When big bonefish search for small crabs and mollusks on reef and shallow-water flats, they root, turn, tumble, and tail as they casually feed. In addition to batting mangrove shoots with their noses and tails to dislodge hermit crabs in their shell houses, they suck shells inhabited by three-colored, red bar-eyed, smooth-jawed and green-striped hermit crabs off the turtle grass on many flats in Belize and the Bahamas.

Just as Royal Wulffs and Goofus Bugs are not as effective as they once were for trout on rivers like Montana's Madison, the same is true with bonefish in their home waters. Although there are many areas where bonefish have seen few flies and are aggressive to almost anything, flies that represent what bones feed on are required for success in some heavily fished areas of the Bahamas and Belize, especially for big bones in shallow water.

Hermit Crab Bitters

Hook: Tears of the Keys blank in #4-10 to represent the color of shell crabs, most effective in amber, lime, and olive. Thread: White 6/0 Uni-thread. Legs: Dyed spandex rubber, clipped short, mottled with Sanford markers. Common variations are blue with red and navy mottling to suggest three colored hermit, olive gree and brown mottling for smooth clawed; red on cream mottling for red bar-eyed hermits, and green and brown mottling on cream legs for green striped hermits. Coral/Weed Guard: Natural deer hair tied short to hook point.

Our patterns are small, lightly weighted, and incorporate a pinch of deer hair so they ride hook point up, making the flies weed- and coral-proof. This is important, for when a fly hangs up on weeds, coral, or other bottom features, the fish get spooked.

For many seasons, we used wool and synthetic yarns to tie crab flies, and they took forever to tie. We switched to deer, caribou, and elk hair, and bighorn sheep wool spun and trimmed to shape. These materials took even longer to tie and required much more weight to sink. And, due to the weight and bulk of the flies, they were too difficult for most anglers to cast long distance. We even tried trimmed Velcro, but the material was too stiff and ungainly to be workable.

Furry foam is durable, inexpensive, and comes in the right colors. It allows us to quickly produce beautiful crab bodies that sink well with little weight. From reef to reef and flat to flat, we have found that fly color can make a big difference. Subtle colors like tan, olive, and brown work best on coral and turtle grass areas. Cream is usually the only color required for the bright-sand flats of the Bahamas, Belize, and the Yucatan. Bright colors (lime and orange) produce best in the late afternoons or on dark, cloudy days, during high-pressure systems, full moon, in deeper water with mud or soft bottom, and when female crabs are carrying their egg loads under their tails.