Step 1. Flatten the barb of a #2 Mustad 3407 hook and place it in the vise. Use Black Danville’s Flat Waxed Nylon to secure dumbbell eyes (1/16 oz) or (1/24 oz) to the top of the hook shank, close to the hook eye, with tight figure-eight wraps. Cover the hook shank with tight, close wraps of thread and coat the eyes with bronze nail polish.

Step 2. Secure two strands of olive/green Barred Sili Legs on the hook shank opposite the hook barb. Secure the Sili Legs at their center to create four legs about a hook-length long. Attach an olive schlappen feather--about 1½” wide--just forward of the rear legs and palmer the feather forward with four or five tight turns. Secure the feather stem and cut the excess. Carefully wrap back over this hackle with thread turns so it flares back over the legs.

Step 3. Attach a second schlappen feather just ahead of the flared tail, and secure medium olive chenille to the hook over the base of the feather. Wrap the chenille to a point about ¼” behind the eyes. Attach the second set of Sili Legs (two strands for four legs on each side) to the hook shank by carefully winding the chenille over and beyond them. Ensure that the legs protrude off the sides of the fly, angled slightly back toward the tail. Continue winding the chenille forward, wrapping over the eyes, and secure the chenille in front of the eyes. Trim the excess chenille.

Step 4. Use five or six wraps to wind the remaining schlappen feather forward over the chenille and around the legs. Secure the feather just behind the eyes and trim the stem. Position the thread in front of the eyes, whip-finish, clip the thread, and cement the finishing wraps. Trim the schlappen fibers from the top of the fly (the underside of the hook shank) to give it a flat, crab-like profile. Trim the rubber legs so they extend about ¼” past the schlappen fibers.

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Alan Caolo has been flats fishing for 15 years, pursuing bonefish, permit, and tarpon in the tropics, and stripers in the Northeast. He is the author of Sight-Fishing for Striped Bass (Amato Publications, 2001).

This article originally appeared in the July 2007 issue of Fly Fisherman.

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