Most crawfish imitations don’t sink fast enough. These critters live on the bottom and that’s where trout and bass expect to see them. Warpath’s Whammy Craw is tied in rusty orange and brown and rides tail first with its hook up to minimize hang-ups.

Use at least 2X tippet to start. Fish this craw with a sink tip and/or a bit of shot on the line to get the imitation down on the bottom. Let it bump along with the current, then give it short strips like a crawdad moving from rock to rock.

Tie this one with orange or brown thread on a 60-degree jig hook. For the claws, use pine squirrel. For the eyes, use mono with a glass bead. Build the body with orange trilobal dubbing with orange grizzly soft hackle for the belly. Tie in Rainy’s Craft Fur to hide the hook, then long Silly Legs. Finish with barbell lead eyes and a dark orange epoxy head.

—Gary Lewis, For The Bulletin