Fed's Crazy Charlie Variant - The Fly Box

If you’re chasing whiting, bream, flathead, or even tropical species that love a flashy shrimp imitation, Fed’s Crazy Charlie Variant is a simple yet highly effective pattern worth adding to your fly box.

Inspired by a pattern from renowned South African fly tier Arno Laubscher, Fed’s Crazy Charlie Variant keeps the classic Crazy Charlie profile while introducing bold pink tones and subtle movement that can trigger aggressive strikes. The philosophy behind this fly is simple:

Less is better than more.

By resisting the temptation to overdress the fly, it sinks naturally, lands softly, and maintains the clean silhouette that makes the Crazy Charlie family so successful.

The Inspiration

This pattern takes inspiration from an Arno Laubscher design, adapting it with bright pink synthetic materials and lively rubber legs for Australian saltwater species.

Check out Arno’s original Tying a Crazy Charlie video on YouTube.

While this isn’t a direct copy, the pattern borrows the same minimalist approach and overall profile, with a few personal touches to suit local conditions.

Why This Pattern Works

Although bright pink might seem unconventional, it can be remarkably effective in clear water and over light-coloured sand flats.

The fly combines several fish-attracting characteristics:

Tie the fly sparsely—avoid overloading the hook with material.
Match the bead chain eye size to the hook so the fly rides hook point up without becoming too heavy.
Keep the Crystal Flash to three strands for subtle flash.
Trim the wing so it extends just beyond the bend of the hook.

Like many successful flats patterns, the movement is often more important than the colour.

Tying Tips

A few small details make a noticeable difference:

Tie the fly sparsely – avoid overloading the hook with material.
Match the bead chain eye size to the hook so the fly rides hook point up without becoming too heavy.
Keep the Crystal Flash to three strands for subtle flash.
Trim the wing so it extends just beyond the bend of the hook.

Remember, the best Crazy Charlie patterns are often the simplest.

Materials

Hook:Straight-eye salmon hook, sizes 2–6
Thread:Sheer Pink 14/0
Eyes:Bead chain eyes sized to suit the hook
Body:Fly Tyers Dungeon FF Braid – Bright Pink
Wing:Fly Tyers Dungeon Congo Plus – Hot Pink
Over-Wing:Three strands Crystal Flash
Legs:Round rubber legs, banded purple and pink

Tying Instructions

Bead chain eyes secured two eye lengths behind the hook eye, with the hook shank wrapped in pink thread back to the bend.

Secure the bead chain eyes approximately two eye lengths behind the hook eye.
Apply a coat of Sally Hansen’s Hard as Nails to the thread wraps securing the eyes.

Cover the hook shank with thread, wrapping back to the bend.
Tie in the Fly Tier’s Dungeon FF Braid immediately behind the bead chain eyes and secure it along the shank to the bend.

Bright pink FTD FF Braid tied in and wrapped forward to form a smooth, tapered body behind the bead chain eyes.

Wrap the braid forward to form a smooth, even body, finishing behind the bead chain eyes.
Continue wrapping the braid in a figure-eight pattern around the bead chain eyes, then tie off and trim the excess.

Coat the body with UV resin and cure.
Place the hook upside down in the vice.

Body completed with the braid figure-eight wrapped around the bead chain eyes, then coated with UV resin for a glossy finish.

Hook inverted in the vice with a sparse hot pink FTD Congo Plus wing tied in immediately in front of the bead chain eyes.

Tie in a sparse wing of Fly Tier’s Dungeon Congo Plus immediately in front of the bead chain eyes.
Add three doubled strands of Crystal Flash over the wing.