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In 2003 one of my fishing mates Ray Ellis developed a Crazy Charlie variation which had an epoxy head and a translucent body of Superhair. Ray's Epoxy Charlie as I named it worked very well and by experimentation we concluded that it was the heavily dressed translucent body that was in fact fooling the fish.  At the same time I was experimenting with the use of lead split shot to weight flies. Whilst my mud prawn incorporated the proven heavily dressed but translucent body of Ray's Epoxy Charlie that's where the similarity ends. My fly incorporates silicon legs as well as lead split shot for weight and to make sure the hook ride point up. The mud prawn is my first choice of fly for general prospecting in estuary waters or for targeting whiting, flathead and bream. In water of only a meter or so fish it on an intermediate line. In deeper water I prefer to fish it on a fast sinking line. The best retrieve is a jerky but slow retrieve leaving plenty of time between strips for the fly to settle back on the bottom. Used in this way it's a good representation of a prawn, shrimp or nipper fleeing from its sandy retreat after being disturbed. Pumpkin legs work best in very clear water and red or green legs are my choice in dirtier water.

An alternative shrimp and prawn imitation that works well on trout, estuary species and bass is my Straggle Shrimp.

	Straggle shrimp

Materials

Process

A	Starting at the eye of the hook wind the cotton in touching turns two thirds of the way down the shank of the hook. Understanding hooks Tie the tread off. Take a lead split shot and using a knife blade open up the split. Adding weight to a fly Put a drop of PVA or Tarzans Grip glue in the split of the shot or on the hook shank and crimp firmly a lead shot on the shank of the hook leaving a space in front of the lead shot nearly as wide as the lead shot.

B	Build up a cone shaped body of overlocking thread directly behind the lead shot applying a little glue to the thread as you build up the body.

C	Turn the hook over in the vice and tie in clear monofilament thread behind the eye of the hook. Wind the thread in tight but separated turns to the bend of the hook and then back to just in front of the lead shot. Prepare a set of burnt monofilament eyes that are equal in length to the gape of the hook. Monofilament eyes

D	I generally place a short length of plastic tube over the point of the hook to protect my fingers when I'm making flies with the hook point up in the vice. Tie the monofilament eyes in directly in front of the lead shot. Bend the eyes upward and forward into there finished position. Tie in 6 strands of Pearl Flash or Krystalflash between the eyes and the lead shot. Managing synthetic fibres Hold the flash material along the top of the body of the fly and tie it firmly in that position by taking a few wraps of thread directly behind the lead shot.

E	Take a substantial bunch of  Super Hair and tie the body above the lead shot and gut by securing it first at the junction of the gut and the lead shot and then also between the lead shot and the eyes of the fly. It's important that you don't under-dress this fly.

F	Trim the body material directly in front of the eyes.

G	Tie in a set of legs on each side of the fly "Chernobyl" style. Legs on flies Wind the monofilament thread forward to in front of the eyes whip finish and trim the thread. Highlight the eye balls with black head cement.

H	Mix a small quantity of 5 minute epoxy and put a generous coating over the eyes, the lead shot, along the bottom of the gut and all the tie ins. Be careful not to allow the epoxy to encroach down the body as you want the body to be free moving. Working with epoxy Rotate the fly whilst the epoxy goes off so as to ensure a nice symmetrical and round head. You can of course use an epoxy rotator to rotate a large number of flies or as you can see, with the aid of a pin and a cork three or four flies can be epoxied at the one time. When the fly is finished trim the body of the fly so that the finished fly is about twice as long as the hook and so that the body is not too square at the end.

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