Martyn White | Thursday, 5 March 2026
As we return to the fly of the week, I thought I'd look at the pattern I mentioned in last week's coverage of the 3wt Cup: the deadly crystal shrimp.
This is another easy pattern to tie that just works and despite its name, is more representative of a generic food item than a specific shrimp imitation. It's pretty obviously a derivative of the seaducer but has some advantage over it in certain situations. The bulky cactus chenille body/head pushes a lot of water as the fibres are shorter, stiffer and more densely packed than hackle. Ideal if the water is a bit muddy or stained and you want to help the fish find the fly with its lateral line. Another potential benefit is that it sinks quicker than a seaducer while still offering that horizontal presentation- assuming you haven’t added eyes or a cone to the front. It’s also more durable, the way I tie it at least, as It can be ribbed without fear of compromising the shape or appearance of the fly.
Here's the dressing:
Hook: Standard SW sized to suit
Threads: Fine clear mono & Flat waxed nylon
Tail: 4-6 saddle hackles & some flash
Body: Cactus chenille sized to suit
Body hackle: Saddle or schlappen
Rib: Fine clear mono thread
- I put down a base of mono then tie the tail, body material and hackle with the mono thread before whip finishing and cementing the base.
- Start the flat waxed nylon at the eye.
- Don’t trim off the mono thread, leave it hanging at the back to use as a rib.
- Wind the chenille over the wet head cement, pack it tightly.
- Follow the chenille with the hackle then wind the nylon through tightly, securing the hackle down along its length.
- Tie it all off using the flt waxed to finish and cement the head.
- Scrub the body with Velcro to free any trapped hackle or body fibres.
- Good colours are tan, white, chartreuse, orange and blurple-or whatever you like.
I’m not sure where I first heard of this pattern, perhaps in an old edition of the now defunct Fly Fishing in Saltwater magazine, but I have a feeling it’s another one that came into general consciousness because of Chico Fernandez. That said, I’d be very reluctant to attribute the pattern to anyone in particular and I kind of doubt anyone can really claim to have been the first to come up with it, because lets face it probably everyone who was tying seaducers probably tied a crystal shrimp or something very similar the first time they sat down at a vice after the advent of cactus chenille. But that doesn’t matter, it’s a deadly little bug that’s perfect for the inshore box in both tropical and cold regions.