Love the Black Diamond.
I need a whole skin!
I need a whole skin!
Shrimp Flies for Steelhead
- Thread starter Dave Westburg
- Start date
A handful of shrimpy's
The following are variations on the Snoqualmie Special. A very productive fly that I dreamed up and used on the Snoqualmie mostly for summer runs (when there was such a thing) and on into the fall. So mostly during lower water periods.
I don't often tie multiple copies of the exact same fly. I find it much more enjoyable to do variations on a theme.
The following are variations on the Snoqualmie Special. A very productive fly that I dreamed up and used on the Snoqualmie mostly for summer runs (when there was such a thing) and on into the fall. So mostly during lower water periods.
I don't often tie multiple copies of the exact same fly. I find it much more enjoyable to do variations on a theme.
Last edited:
singlehandjay
Life of the Party
Tim, what are you using for your shellbacks. The greenish black feathers look like they come from a Golden Pheasant skin. The purple shellbacks look like they are dyed pheasant church window feathers. Not sure about the others.
Never counted them. I like to tie a box around a theme. 1 box Harry Lemire, 1 box Roderick Haig Brown, 1 box New England streamers, 1 box Walt Johnson, 1 box Syd Glasso, 1 box Enos Bradner, 1 box Atlantic salmon flies, 1 box GP's, 1 box Bill McMillan...Will put the rest of them up on the website over time.
In the fly's in a box photo you got the dark fly's right. A good substitute for the greenish black feathers could be peacock in the photo below. It looks quite a bit different but it could be pretty cool.
The shells of the red fly's are from top to bottom:
Temminck's Tragopan back up near the neck
Dyed ringneck
Red Golden pheasant wing shoulder
Red Golden pheasant wing shoulder
The three fly's In the right hand row are Temminck's Tragopan breast
In the individual photos the last (bottom) photo is again Temminck's Tragopan mid back
Unfortunately Golden pheasant skins 'with wings' are not so easy to find and neither are Tragopan skins. I tied these flys about 20 years ago when such things were more available.
Last edited:
Chris Johnson
Steelhead
They'll hit a set of keys if you dangle them in front of their face,
Chris Johnson
Steelhead
I keep it real simple anymore, black/blue or pink/orange, large or small.
Great looking pattern. Reminds me of some of the shrimp patterns the Danes fish for Seatrout except some of their patters are white or light gray. What's the hackle?Some cute little cocktail shrimps you all got, now for some meat, enter the jumbo prawn!
View attachment 6638
If I could only have one fly to use for Steelhead, SRC and Silver salmon.....it would be the Ally's Shrimp, turned on to it by Rich Younger back in the day. Also pinned one of the biggest tidewater King's I'd ever hooked on a day when all the usual go to's were striking out.
Paige
Wishing I was fishing the Sauk
The hackle is Rea, it didn't fish well as it rode on its side due to too much hackle I'm assuming, but dam did it look juicy in the water.
Funny Story, after I cut that off I tied on a large blue and black hackle tip fly that had a Rea hackle, and landed on of my largest Cutts, in February @Bhudda took this pic for me.
Funny Story, after I cut that off I tied on a large blue and black hackle tip fly that had a Rea hackle, and landed on of my largest Cutts, in February @Bhudda took this pic for me.
Love the Ally's shrimps. They also look great when tied on doubles. Not sure why they aren't fished more.
That's a nice cutt. I use my Rhea primarily for tails on large GP's. It's even more supple than bucktail.
Paige
Wishing I was fishing the Sauk
I select just certain ones to wrap and usually just the tip or peal 1 side from the stem. I have made some gigantic feather wing flies doing this. Well a long time ago I did!
I like shrimp style patterns. The materials move well in the water, a lot more than a classic hairwing generally does. I either didn't have all the materials to tie a GP or was too lazy to tie them, or both. But I like the general appearance and the way the patterns swim. So I have cobbled together some basic patterns that look like butchered shrimp style patterns using red, orange, or pink bodies, red, orange, or pink palmered hackles or natural heron, a long tail of bucktail or polar bear, a couple strips of flash-a-somethin' and maybe a front hackle of contrasting color. They move well in the water and draw strikes. Thankfully for me the steelhead don't know or care that they're a shoddy tie.
Bulldollyhuman
Smolt
A short naive question: if someone uses these flies in salt water, is there small chance to catch salmon or steelhead?
B
bennysbuddy
Guest
you must have given up on that Dr. Spratley I gave you. LOL