It might sound like a strange time to design a new fly pattern, but we was stuck in Hurricane Mitch in a boarded up Holiday Inn Express in Cancun, Mexico, for three days. There wasn?t much to do except watch the weather, read, and tie flies. Most of the crabs that we had observed throughout the Yucatan coastline were tan in color, and if frightened would aggressively flee. I had a few packs of tan L&L Hi Viz wing material with me and an assortment of sili-legs, so I started experimenting with a few crab-like profiles. Later after the hurricane passed we were back at Boca Paila fishing lodge in the Yucatan and there were permit everywhere, schools of them. Apparently the storm had flushed them out to sea and they were returning to the lagoons and most importantly, were feeding. I had opportunities to try the 2 or 3 of the new patterns that I came up with while in Cancun and settled on what today we call Cathy?s Fleeing Crab. I?ve caught permit in Los Roques, Venezuela; the Bahamas; and the Yucatan, Mexico through Belize. It?s my go-to fly whenever I?m in permit country.

-Cathy Beck