[Sandy Nelson]

I keep alluding to a wee spidery shrimp thing that seems to go down very well with the finnock and sea-trout, and now it seems the kelts of the Ythan. Its just my variation on a million other shrimp style flies, so nothing new, just nice and easy and effective

So i thought i'd do a wee SBS for the SSS.

Hook: Small salmon doubles, i have them tied on VMC and salar's, i like them on a size 15 salar or size 12 vmc.
Thread: Black
Tail: Arctic fox in red, black or Sunburst
Sparkle: 4 strands of hot orange Krystal flash
cheeks: Jungle cock (i use up my split feathers on these as it works as well as whole feathers)
Hackle: Black Hen.

Step 1: De-bard hook (in this case a size 15 Salar) and place in vice



Step 2: Start the thread and only make a few turns



Step 3: Tie in a small amount of arctic fox fibres (sunburst this time, my favourite), making sure its a mix with some soft underhair and the smooth hairs. use about 4 turns of thread



Step 4: Tie in 4 strands of Krystal flash with 2-3 turns of thread.



Step 5: Tie in a pair of jungle cock cheeks, i'm using split feathers as it is a great way to use up the non-perfect feathers and seems to make no difference to the fish. Again use 3-4 turns of thread.



Step 6: Tie in Black hen hackle, with 2-3 tight turns of thread.



Step 7: Make 2 turns of the hen hackle and wind the thread through the hackle to secure, remove the excess.



Step 8: Make a neat head and varnish.



Part of the exercise is to keep the fly simple and minimal use of thread. It ends up being very robust so don't be worried about the longevity. I'm still using almost perfect looking examples that have caught loads of fish in the last year or so.

The hook is integral to the design and i use the colour to change the fly. I tie it with Black, Red and Sunburst arctic fox depending on what i fancy and use Black, Silver and Gold hooks.
I think the black hook makes the fly look bigger so use it in coloured water, but the gold hook looks the most fishy.
To be honest the colour doesn't seem to make a huge difference, the basic profile is what matters along with plenty movement.

Worth keeping a few in the box, especially if you are fishing the Ythan

Sandy

[Liam Stephen]

That's a cool wee fly Sandy. 

Liam

[Rob Brownfield]

  I like that one. I guess you could even substitute the JC with sunburst goose biots if no JC was about.

[Sandy Nelson]

I like that one. I guess you could even substitute the JC with sunburst goose biots if no JC was about.

Definately, especially if it was Fluorescent Sunburst


Sandy

[Rob Brownfield]

Definately, especially if it was Fluorescent Sunburst

Experiment time. I have some wee gold and silver doubles so this should be fun.

I tie a small black, silver and blue double for sea trout, but I may add a blue biot for "eyes" and light blue strands of flash.  It should give it something extra! Thanks for the inspiration!

[Allan Liddle]

I keep alluding to a wee spidery shrimp thing that seems to go down very well with the finnock and sea-trout, and now it seems the kelts of the Ythan. Its just my variation on a million other shrimp style flies, so nothing new, just nice and easy and effective

So i thought i'd do a wee SBS for the SSS.

Hook: Small salmon doubles, i have them tied on VMC and salar's, i like them on a size 15 salar or size 12 vmc.
Thread: Black
Tail: Arctic fox in red, black or Sunburst
Sparkle: 4 strands of hot orange Krystal flash
cheeks: Jungle cock (i use up my split feathers on these as it works as well as whole feathers)
Hackle: Black Hen.

Step 1: De-bard hook (in this case a size 15 Salar) and place in vice



Step 2: Start the thread and only make a few turns



Step 3: Tie in a small amount of arctic fox fibres (sunburst this time, my favourite), making sure its a mix with some soft underhair and the smooth hairs. use about 4 turns of thread



Step 4: Tie in 4 strands of Krystal flash with 2-3 turns of thread.



Step 5: Tie in a pair of jungle cock cheeks, i'm using split feathers as it is a great way to use up the non-perfect feathers and seems to make no difference to the fish. Again use 3-4 turns of thread.



Step 6: Tie in Black hen hackle, with 2-3 tight turns of thread.



Step 7: Make 2 turns of the hen hackle and wind the thread through the hackle to secure, remove the excess.



Step 8: Make a neat head and varnish.



Part of the exercise is to keep the fly simple and minimal use of thread. It ends up being very robust so don't be worried about the longevity. I'm still using almost perfect looking examples that have caught loads of fish in the last year or so.

The hook is integral to the design and i use the colour to change the fly. I tie it with Black, Red and Sunburst arctic fox depending on what i fancy and use Black, Silver and Gold hooks.
I think the black hook makes the fly look bigger so use it in coloured water, but the gold hook looks the most fishy.
To be honest the colour doesn't seem to make a huge difference, the basic profile is what matters along with plenty movement.

Worth keeping a few in the box, especially if you are fishing the Ythan

Sandy

Cracker Sandy 

What about tying with a 'Flamethrower' style wing?

[Sandy Nelson]

What about tying with a 'Flamethrower' style wing?

Whats that like?

The fly is meant to be dead simple, i like it tied with the sunburst arctic fox i have, which is a really hot orange but the tips are bright yellow and it fades from one to the other, the tying above uses that and if you look carefully you can see it.

The fly seems to work equally well in, all black and with a fluro red tail.

All i tried to do was break a shrimp fly down to its absolute effective basic components, hence the SSS, a simple shrimp spider

Thanks for the comments 

Sandy

[Allan Liddle]

Sorry Sandy didn't mean anything by it, seem to be making a habit of putting my foot in it regarding commenting on other guys flies on here at the moment.
Simply meant tying in a long slim mobile wing with the flas over, however on reflection it would simply just look a bit like the original fly again?

Like the simplicity of your spider and how the gold hook is used as part of the overall dressing. 

[Sandy Nelson]

Sorry Sandy didn't mean anything by it, seem to be making a habit of putting my foot in it regarding commenting on other guys flies on here at the moment

you're confusing me Alan

I didn't take any offense, I just didnt know what you meant by a flamethrower,
When I googled it I got long wings and changing colours.
The long wing didn't seem to work with the idea, so I thought you meant the colour, hence the sunburst.

I have tied a medicine style one too, after inspiration from your other post and Robs comments, so it will be interesting to see if it works later in the year. Blue fox with a guinea fowl hackle
 

Sandy

[Magnus Angus]

Hi Sandy

I can sort of see the similarity to Duncan Egan's style of tying - he came up with the Flamethrower
http://www.duncaneganflies.co.uk/duncan-egan-flies/salmon-doubles.html

I know Duncan's flies and I'd take it as a compliment if someone compared my salmon flies to his.

By the way - being pedantic I'd say you are tying a fly with a long wing - maybe twice the length of the hook?

Tying sequence for the Flamethrower
http://flyfishing-and-flytying.co.uk/articles/view/a_new_flame/

[Sandy Nelson]

By the way - being pedantic I'd say you are tying a fly with a long wing - maybe twice the length of the hook?

Interesting, perhaps its just me then  I never thought of it as a wing, but as a spider with a tail

I like the look of those flies on the link, but they are far too big and bulky for what i wanted.
If you are linking my tying to those, then it is a compliment and thank you.

I've tying these on 12,14 and 15 size hooks, so it need to be very light .

Sandy

[Magnus Angus]

Hi Sandy

For sure the effect you are getting is not comparable to those Flamethrowers.

I know someone will shout semantics but yes I'd say you have a wing on that fly, because of where it's tied onto the shank. I produced a piece tying a Red Tag recently - which has a tail not a tag!

Incidentally does anyone still fish Ythan terrors?

[Andy Wren]

great concept ,I do similar things with wee bottle tubes and purple tippet,fox fur and hackle with a tad of twinkle for when I want my silk cuts down a bit.
Plop tubes are what the Muiresk ghillie calls them.

[Sandy Nelson]

One of the questions i've been asked a few times about the Post above is the size of the fly.
Some people are thinking its bigger than it is, easy done from the photo's as it is hard to scale.

So i've done another wee picture with my favourite 3 colours and 5p to give it some scale




 

Sandy

[Allan Liddle]

 

[Rob Brownfield]

crimped barbs!  

Look good Sandy, as soon as the rods are finished I think I will be digging out the tiny coloured VMC's I got last year.

[Irvine Ross]

Sandy

I like the simplicity of your fly. Have you tried a few without the jungle cock? That would make it even simpler.

Irvine

[Colin Sunley]

Bump
found it. Sandy did not realise how small it is