If you’re a regular reader of the Deneki Blog you know we love to fish shrimp patterns at Andros South Lodge. For today’s tie we’re whipping up a Mantis Shrimp on a tube. Tube flies are fun to tie, they do require specific attachments to your vice but they allow you to change hooks out for the longevity of your pattern. If you haven’t tied on tubes before, give it a try! Here’s a variation of a Mantis Shrimp tied on a Tube.
Write up, instructions, and tied by Bryan Burke. Photos by Mike Brown with Mossy’s Fly Shop.
Materials List:
- Pro Sportfisher Clear Micro Tub with Clear Hook Guide
- Veevus UTC 140d orange
- Medium beadchain
- Red rabbit fur
- Cream fox
- Aqua Flies, Halo eyes
- Barred orange/clear rubber legs
- Blask Krystal flash
- UV hot orange ice dub
- Flesh rabbit fur
- UV tan ice dub
Step 1: It’s important to flare the tube with a lighter, this helps prevent your thread from slipping over the front. Be sure you have bodkin handy to make clear a pathway in the melted plastic.
Step 2 : Secure your bead chain or weighted eyes, there are lots of different options here depending on the water depth you’ll be fishing. Tying three or four of each for your fly box can be a lifesaver.
Step 3: Super simple, this is just a tuft of red bunny fur cut from a strip. You may choose to tie in the fur completely around the tube. This was just tied in at the top.
Step 4: Aqua flies ‘Halo Eyes’ are great. The mono they use for the stem is not too stiff and not too flimsy. Determine the length you want them to be from the end of the tube and put a slight bend. If it’s too much, just bend them back the other way until they are just right.
Step 5: Place the Cream Fox on top of the bunny and tie in.
Step 6: Tie in your rubber legs with a few solid wraps and again, there are lots of different color options.
Step 7: On top of the rubber legs is our crystal flash. Couple of light wraps as not to pinch the material, followed up with a couple of securing thread wraps.
Step 8: Whether you’re a fan of dubbing loops or getting your twist on, either will work for this application. Just remember with dubbing… less is more.
Step 9: For the collar around our dubbing ball, we chose to use a dubbing loop with our flesh bunny fur.
Step 10: Simply palmer the fur brushing it back with your fingers during each wrap. Once you have it, secure it with a few solid wraps and get your combing brush out to even it out.
Step 11: Again, we chose a dubbing loop for the body of our mantis shrimp. This is totally optional to the operator.
Step 12: You may choose to take the dub around the eyes and to the front of the tube, for this one we decided to finish right behind the eyes. Add your whip finish, brush your loose material out.
Completed: Pretty fly for a shrimp tie.
As always we hope this is helpful to our readers and we also have the good fortune of being in the presence of some truly amazing fly tiers. If you have any suggestions or tips you like to add and pass along, we’d love to hear from you!
Our best- The Deneki Team
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