Swan River shrimp

I was fishing around Mt Henry bridge last week, and I came across schools of small shrimp. These shrimp are found in many parts of Swan and Canning River from the upper reach to the river mouth, and they seem to be there throughout year.

They are about 30mm long with a jelly like translucent body. Some of them are bit darker (bit more opaque) while others are completely clear as if they are made of glass. I am sure that these shrimp are chomped by black bream and flathead all the time.

When it comes to fly patterns, however, I have only had a minor success with shrimp patterns so far. Although they have caught some fish, they haven't been as dependable as my other bait fish imitations, and I haven't been bothered to keep them in my fly box for some time.

Anyway, I just felt that I should try using shrimp patterns again to spice up my fishing as casting the same old bait fish imitation is getting bit too predictable these days. So, I sat in front of my vice, had some thought process, and came up with this shrimp pattern.

This weekend is our club's field day on the metro water, and I am hoping this fly will be smashed with those big monster bream on Sunday.



I guess my previous design had a critical design flaw. The body was wrapped / dubbed with some dubbing fibers, very much like tying a hare's ear nymph. Obviously the body made this way will not let light through whereas a body of a real shrimp is being transparent like jelly. So I needed to make a body in a different fashion.

To suggest a translucent body of a river shrimp, I have decided to use mohair fibers this time. I tied these fibers on top of the hook shank very much like tying a streamer and a minnow pattern instead of wrapping fibers around a hook shank as I did last time.

A tiny set of black eyes are made of a piece of mono (0X tippet material) dipped in water based urethane glue mixed with black ink from an Art supply (the ink is also water based obviously). The glue ("Liquid Fusion" which can be purchased from Flyworld) is said to be "non-toxic" and is easy to clean with water. I used to use 20lb mono and melt it to make an eye ball. It worked fine, but the smell of melting nylon was unbearable. Also painting each eye ball with a marker was time consuming. The new method with the glue is much easier, I think.


川では３０mm位の小さなエビを良く見かけます。ボディーは飴細工の様に半透 明で、川の上流から河口まで広域に渡って生息 している様です。ベイトフィッシュの種類によっては季節によっては川からまったく姿を消すのもいますが、このエビは、川のブッシュ際やウィード周りいつで もいます。

魚に大量に食われているとは思うのですが、フライのパターンとしては、個人的には、あまり良い結果が出ていません。そこそこに は釣れるのですが、ミノー系の毛針と比べると釣果は今一です。

期待されながら、活躍できていないエビのパターンでしたが、今回、週末のク ラブのフィールドデイ様に、改良を加えての新バージョンを巻いてみました。

今までのパターンは、ボディーをメイフライのニンフを巻くかのごどく、ダビング材 をシャンクに巻いて作っていましたが、この手の方法だと、本物のエビの様にボディーが半透明にはなりません。よって今回は、ダビング材をストリーマーやウエットフライのウイングを巻く様に フックシャンクの上に取り付けて、その上にカシミアゴートをのせてみました。その後でハサミを入れて整形。ファジーな感じが半透明のエビのボディーぽく なったと思います。

目玉は、ナイロンの釣り糸をライターの火で溶かして整形する、定番のやり方を止めて、水性のウレタン接着材に黒の水性インクを混ぜたものに０Xのティペットを適当な長さに切った物をディップする方法に替えました。この方法だと、ナイロンの溶けるあの嫌な臭いも無いですし、目玉を一個一個、黒いマジックで塗る手間も省けます。

"Swan River Shrimp"

Hook: TMC 2312 #14
Eye: nylon mono and water based urethane glue
Antenna: cashmere goat (tan)
Under Body: mohair (champagne) & 2 strands of Krystal Flash
Over Body: cashmere goat (tan)
Weight: tungsten bead