At the moment there is not a lot different variations of the tarpon fly, which could possibly be due to the fact that Tarpon are not plentiful in many places. Therefore anglers prefer to use proven flies then test new patterns when Tarpon fishing.
This pattern came to me one day, as I was bored wit View more...At the moment there is not a lot different variations of the tarpon fly, which could possibly be due to the fact that Tarpon are not plentiful in many places. Therefore anglers prefer to use proven flies then test new patterns when Tarpon fishing.
This pattern came to me one day, as I was bored with tying the conventional patterns and wanted to go a little further with some leftover materials. There are not many black shrimp patterns but black is a great colour for Tarpon flies especially when combined with red and orange. The silhouette is mainly achieved with Craft Fur, a material which for me has given me great success with other Tarpon flies. I tested this fly first in Costa Rica were Tarpon preferred much bigger flies, however the fly was very effective as it had good movement and the colours used were productive for Tarpon that had not been fished for. The red below the orange is also a good combination for the Black Death pattern, however is not the case in the Keys as the pattern is very well known. I have found that 2/0 to 3/0 hooks for this fly have given the best results compared with larger hooks, however the 2/0 Owner AKI in particular has proven most effective producing the best hook ups and has never opened up with Tarpon over 100lbs.
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List of materials
Hook
Owner AKI 2/0 and 3/0
Thread
6/0 fluorescent orange
Antennas, Face, and Jaws
Black Craft Fur, Black Rabbit Fur, Orange Rabbit Fur
Eyes
Green Pearl Monofilament and Resin
Shell and Spine
Black Craft Fur
Abdomen
Ice Dubbing orange or red
Legs
Barred Rubber Legs in Orange or Red
Steps
Step 1
Using a small clump of black bucktail, tie in towards the end of the shank to begin creating the face. The fibers should be no longer than the shank of the hook.
Step 2
Using the tip of a piece of 50lb monofilament, paste green glass pearls and cover everything in UV resin to form the eye. Then tie this down on both side of the bucktail.
Step 3
Prepare a small bunch of Craft Fur by removing some of the shorter hairs to create a nice taper. Tie this down above the bucktail to continue building the face.
Step 4
Then tie on top black Rabbit Fur and below either red or orange to finish the shell.
Step 5
Using Ice Dubbing begin creating the abdomen coving a third of the shank that is still free.
Step 6
Complete the segment with Ice Dubbing adding in Barred Rubber Legs.
Step 7
Finish with adding 2 sets of rubber legs on each side of the fly.
Step 8
To finish the Darth Vader Shrimp add another bunch of Craft Fur on top to cover the abdomen. Complete with a whip finish.
