New England Yabby

Yabbies, or freshwater crayfish, may not be your first thought when looking over your flybox at the beginning of a session. More popular in the past, they have fallen out of fashion, perhaps a victim of the ubiquitous Woolly Bugger which covers most bases for those needing a larger, searching pattern.

There are times, however, when a more realistic fly can bring better results, and the New England Yabby was once a commonly used pattern. Many anglers ‘of a certain age’ may have used one to catch their first trout, and some will still have a few tucked away somewhere.

The pattern was developed by Dr Robert Pidgeon in 1979 while working at the University of New England.

Studying the diets and growth rates of rainbow trout in the Guy Fawkes and Wollomombi rivers, he noted that rainbows in the Wollomombi, where yabbies are present, showed much higher growth rates.

This importance of yabbies in the trout’s diet led Dr Pidgeon to develop a suitable pattern — the New England Yabby. The long, divided tail represents the claws held forward in their fleeing posture, while the hackled body provides the segmented appearance along with some bulk to push through the water. This disturbance is detected by the trout’s lateral line. Lastly, the beadchain eyes add weight to flip the fly over so it rides hook point up, reducing snags and giving the fly a gentle undulating motion when retrieved — similar to the swimming motion as a yabby flicks its tail to escape.

Many will associate yabbies with sight fishing the Snowy Mountains lakes, but when conditions are right, Cairn Curran and Tullaroop in Cen-tral Victoria, or Eildon further east, see similar action. Before the lakes begin to refill from late winter and spring rains, the receding water levels force the yabbies out of their burrows and the trout cruise the shoreline picking them off. Exciting, visual fishing, but it can be tricky. A fly pattern that can be cast far in front of the fish and left to sit on the bottom is ideal, and then a short strip to jump the fly off the bottom as the fish approaches should result in a quick take.

At other times when the fish appear shut down, a New England Yabby with its upturned hook can be worked slowly across the bottom. Very slow and steady retrieves are best, and takes are often soft, just a gentle increase in weight. When things are quiet this tactic can pick up fish when other retrieves are ignored.

Here I have used a more modern jig hook, which I find slides over obstacles better when retrieving the fly along the bottom. The Hanak Jig Champion shape is also reminiscent of the limerick style hooks of old.

After laying a neat base of thread down the hook shank and slightly around the bend, choose a section of squirrel tail hair, a little thicker than a match, and trim it off close to the base. Tie this in securely, forming a tail roughly twice the length of the hook shank. Squirrel tail hair does not compress like a lot of other furs or feathers and needs to be tied down tight or it will roll around the shank. A drop of head cement can help secure it if you’re having trouble. Then using a needle or the point of your scissors, divide the tail in half and place a few cross wraps between to separate the tail into a V shape.

Next tie in some medium sized bead chain 2mm in front of the tail. Use some cross wraps over the bead chain, then wrap several times horizontally around the cross wraps between the hook shank and the bead chain. This will pull the initial cross wraps tighter and help stop the bead chain slipping around the shank.

Add some possum dubbing to your thread and build up a neat section of body around the bead chain. Then select a badger hen hackle, stroke the barbs down and tie it in by the tip.Neatly wrap the hackle 3 or 4 turns, secure and trim any excess. Then repeat this process of dubbing and hackle twice more to complete the body of the fly. By selecting your feathers from different areas on the cape you can get a slightly smaller feather each time, creating a tapered look to the finished fly. After securing the last hackle, form a neat head with your thread, then a whip finish and a drop of head cement to complete.

It’s not only trout that eat yabbies. Murray cod, callop, bass and redfin all are partial to the humble yabby when fished around snags or weedbeds with a jerky retrieve. And while not everyone’s ideal, the increase in popularity of chasing carp in the shallows is perfect for a yabby pattern. They land quietly, sit hook point up, and can be left stationary to be retrieved at hopefully the right time to get the fly moving across that sweet spot, about 15–20cm in front of the fish.

Yabbies generally have muted tones with some highlights on their claws. Greys were the original colour scheme, while greens work well in weedy lakes and redfin prefer rusty oranges. In low light or murky water it is hard to go past black. Tie a few up and give them a swim. A great Australian pattern born from science — how can you go wrong!

Many forumites will know Dave Warnes, Winston rod aficionado and great scammer of flies. His health has kept him from the water of late but he was a great advocate for the return of the New England Yabby. This one’s for you Chief.