 FLY
OF THE MONTH
|
|
|
Deep Water Shrimp
By Luca Montanari
Tungsten plastic sheets are very suitable for adding weight
to flies for deep fishing, in particular Gammarus imitations,
which I usually utilise in fast rivers for tempting trout
that stay close to the bottom. One of the characteristics
of such sheets is elasticity, which allows me to mould them
in different shapes. I can also split them up, for example,
into thin strands that can be wrapped directly onto the hook
shank, or in small tapes that can be tied on the thorax or
on the abdomen of the fly. Depending on what use I make of
them, sometimes I risk to compromise the resistance of the
tapes: this may happen if I finish the fly making the ribbing
directly over the small tungsten tape. For this reason, when
I decide to build a Deep-Water Shrimp, I place a piece of
Magic Shrimp Foil over the back of the fly. This prevents
the ribbing to cut the tungsten tape. |
|
|
Gammarus shrimps can assume various colours in
agreement with the species they belong, or depending on the diet
they follow or the colours of their habitat. In waters with the
bottom covered by vegetation, these small crustaceans often tend
to get an olive colour. Therefore, to allure the trout that feed
on them, we have to select imitations assembled with greenish
and brownish materials.
(The Deep Water Shrimp is one of the 88 flies described in Luca’s
recent book entitled “Flies – Mosche da pesca”. To get
more information about it click on http://www.edolimpia.it/lev_1/pesca/top_pesca.htm
or send an e-mail to libri@edolimpia.it). |
|
Materials List:
Hook: Mustad ref. 80250 size 14 to 6
Ballast: fine lead wire
BODY: in four sections of equal size.
The first three realised with
Partridge SLF Master Class (MC15),
(MC14) and (MC13);
the fourth prepared with hare’s fur
BACK OF THE BODY: Partridge Tungsten sheet
dyed grey and pale brown Magic Shrimp Foil or latex
RIBBING: fine copper wire |
The building process of the Deep-Water Shrimp
is not very complicated and the only difficulty that we
can meet is the application of the tungsten and Magic Shrimp
Foil stripes on the fly body. However, withpractice, this
operation can also be executed in a short time and without
too many problems.
Photos and fly by Luca Montanari
|
Step 1:
I start tying the fly by fixing the hook in the vice jay and wrap a piece
of fine lead along its shank in order to realise part of the ballast
structure of the fly. Therefore I tie in the thread on the hook and wrap
it around the lead turns to join them very firmly to the hook.
|
|
Step 2:
With the black thread, I add a section of Magic Shrimp Foil and a piece
of fine copper wire to a low stretch of the hook bend. |
|
 Step
3:
I wax a short section of the thread and distribute a small quantity of
Partridge SLF Master Class clear orange dyed (MC15) on it, followed by
one of light olive (MC14) and finally one of leather colour (MC13), forming
a compact and consisting dubbing. After that, I wrap the dubbing around
the three rear quarters of the hook shank. |
|
Step 4:
Using a stretch of pale brown thread, I tie in, on the body rear edge,
a piece of a small strip cut from a Partridge grey tungsten sheet, laying
it down to cover the back of the nymph. The main function of this material
is to increase the weight of the imitation.
|
|
Step 5:
I push the Magic Shrimp Foil strip forward, placing it to cover the tungsten
strip and fix both materials over the portion of the hook without dubbing. |
|
Step 6:
I make the ribbing by turning the copper wire around the fly body in wide
coils. |
|
Step 7:
Now I lift up the Magic Shrimp Foil and the tungsten strips from the thread
turns and push their front edge backwards, stopping the copper wire in
front of the body portion already prepared; then I proceed by trimming
away the pale brown thread from the fly body. |
|
Step 8:
I cut away the surplus of the copper wire, and then I wax a new section
of the thread and distribute a small quantity of ear’s mask fur on
it, creating the dubbing that I will wrap around the fourth front of the
hook shank in order to complete the fly body . |
|
Step 9:
I push the tungsten and the Magic Shrimp Foil strips forward, laying them
to cover the back of the last body section and then fix them just behind
the hook eye. |
|
Step 10:
I trim away the exceeding part of the materials used to form the back and
then I build the fly head with repeated turns of the thread followed by
a whip finish. |
|
Step 11:
At this point our Deep-Water Shrimp is ready to be used on the next fishing
trip, helping us to tempt a beautiful trout that is feeding near the bottom
of a deep pool. |
|
Luca
Montanari |
