We swing a lot of flies while fishing in Alaska and B.C., and if you read our blog or hopefully visit with us at these locations, this is not news to you. When swinging for anadramous fish, we have been sold on Intruder-style flies for years. However, as the seasons turn there is a time of year when we have to put down our two handed rods and head for the bonefish flats (don’t worry, we’re not complaining!).
While spending a day at the vice searching for the next big bonefish fly, we got creative and spun a few up for some laughs. However, the best laugh may have come later on the flats when we found one that worked, and worked well! Enter the Shrimptruder.
Although at first glance the profile of the fly seems much larger than most “shrimp-style” bonefish flies, the sparseness of the rabbit wings fall back when stripped to create a transparent “shrimpy” look. In between strips however, the rabbit fibers are allowed to flare resulting in a lot of movement that seems to drive the bonefish crazy! On several occasions we have seen this action cause a fish to charge on a cast that didn’t land “quite close enough” (then again, that might just be a plug for how aggressive some of these South Andros bonefish can be).
What’s the moral of the story? Have some fun at the vise this season, stray from that “Gotcha” comfort zone, and get creative! Maybe even try fishing some Shrimptruders – we think you’ll enjoy it!
Out of respect for the true Intruder brain trust (Jerry French, Ed Ward, and Scott Howell), it should be noted that very little of this pattern is designed in true “Intruder fashion”. We just had fun creating a shrimp pattern that represented a similar looking profile.
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