Ed Mitchell Outdoors

Tying a Shrimp Pattern for the Northeast

Dreary day. Once again I’m stuck inside. And once again I ended up behind the tying vise. Oh well might as well get something done. Right?

This time we’ll talk about imitating shrimp. There are two types found in nearshore waters along the New England coast. The grass shrimp and the sand shrimp. The grass shrimp is the more common of the two, but both are abundant. It is found in salt ponds, marshes, estuaries, often preferring to live in vegetation such as seaweed or eelgrass. The sand shrimp lives in the same locations, but is a bit more nocturnal by nature. Both are roughly the same size ranging from an 1′ to almost 3″. (hook sizes 1-4#). And both are pale colored leaning toward grey. Given those similarities fly tiers can treat them as one and the same critter.

Attractor Style Shrimp

Realistic Style Shrimp

As you see, I have two patterns for you – an attractor for discolored water and a realistic fly for clear. Let’s start with the attractor. The material list is as follows. (I”ll list materials for the realistic shrimp at the end of the post.)  Size 1# stainless steel hook, white thread, tan Pseudo Hair, neon rubber legs. Tan colored Crystal Chenille. And some mono shrimp eyes. (These tend to be overpriced , especially the Enrico Puglisi Brand. But you can make your own. There are videos on the subject on Youtube. And I wouldn’t be afraid to substitute black bead chain eyes.)

Cut a 2.5″ piece of Pseudo Hair. Tie the blunt cut end directly behind the hook eye, allowing it to hang over a little. This becomes the shrimp’s tail. Then lash the remaining hair along the shank so the pointed ends of the hair extend over the bend. No need to get fussy here. You can trim later. Tie an eye of your choice on both sides of the hook. I have orange ones on hand, but other colors will work just fine. Put a drop of super glue on the eyes to hold them securely. Trim the mono ends.

Now add the rubber legs to both sides of the hook. Three legs per side should do the trick. You can use any color rubber legs you like. I’m using a color called Fire Tiger to jazz things up. I want the fly to be visible even in stained waters. Afterall, that’s the beauty of attractor patterns. They can be quickly seen. 

For the final step, take a 5″ piece of the Crystal Chenille. Strip one end to expose a small bit of the underlying thread core. Tie this core to the hook near the shrimp eyes. Wrap the chenille forward toward the eye and secure it. Apply head cement. Trim the Pseudo hair and bingo you’re in business.

Okay let’s look at the  realistic shrimp. Obviously everything is toned down. The rubber legs are pale green this time. The body is 30 pound mono covered with clear UV acrylic. And in this case I opted to add a lead dumbbell. Your choice. Why? The dumbbell is useful in deeper location as shrimp often hang near the bottom. A floating pattern might come in handy too. Why? At night, sand shrimp can drift on top in the current. Stripers love to rise up and softly “pop” them. 

Yes my hard drive is still alive! Got a new one coming. Fingers crossed.

One of the most annoying things on the water is discovering after many casts that your fly is fouled. This is especially a problem at night because you may not discover the problem for a long time. Ugh, hate that.

Streamers foul for several reasons. A long, unsupported wing is the culprit most times, especially with flat wing style streamers. Windy days contribute too. Hitting something on the back cast might do it as well. (Note that cheap store bought Deceivers, like the one below, are poorly constructed and notorious for fouling.)

There are several ways to prevent fouling. Lets take a gander.  At the vise you can make a few extra wraps under the wing to support it. This is easy and works much of the time. With Deceivers be sure to make a nice full collar of bucktail up front by the eye. That’s critical. A weed guard reduces fouling too. But I like the method shown below, for a couple of reasons. 

As you can see I tied in a mono loop at the bend of the hook. Typically I use 25 or 30 pound mono on bigger streamers. This mono loop can be put in place either before you tie in the wing or after. Both ways work. Pick the one that suits you. I usually tie it in after the wing is on the shank. In the photo above, obviously  I tied it in first and with red thread so you can see it. After that I dropped a wing on top of the loop.

The loop is quick to tie in and does an excellent job of supporting the wing, as the above photo shows you. It also has other advantages. Should you wish to tie in a second fly behind the first, the loop supplies a place to do that. For example you might put a large streamer behind a small one to look like a predator chasing a prey. And if you’re encounting short strikes, the loop also gives you a spot to tie in a stinger hook. Good luck on the water.