Ally's Shrimp

[scotfly]

This, to the best of my knowledge is pretty close to the original Ally?s Shrimp as tied by Ally Gowan.. Since its introduction innumerable variations have appeared. Some with Chrystal Hair added or a dubbed body, or various tags, etc. Not to mention every colour under the sun. Whichever version you tie though the basic process is pretty much the same. Try to keep this one fairly slim. The most common fault I see with many Ally?s, especially commercial ones, is that they are over-dressed. Especially common is a huge fat body. Another mistake I frequently see is the wing. Some tyers tie the tippet wing upright, rather like the wing on a Green Highlander. The wing should be tied flat. Actually the wing isn?t really a wing, it is the shellback and eyes of the Shrimp/Prawn.

Instructions assume right-handed tyers

HOOK - Doubles, Trebles or Waddingtons
THREAD - 6/0 red
TAIL - long Orange Bucktail
RIB - Silver oval
BODY - In two equal parts Red and Black Floss
BEARD & UNDERWING - Grey Squirrel
OVERWING - GP Tippets
HACKLE - Orange Cock, Doubled
HEAD - Red

STEP 1
Mount the hook in the vice and run the thread down the shank. Catch in the rib, under the hook shank as you go.




STEP 2
Tie in a sparse bunch of Orange Bucktail, at least 1-11/2 times the body (I like longer) Note the tapered cut where the body will end. By cutting the tail butts to the same length as the body you will avoid unsightly bumps.




STEP 3
Wrap the thread to mid shank and tie in the red floss for the first half of the body.





STEP 4
Wind the red floss down to the tail and back up to the mid point. After tying the red floss off, continue wrapping to the shoulder of the fly and tie in the black floss for the second half of the body.





STEP 5
Wrap the black floss down to the mid point, then back to the shoulder and tie off.



Follow with the rib and tie off.




STEP 6
Invert the hook.



Then tie in a slim bunch or Squirrel Tail for the beard.




STEP 7
Return the hook to its normal position and tie in the under wing, this should be longer than the beard and reach just past the hook bend. After trimming the waste apply a liberal amount of varnish to the roots.



Then over-wrap with tight wraps to secure.




STEP 8
Prepare the GP Tippets for tying in. There are two ways of doing this.
The first I believe is how Ally Gowans originally tied it, snip out the centre of the Tippet then fold in half before tying in.
The second way to do it, the method I use, is to strip the fibres from either side leaving the Tippet the correct size for tying in.



Before tying in use your thumb nail to press a small indentation on the tippet stem. This will help to stop the tippet rolling when you tie it in.




STEP 9
Tie the Tippet in flat, remember that the Tippet is not really a wing, its purpose is to simulate the shellback and eyes of the Shrimp.




After tying in make sure it is level, if it is not take it off and try again. A level wing is critical to the correct performance of the fly, if the wing is cocked the fly will swim cocked.




STEP 10
Mount the Doubled hackle by the tip as shown, the stem should be uppermost.






STEP 11
Wind the hackle, sweeping the fibres back with each turn, tie off and trim waste




STEP 12
Finally, form a neat head, whipfinish and varnish for the completed fly. You can varnish the head with clear varnish or red varnish. Whichever you use I doubt the fish will notice.




The completed Ally?s Shrimp showing the length of the tail.