Salmon fly Ally's Shrimp
- by its inventor Alastair (Ally) Gowans

Ally's Shrimp salmon flies

Ally's Shrimp: Tail: hot orange bucktail (with Krystal hair if desired). Body: half red and half black floss silk with medium oval tinsel rib. Underwing: grey squirrel top and bottom. Overwing: bunch of GP tippets. Collar hackle: hot orange. Head: red thread or varnish

To anglers, there is no greater feeling of satisfaction than catching a fish on a fly which they have tied themselves, or better still, devised themselves. I am very fortunate in having developed a series of patterns which have proven very successful for Atlantic salmon, in particular, the Ally's Shrimp. The photo shows the original orange Ally's Shrimp. Some of the flies are direct variants of this pattern, whilst others, such as Cascade, are a little different but the underlying theme of a long, streaming tail is common to most. In the fly sales pages you will see a range of Ally's Shrimps and hairwing flies that have proven to be really effective for Atlantic salmon in all countries and are rapidly gaining in popularity for steelhead and sea trout in various parts of the World. The original version of Ally's Shrimp is still the most popular, but the yellow, silver and red variants are close behind. Perhaps the most surprising pattern however is Cascade, this fly has enjoyed astounding success everywhere and is now the top pattern on many beats and rivers.

If you want some evidence of how good Ally's shrimps are as salmon flies, just look up the credits in "The World's Best Flies" published by The North Atlantic Salmon Fund. And if you don't have this superb little book contact NASF at Skipholt 35, IS-105 Reykjavik, Iceland, requesting a copy and send them as big a donation as possible to help save the Atlantic Salmon.

"Ally's Shrimp" was also voted the "Salmon Fly of the Millennium" by the readers of EMAP fishing magazines, Trout and Salmon and Trout Fisherman and Angling Times. For lots more information about shrimp and prawn flies see the answers to Fish & Fly magazine's questions to Ally.

If you wish to see the complete range of salmon flies for sale and to purchase some really great fly patterns go to "My flies for sale".