At my urging BKClark was kind enough to do a step by step tutorial on a crab fly he ties. I was attempting to do something similar but at 3x the workload and not near as nice looking when he taught me to use the EP brush body instead of tying in tufts of EP fibers.

I've uploaded the pictures so everything from here down is the work of BKC. Thanks for the time amigo!
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Ok, here's an easy to tie crab fly. This fly can be tied in numerous ways and the method used for the body can be used for crab flies, Kwan flies or toad flies. The tail in this fly is simply tan craft fur. You can use maribou, finn raccoon fur, coyote fur, or even hackle to simulate claws.




Start by attaching your thread and figure-eighting on a set of eyes (use the correct weight eyes for the water depth you are fishing). Bring your thread back to the tie-in point for the tail. This should line up with the hook point. In this example, I under wrap the craft fur tail to keep it from fouling. I then added the bars on the tail with a sharpie.




Palmer the brush up to right behind your eye. Don't leave any space. Tie off the brush and cut the remainder. I use wire cutters so as not to dull my scissors. While palmering the brush use your left hand to fold the fibers back. I also use my bodkin along the way to pick out any trapped fibers. Once you have tied in the brush use your bodkin to pick out any trapped fibers. It should look like an ugly hairball at this point. Advance your thread in front of the eyes and add a whip finish or a half hitch to secure your thread. Leave the thread attached.




Start using your bodkin and fingers to part the fibers leaving equal amounts on each side. Rotate the vise and do the same thing on the other side. The part should line up with you hook and the fibers should now be perpendicular to the hook. The next two photos are from the bottom and the top to illustrate how the fibers should look at this point.




Use a pair of long straight scissors to trim the fly. Trim both sides so that the are equal length.
I trim so that my scissors are at an angle from the hook eye to the end of the body. Be careful not to cut
your tail off.






Both sides trimmed with a rough cut. You will want to trim so that both sides look the same. This takes practice and doesn't need to be perfect.

Next trim the top and the bottom of the fly. You scissors should be perpendicular to the hook
shank. Trim as close to the hook shank as possible to get the "flat look". The photo below is about
trimmed up. Be careful not to cut your thread while trimming. This will happen and is the reason
We put the whip finish in front of the eyes. If you cut your thread, just restart it in front of the
eyes.



Add your weed guard and head cement and the fly is finished as seen below. Go Fishing!





Materials List

• Hook Mustad 34007 #2 use any size hook you like, but make sure it has enough shank
• Tail tan craft fur
• Body Enrico Puglisi Crustacean brush
• Eyes 1/8th diameter brass you can use bead chain, lead, or plastic eyes
• Thread Ultra Thread 210 denier. Danville waxed also works

https://instagr.am/p/_rsKctuy_b

Christmas tree fly. Here's to good fishin in 2016