The Invertebrate ALL Fish Eat ...
Today I want to turn your attention to what I believe is one of the most overlooked fly patterns - the humble shrimp (or Gammarus to give it its correct genus).
Everytime you are on the water you are probably disturbing hundreds (if not thousands) of them - if you don't believe me, just turn over a large rock and see what's under it!
Gammarus (or the freshwater shrimp) forms the basis of the Trout & Grayling's diet. They may not be the main food source every day but they do make up over 70% of their annual diet.
The freshwater shrimp is found in virtually all our UK rivers throughout the full year, making a shrimp/gammarus/scud pattern
Freshwater shrimp are much more abundant in waters with higher pH values (for this read - chalk and limestone streams).
As a part of the Riverfly Partnership's Monitoring Scheme on a local North Yorkshire beck, it's not uncommon for thousands of freshwater shrimp to be captured in a short 3-minute kick sample. These shrimp are a fantastic indicator of how healthy the river is - as they are very sensitive to pollution.
Earlier this year I asked our tyers to come up with some standard shrimp/scud patterns that imitate the actual size of the shrimps we have here in North Yorkshire (to be honest, they are the same across the whole country - either a size 16 or 18), and last Friday they were delivered to us ... we've called them Derwent Shrimps:
Why Use Gammarus shrimps?
Simply because they are the most common invertebrates in the water at all points of the year, wild trout and grayling diets will consist mainly of shrimps.
Therefore, it makes sense to at least have a few in your box, especially at this time of year (as the trout start to feed up for the colder months). These shrimps work equally well on both rivers and stillwaters.
During the latter stages of the Trout season and once the Grayling season opens, it is essential that you have a selection of shrimps in your armoury - these are the most common invertebrates in the water at all points of the year - especially at this time.
We've had our selection tied to represent the natural shrimp colours (Brown, Translucent/Natural and Olive), plus we've thrown a nice vivid Pink one in for the Grayling!
Our Derwent Shrimps draw on the Czech nymphing tradition: slim, weighted flies tied on strong grub hooks to imitate the freshwater shrimps & scuds that make up so much of a fish's diet.
Originally developed by Czech competition anglers to get down to the fish quickly in fast water, the style has become a mainstay on rivers across the world, and our Derwent Shrimp carries that heritage forward.
Each of our Derwent Shrimps has been tied with:
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A lightly weighted underbody covering 1/3rd of the hook.
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Semperfli Classic Waxed Thread - the same colour as the real bug
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A 0.1mm Wire Rib in the same colour as the bug
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A 3mm Nymph Skin shellback - colour-matched to the bug
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A UV/Synthetic dubbing for the body
A typical characteristic of a Czech-style nymph is the slim profile (to allow it to sink quickly), a back covered with foil/latex/shellback and a wire rib.
What Tactics Should I Use?
These patterns should be fished close to the river bed (hence the use of wire to weight the fly), and dead drifted (shrimps do not swim against the flow of the river). These are ideal patterns to use in shallow water, heads of pools, drop offs and close to weed beds. See below in this email for many more hints and tips on fishing with Shrimp patterns.
Gammarus shrimps are found in virtually every river in the UK (and Europe) and are present all year round - just turn over the nearest rock when you are next on the water and take a look. They make up about 70% of the Trout and Grayling's annual diet.
We've just received our NEW Derwent Shrimp Selections, so there's a few to go around!
Our Derwent Shrimp Selection are all tied on the stunning AHREX FW541 barbless grub hook, and contains 16 flies (2 of each of the 4 colours in size 16 & 18), shipped for FREE to anywhere in the UK in our eco-friendly packaging.
All of these flies are tied on strong AHREX grub hooks, in sizes 16 and 18. These shrimps are available as:
Click any button or image to view our Derwent Shrimp selection in more detail.
*** Go on, you know you want to! ***
Fancy Some Tooty Frooties ...
As well as sending us some Gallic Grubs, Stan also sent us a small batch of Tooty Frooty Shrimps tied on a barbless size 14 Firehole Sticks hook (image below) - they are always a popular fly with us, and we always sell out quickly on these - we never have many of them due to the time it takes to tie them (and the associated cost).
We have Stan's Tootie Frootie Shrimps in 3 different colours: Bubblegum Pink, Kiwi Green & Halloween Orange - they are all available individually for £3.00 each by clicking here or the button below - they're not cheap, but they are good.
Gammarus Shrimps Behaviour:
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Shrimps do not like really bright daylight - the become docile when it's really bright.
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Fish with them during lower light levels - when it's overcast, dawn or dusk, this is when they will be more effective.
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Shrimps are very good swimmers (but their sense of direction is appalling), they swim in really short bursts (often around in circles), so there's no need to worry too much about presentation, just make sure you fish them on the river bed.
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Shrimps need to be fished as close to the river bed as possible - in deeper rivers try a sinking line with a short (4ft) leader. On shallower rivers use a floating line and longer leader.
How to fish Gammarus Shrimps:
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Try casting around gaps in any weed beds and to the heads of pools which are just below the weed
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Gammarus shrimp love weed, rocks and silt
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Try using 2 x Gammarus shrimps of different colours (one bright & one dark) on droppers spaced 2ft apart
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Cast these above the target area, let them sink and then track them back downstream
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Keep in touch with the shrimp at all times by raising your rod tip as the fly comes back towards you
I usually fish these using an indicator (as my nymphing skills still need a bit of work!).
Typical Nymphing Leader Setup
Shrimps are fished as you would any other nymph - just remember the golden rule "if you're not getting snagged on the bottom, you're not fishing deep enough". A normal nymph leader setup would be to add a short (12") indicator tippet section to your fly line, to this add 1.5 x the depth of the water you are fishing of tippet (4x or 5x), then the shrimp (or a team of 2 or 3).
Tight lines & have fun.
