Baited breath

 

This is a prawn or shrimp imitation that has stood the test of time. Whilst I have seen it in all sorts of sizes and colours I have found that small flies tied in translucent shades of olives through to browns work best.

Materials

Hook Thread Eyes Weight Mouth parts Sieves Legs Body
Size 2 to 6 Light saltwater Clear mono Bead chain eyes Lead wire if required small bunch of marabou, rabbit fur or polar fibre A couple of strands of pearl flash topped with a few strands of super hair Hen hackle Translucent dubbing

Process

A
  1. Wind the thread in touching turns from the 95% position to the bend of the hook.
  2. Tie in a small bunch of marabou, rabbit fur or polar fibre to represent the mouth parts. Keep the mouth parts between one half and a hook length long.
  3. On top of that tie four strands of pearl flash to represent the feelers. The feelers should be about one and a half hook lengths long.
  4. Tie in a small bunch of super hair above the feelers. This material doesn't really represent part of a prawn or shrimp but enhances the overall translucent profile of the fly.

B
  1. Tie in a soft hen hackle sparsely 360° around the hook shank at the 25% position.
  2. Take just two or three wraps of the hackle.
  3. Tie the hackle off and trim the butt end.

C
  1. Using your fingers, or by pushing an empty biro along the hook shank, gently push the hackles backward.
  2. Wind thread back down alone the fly forcing the hackle fibres to splay out at around 45 degrees with the tips forming a collar extending over the back of the fly.
  3. Take the thread forward to the 1/4 position and tie in a set of bead chain eyes.
    Return the thread to directly behind the collar.
  4. Put a drop or two of head cement, Tarzans Grip or epoxy over the eye tie in.

D
  1. Dub on a body of relatively translucent dubbing material that gets thinner toward the eye of the hook.
  2. Whip finish the thread, trim the thread and place a little head cement over the whip finish.



Last Updated: January 14, 2011
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Categories: Flies, Saltwater - estuary, Saltwater - tropical
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