Red Frances Shrimp - Step by step

The Frances is one of my favorite flies to tie for Atlantic Salmon. It's said to be very effective in Icelandic waters, where it was originally invented be Peter Deane. I personally have had good experiences of the black variation, but nothing on the red one. Anyway I like the red one better looking, and have to give it more time next summer. Last trip I had these tied on plastic tubes, but they swam too near the surface, so I decided to try out the Esmond Drury trebles in sizes #6-10. I had some Green Highlanders tied on that hook, and they performed well in the rapid currents of Komagelva.

Here's is the recipe anyway:

The Red Frances

Hook: Esmond Drury black treble

Thread: Red Uni 8/0

Feelers: 6 cock hackle feather stems

Tail: Brown calf tail

Rib: Oval gold

Hackle: Furnace Brown cock

Body: Red Uni yarn

Head: Thread and varnish

Start with the thread base:

Tie in the feelers. Spread them evenly around the hook. 2 in each gap:

Now the calf tail about the length of the body (sorry for the bad quality):

Tie the hackle and rib firmly:

Form the butt part of the body:

Wind the rib and hackle. 2 turns is fine:

Form the rest of the body in the shape of a carrot:

Wind the rib all the way, form the head and add a drop of varnish:

Now you just need to trim the stems to wanted length. I like to keep them 2-3 times the body length.

I'm going to try these out in Vancouver Island too. Ofcourse not these trebles, but tube ones with single hooks. Heard shrimp flies work well for pacific salmon too. Have to go and see.

Now some more...

-Niilo