"SET-UP AND FISHING INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE SUSPENDER CRAB" by FELTY.

 Background

For those of you who have chased Indo Pacific Permit, I am sure that you will agree that they are quite challenging and can be darn right frustrating at times – which I suppose is exactly what makes them so special.

While the odds have been stacked in the Permit’s favour for quite some time, that recently changed and there is now a pattern that has made the time spent chasing these stunning fish (as well as all the other regular flats dwellers such as Goldens, queenies, tarpon etc) far more rewarding.

In the past, just about all crab patterns were fished on the bottom, which at times created problems when fishing in weed banks and also made the flies less visible than they otherwise could be.

Now there is a pattern that gives the crab maximum exposure to those flats dwellers that we all enjoy sight casting to and our version of this pattern is known as the “Suspender Crab”.

The Suspender crab is essentially a floating crab that is fished on a small lead weight. The lead weight is held in place by pulling the piece of elastic through the hole in the weight and jamming the nylon tippet to hold the weight the required distance from the fly.

Field testing

I spent some time last year getting the proportions of this pattern right and then headed North on my annual Seafaris.com trip with Steve Starling to test the pattern. I had heard from Greg Bethune (Captain and owner of Tropic Paradise) that this fly worked well and had accounted for some great fish during the season but I wanted to test it for myself before adding them to the range.

We didn’t see a whole lot of Permit that week but on day 2 Steve Starling and I spotted a particularly nice looking specimen working one of the flats close to the river mouth. Steve polled me into position on the fish and I delivered a tricky back cast (necessitated by a wind shift and the fish having moved slightly) which landed about two metres ahead of the approaching fish. I allowed the fly to sink and as the permit  approached could see that it had attracted its attention. On Steve’s advice I stripped once gently and suddenly the Permit’s entire body language changed and it swiftly swam the last metre and a half and pounced onto the crab and I was on!

23 minutes later I had a stunning sixteen and half pound Permit lying in the net – Yes the pattern worked!!

Set up instructions

The Suspender crab is supplied with a lead weight and length of rubber bandc and is easy to set up.

• Step 1 -  Feed your normal tippet material through the lead weight. 
• Step 2 -  Take a piece of folded over piano wire or a loop made out of nylon and insert this through the hole in the weight so that it protrudes slightly out of the opposite end.

• Step 3 -   Place a piece of rubber band through the loop and gently pull the loop and elastic into the hole in the lead weight to secure the nylon tippet in place. Now remove the loop. The tougher it is to pull through the greater will be the effect of the rubber strip in securing the weight. Note – sometimes the rubber strip can snap during this procedure and you just have to repeat the process.
• Important Tips –
  • To avoid disappointment, set up your crab on the tippet before you head out fishing. There is nothing worse than getting onto the water and finding that your rubber has perished and that you can’t secure you lead weight.
  • We supply three lengths of rubber, but get yourself a few extra rubber bands of appropriate thickness to use as spares and make sure they are relatively new and haven’t perished.
  • Remember that the elastic must be tightly jammed to hold the weight in place and to prevent it moving while casting. If it is not then redo it or use a thicker piece of rubber.

Fishing Instructions 

• Secure the lead weight about 3 to 4 inches away from the fly. Feel free to vary it but I wouldn’t go more than 6 inches as the fly then seems to become less effective.
• Lead the fish in the way you normally would and allow it to sink to the bottom undetected. That is lead weight on the bottom and fly suspended 3 or 4 inches above it.
• As the fish approaches you have two options:
  • Slight strip – The first is to give the fly a gentle strip which causes the crab to head to the bottom in a very life-like fleeing action which can trigger and aggressive response from a predator. For those of you who have fished booby flies for trout, well this has a similar action of heading down on the strip and then slowly rising again. Except it’s the heading down that seems to trigger the reaction rather than the rising.
  • Wait and hope – Your other alternative is just to leave the fly. Remember while you may not be moving it, it is swimming and moving in the current and will have a life of its own so to speak – so don’t be worried that the dead drift wont work. This could be even more effective if the fish are skittish. Get it in early ahead of the fish and leave it, if it passes without having a look then give a small tug to see if you can get its attention.
• Tips
  • Keep an eye on your weight every few casts to make sure it isn’t creeping towards the fly.

Tight lines 

Felty