This is probably the most realistic saltwater shrimp pattern out there and it’ll catch anything that eats shrimp…which is pretty much every fish that swims. I’ve caught bones, tarpon and permit on this fly and I know it works for reds and stripers too. UV resin makes this one a lot easier than it was in the days of epoxy so don’t be scared.
Materials Needed:
Hook: TMC 811S #2-6
Thread: 3/0 Monocord or 140 Denier UTC, tan
Tail: Tan Superhair
Eyes: Melted and Painted Mono Coated with Thick Hard Solarez UV Resin
Body: Sow Scud or Squirrel Nymph Dubbing, tan
Legs: Pearl White Sili Legs
Shellback: Tan Superhair
Coating: Thick Hard Solarez UV Resin
Step 1
Before starting your thread on the hook, clip a bundle of Superhair from the clump that is about as big as a skinny pencil. Clip the ends square and hold them in your fingertips close to the end. Start your tying thread around the base of the clump and build a narrow but very tight band of thread to bind the fibers together. Whip finish and clip the thread on top of the thread band.
Step 2
Start the tying thread on the hook and wrap a solid thread foundation down the shank. Be sure to start right behind the hook eye. Tie the tail section to the shank at the bend and wrap forward over the stub ends to just short of the hook eye where you will clip them flush.
Step 3
Tie in a set of melted and painted mono eyes using X-wraps about two eye lengths back from the hook eye.
Step 4
Dub a thick body from the base of the tail to the eye of the hook, going around and through the eyes and back again, ending with bare thread hanging right around the center of the dubbed body.
Step 5
Tie in four strands of Sili Legs on the bottom of the body on top of the dubbing. Spiral wrap the thread to separate the front and back bunches of legs leaving a well-defined space between the groups.
Step 6
Apply a bit more dubbing to the thread and cover the thread work where you tied in the legs. Again, end with the thread hanging at the center of the hook.
Step 7
Take a clump of Superhair that is about the same amount of fibers as you used for the tail (I just use the other half of the original bunch) and tie it in with three tight turns of thread right at the center of the body. Keep these wraps one on top of the other and cinch them down tightly before whip finishing directly on top of these wraps.
Step 8
Apply a thin base coat of resin using a brush to the top of the Superhair carapace. This first coat should soak into the Superhair and even down into the dubbing. I try to get a rough outline of a diamond shape across the top of the fly.
Step 9
Massage the resin into position, taking as much time as you need, then apply the UV light for ten seconds to set the resin. This first coat should not be too thick and is really just to help shape the fly right now.
Step 10
Apply a second, heavier coat of resin first using the brush and fine tuning the shape with a bodkin. The second coat will be the final shape of the carapace and should be slightly domed across the top and tapered front to back.
Step 11
Once you’re happy with the shape of the resin carapace, apply the UV light as closely as you can to fully “cook” the shell.
Step 12
Lift the back end of the Superhair carapace and trim it at a long angle so the ends taper into the tail section.
Step 13
Trim the front ends of the carapace to a point extending beyond the hook eye.
Step 14
Trim the Sili Legs to about two hook gaps in length and apply and cure a thin coat of resin to the thread band at the end of the tail. Use a dubbing brush to pick out the dubbing along the bottom of the fly.
