One of the staples of a redfishes diet in the Lowcountry are fiddler crabs. When they talk about excellent fishing on flood or king tides that's when the flats and spartina grass get filled in with water which allows redfish and other predators a better shot at finding, and then eating, fiddler crabs.
Fiddler crabs are burrowers and dig cylindrical holes 1-2 feet deep where they hide from predation, mate, and where eggs incubate. They say there's a difference between a hanging out safety burrow and one that's used for love and babies. They come out on the low tides and then
retreat back to their "holes" where they plug them up so they don't drown on the flood tide, although they can breathe in and out of water.
Along South Carolina you can find three different species, although there's like over 100 worldwide. In the Lowcoutry there's the mud fiddler, the sand fiddler, and the red-jointed fiddler. The species are differentiated by where they like to hang out and different types of structure on their shells and claws. All that info came from the SC Department of Natural Resources website.
The other thing I learned is that fiddler crabs are left and right handed. Unlike humans, where 90% of the pollution is right-handed, fiddler crabs are closer to 50-50%. So when I get to tying some I can go right or left, as long as the big claw is furthest away from the hook eye.
During my very limited time fishing for redfish I've seen a ton of flies that people throw for them. They're a combination of buggy and leggy looking things while other are more of a dam near match. In addition to the tide cycle fisheries, I'm learning what species are where and when during the year, what they eat, water quality and clarity, and how water temps play into where they are.
If it's not fiddler crabs, or other crabs, they're after then it's shrimp, and both can be mimicked with some brushes and some rubber legs. As the water cools and becomes crystal clear during the "winter" months having something that's a better representative of the natural becomes more important. And then there's colors as well, fiddler crabs have different coloration, as well as the males extra large cheliped, or claw. That claw grows 65% of the Toal size of the crab and its main function is to attract females to mate. So in the fiddler crab world, size does matter.
In a later post I'll get to explaining about fiddler crab flies as I learn more. Crab flies to me where always more of a bonefish and permit bait then what I as fishing for which was fluke, striped bass, and bluefish. Our crab flies aren't direct imitations as the surf churns them up, usually, so it's more about the profile, size, and action that gets a fishes attention. When sight fishing, say up in the Vineyard, better imitations are needed to get the job done, similar to the gin clear waters of the Lowcountry during the winter.
These days they're a million of everything. Once somebody comes out with something the next month there's 1,000,000 knock-offs. I remember when Pat Cohen of SuperFly came out with synthetic crab legs and then it was followed by everyone else.
Before I go on I wonder what the OG's would say about todays flies, especially crab flies. They seem to be more of a lure?, well maybe not, but all of the "components", things like the claws, the eyes, the shells, the weight, would they make the purists roll over in their graves? But anyway, I liked what I found from Space Coast Flies. I could see me managing to tie up something that would work, especially with deer hair, which I have a decent amount of experience since I started tying Snake Flys over a decade ago.
The above fly was shown with the fiddler components and I searched but couldn't find a fly name or tier, but it's a pattern that I think I would like, and would work, just maybe in more of a grayish/brown color.
Most of the crab flies you see today, especially ones with a bigger and then smaller claw, are a variation of Dave Skok's Strong Arm Merkin, which revolutionized sight fishing for permit and bonefish. His "arm" is tied with chenille which doesn't used pre-stamped materials for the components.
And then there's always those Flexo crabs made out of that Chinese finger-lock mesh material. I've used those type of flies with good success most recently while up in Martha's Vineyard this past June.
And speaking of, the countdown has begun until MV 2027, just 10 months away. It's time to start looking for an affordable place for next year, key word, affordable. An early check on
AirB&B shows a house for June 12-19th running about $4,000, ouch. I just put those dates in because the Full Moon is June 18th and I like Moon tides. When I put in may 31 to June 5th the price is about $1,000 less, and the New Moon is June 4th, so that easier then usual trip may be worth is money wise.
We're making good progress settling into Cape May and setting it up as a true home away from home, rather than just a place to go like it was in our old place. After a trip up to the ADK's this week to visit with my sister it'll be time to load up both vehicles and head south. It'll be there where I'll attempt to find all my fly fishing and tying stuff and get going. They say August and September are great months for bull reds in the Lowcountry, and I'm ready to finally do some fishing in 2026.