Crayfish are small crustaceans primarily inhabiting freshwater environments. They look a lot like small lobsters, to which they are related. Most importantly from an angler’s point of view: They are rich in protein and a popular food source for any predator able to handle them.

Bass, walleye, musky, pike and perch all eat crayfish. In Europe some populations of fast growing and very large perch are depending heavily on crayfish.

I’ve tied lots of crayfish imitating fly pattern, but jig fishing really is more effective for mimicking the action of these primarily bottom dwelling creatures. The lure needs to bounce of rocks, submerged timber, gravel and weedbeds to be effective. And it should be able to sit on the bottom, waving it’s pinchers at an attacker.

So I tied up a bunch of Crawdad patterns on a ¼ oz. jighead, and it works like a charm. Even small perch can’t take their eyes of this one… as you can see in the video – and the big guys just eat it.

First pattern I made was this Golden Crawdad, but I will make a few other patterns. I see a brownish olive- and a mostly black variant in the pipeline as well.