Ally's Shrimp

Salmon fly imitating shrimp and scuds, for salmon and sea trout. Intermediate. Alastair Gowans, 1980.

A long hot-orange bucktail tail, a red and black floss body ribbed with oval silver, grey squirrel above and below, a golden pheasant tippet overwing and a long orange collar hackle.

Materials

Steps

  1. Attach thread Attach the thread at 86% of the way along the shank with a few turns and trim the tag end.
  2. Wrap thread Wrap the thread to the start of the bend in touching turns. To a point above the hook point.
  3. Tie in: fine oval silver tinsel Tie in the fine oval silver tinsel with a few firm thread turns.
  4. Wrap thread Wrap the thread to 6% of the way along the shank in touching turns.
  5. Wind: fine oval silver tinsel Wind the fine oval silver tinsel forward to 6% of the way along the shank in 4 turns.
  6. Tie off: fine oval silver tinsel Tie off the fine oval silver tinsel with a few thread turns and trim the excess.
  7. Tie in: hot orange bucktail Tie in a bunch of hot orange bucktail so the tips reach well past the bend (5.2× the gape from the tie-in point), angled about 3° up from the shank. Slim and long; lock it with a few fibres folded back, and bind the butts along the shank.
  8. Trim: hot orange bucktail Trim the butts of the hot orange bucktail flush.
  9. Tie in: krystal flash Tie in the krystal flash, leaving 5× the gape sticking out behind, angled about 4° up from the shank. Optional.
  10. Tie in: silver oval tinsel Tie in the silver oval tinsel with a few firm thread turns.
  11. Tie in: red silk floss Tie in the red silk floss with a few firm thread turns.
  12. Wrap thread Wrap the thread to 45% of the way along the shank in touching turns.
  13. Wind: red silk floss Wind the red silk floss forward to 45% of the way along the shank in 8 turns. Half the body: back to the tail and forward again.
  14. Tie off: red silk floss Tie off the red silk floss with a few thread turns and trim the excess.
  15. Tie in: black silk floss Tie in the black silk floss with a few firm thread turns.
  16. Wrap thread Wrap the thread to 82% of the way along the shank in touching turns.
  17. Wind: black silk floss Wind the black silk floss forward to 82% of the way along the shank in 8 turns.
  18. Tie off: black silk floss Tie off the black silk floss with a few thread turns and trim the excess.
  19. Wind: silver oval tinsel Wind the silver oval tinsel forward to 82% of the way along the shank in 6 turns. Six turns, spread evenly over both halves.
  20. Tie off: silver oval tinsel Tie off the silver oval tinsel with a few thread turns and trim the excess.
  21. Tie in: natural grey squirrel tail Tie in a bunch of natural grey squirrel tail under the shank as a beard, reaching 1.6× the gape back. A sparse bunch under the shank; turn the hook over to tie it in.
  22. Trim: natural grey squirrel tail Trim the butts of the natural grey squirrel tail flush.
  23. Tie in: natural grey squirrel tail Tie in a bunch of natural grey squirrel tail so the tips reach over the bend (2.6× the gape from the tie-in point), angled about 6° up from the shank. Low over the body.
  24. Trim: natural grey squirrel tail Trim the butts of the natural grey squirrel tail flush.
  25. Tie in: golden pheasant tippet Tie in the golden pheasant tippet, leaving one and a half times the gape sticking out behind, angled about 5° up from the shank. Tippet fibres, or a whole tippet feather tied flat.
  26. Tie in: hot orange cock hackle, long and soft Tie in the hot orange cock hackle, long and soft with a few firm thread turns.
  27. Wrap thread Wrap the thread to 90% of the way along the shank in touching turns.
  28. Wind: hot orange cock hackle, long and soft Wind the hot orange cock hackle, long and soft forward to 90% of the way along the shank in 3 turns. Touching turns, stroking the fibres back each time.
  29. Tie off: hot orange cock hackle, long and soft Tie off the hot orange cock hackle, long and soft with a few thread turns and trim the excess.
  30. Whip finish Form a small head, whip finish with 5 turns and cut the thread. A small tapered head, varnished red.

History

Alastair "Ally" Gowans took the idea from the prawns that came up when he went out on an inshore trawler after Norway lobster off the Scottish west coast: long, slim, quick and half translucent, with an orange-pink tinge and a dark gut. He dates the first fly to about 1980; Fieldsports Channel says 1979 and Fly Fisherman the early 1980s. Gowans placed the trawl near Loch Linnhe, Trout and Salmon in the Minch. The fly was first published in Trout and Salmon in August 1988, and readers of three British fishing magazines later voted it Salmon Fly of the Millennium. In Gowans' account each part stands for something: the bucktail for feelers, the tippets for eyes and shell, the black front of the body for the gut, the long collar for legs.

Fishing it

Gowans mostly fishes it on an ordinary swing, with the line chosen for the conditions, and has found the depth matters little: it takes fish inches under the surface on a floater and scraped along the bottom. Small, light ones suit low, warm summer water; heavy tubes and Waddingtons on sinking lines suit high, cold water early in the season. Besides the orange original he ties red and purple versions, and it is tied on singles, doubles, trebles and tubes.

Sources