Ally's Shrimp
Recipe:
| Hook: | 2-10 double (Daiichi 7131) or single (TMC 7999) |
| Thread: | 6/0 Red |
| Tag: | Silver oval tinsel (fine) |
| Tail: | Fine hot orange bucktail (fine) |
| Body: | Rear half red floss, front half black floss |
| Rib: | Silver oval tinsel (medium) |
| Wing: | Grey squirrel top and bottom |
| Topping: | Golden pheasant tippet |
| Collar: | Hot orange cock hackle (swept back) |
| Head: | Red thread or red varnish |
Uses:
Ally's Shrimp is one of the great all round Atlantic Salmon patterns, tied on a variety of hooks it can be used in high and low water at almost any point in the season.
How to fish:
Present using a wet-fly swing on a floating line, sink-tip or full sinker depending on the swim and conditions.
Notes
History: Alastair Gowans designed and first tied this fly in 1981, while tha pattern came to public attention in 1989. Ally says of his flies, "My shrimp patterns have movement due to the use of long collar hackles, gray squirrel hair and freely moving tails of fine bucktail. My interest in the creation of movement developed a long time ago, firstly with longhaired tubes, then with long hair-winged flies and finally with the Ally's Shrimp patterns." This is one of the most successful Atlantic Salmon patterns of all time.
Variations: One of the most common variations is the inclusion of crystal hair in the tail; however, Alastair himself points out that he feels this makes little or no difference to the success of the pattern. Colour variations include red, yellow, green, black, brown and lillac. For further details see Ally's pages »
