if you like but I have found that it is much easier dealing with only three sets of legs and it doesn't appear to diminish the quality of the representation.

These crabs were designed for estuary flathead and are best fished on or close to the bottom either on a slow retrieve or in the current without any drag. Hits are generally quite aggressive.

Materials

Process

A	Wind the thread in touching turns from the 95% position to the bend of the hook. Understanding hooks If extra weight is required wind a little lead wire along the middle section of the hook shank. This fly fishes best on or around the bottom but care should be taken not to add so much weight that it becomes difficult to cast. Tying in lead wire Tie in a small bunch of Super hair and a couple of  bits of Pearl Flash or Krystal flash to represent the sieves and mouth parts. These are tied in very much as a tail would be tied in on a fly. Managing synthetic fibres Tie in a set of  dumbbell, real eyes or bead chain eyes. Tying in bead chain or dumbbell eyes

B	Select a section of rubber band that is about half as wide as the gape of the hook and about twice as long as the hook shank. Cut the rubber band at an angle and cut out the nippers as in the diagram.

C	Tie the two claws in along each side of the middle section of the hook shank. The two claws should be the same length and when extended forward should be between one and one and a half times the length of the hook. Don't worry about the exact positioning of the claws at this stage as that will be taken care of  when the body is glued in.

D	The legs can be tied out of silicon or rubber leg material or out of a sections of rubber band. I prefer to use rubber band for the legs on the combo crab because they have a natural curve. Tie three sets of legs in the back two thirds of the hook shank. If your using sections of rubber band tie the rear legs in with the curve of the legs backward the middle legs with the curve downward and the front legs with the curve forward.

E	The body is made out of a small piece of soft leather. Sheets of this type of leather can be brought from most good craft shops. Cut out the body shape as in the diagram. The width is about twice the gape of the hook and the length is the distance from the eye of the hook to just behind the eyes that you have already tied in. The hole has to be big enough to slide over the eye of the hook.

F	Put contact adhesive on one side of the leather. With the contact side of the leather facing up slide the hole over the eye of the hook. Carefully position the legs and claws in their final positions.

G	Once you are satisfied that the claws and legs are properly located carefully lift the leather back of the fly into position and squeeze the top and bottom together. I like to colour the top side of the body and the claws of the fly in with red, brown, black or green permanent marker depending on the crab being imitated. I only colour the top side of the fly as I think it adds to the realism of the imitation if the underside is paler as in the natural.

H	As a final step you may want to give the top of the fly a thin coat of 5 minute epoxy. Working with epoxy

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