Polar Shrimp

Chinook Salmon Chum Salmon Coho Salmon Kokanee Salmon Steelhead Attractor Salmon Egg Cluster Shrimp Classic Steelhead Fly Freshwater Hairwing Pacific Northwest Pacific Salmon Salmon Steelhead Winter Steelhead

The Polar Shrimp is a classic Pacific Northwest steelhead pattern dating to the 1930s and commonly credited to Oregon fly tyer Polly Rosborough. Its fluorescent orange body and hackle paired with a bright white hair wing create an attractor that can suggest either a shrimp or a cluster of salmon eggs without closely copying either. The fly is traditionally swung across and downstream for steelhead and Pacific salmon and is especially associated with cold, high, stained, or glacially colored water where its vivid profile remains visible. Important tying considerations include forming a smooth silver tag, keeping the orange tail short, using a soft and mobile hackle collar, and mounting the white wing sparsely and directly over the hook shank.

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Recipe

Hook · standard salmon streamer hook sizes 2/0- 6
Thread · white
Tag · fine flat silver tinsel
Tail · fluorescent orange hackle fibers
Body · fluorescent orange chenille or orange goat-hair dubbing
Hackle · soft fluorescent orange hackle
Cheeks · jungle cock eyes, optional
Wing · white bucktail, calf tail, polar bear hair, or a suitable synthetic substitute
Head · white tying thread
Finish · head cement or clear varnish

Tying Instructions

1

Secure the hook in the vise, start the white thread behind the eye, and lay a smooth thread foundation rearward to the tag position.
2

Tie in the flat silver tinsel and make a short, smooth tag above the hook point, then secure and trim the excess.
3

Select a small bunch of fluorescent orange hackle fibers and tie them on top of the shank as a short, centered tail.
4

Tie in the fluorescent orange chenille at the rear of the body and advance the thread toward the front of the hook.
5

Wrap the chenille forward in close, touching turns to form a smooth, even body, then secure and trim the excess.
6

Tie in a soft fluorescent orange hackle immediately in front of the body.
7

Fold or sweep the hackle fibers rearward and wrap the feather to form a mobile collar, then secure and trim the stem.
8

Clean and align a sparse bunch of white hair and tie it on top of the hook as a centered wing extending approximately to the end of the tail.
9

Add optional jungle cock cheeks along the sides of the wing and secure them with controlled thread wraps.
10

Trim the wing butts at an angle, cover them with thread, and form a neat tapered white head.
11

Whip finish and apply head cement or clear varnish.