Sands’ Epoxy Mysis Shrimp

Description

Will Sands’ Epoxy Mysis is our favorite Mysis pattern here at Tailwater Junkie.  It is a super realistic Mysis shrimp with a thin profile, a little flash and a dark set of eyes. The Epoxy Mysis consistently fools selective trout on the Blue, Taylor and Frying Pan rivers.

Mysis shrimp are found in Dillon, Taylor Park, and Ruedi reservoirs.  During runoff and seasonal lake turnover, enormous numbers of Mysis Shrimp exit the dam.  Huge concentrations of Mysis shrimp exit the dams at higher flows with the great suction ear the damn face.  This pulls more Mysis shrimp from deeper within the reservoir that would not normally get flushed out with lower flows.

Trout feeding heavily on Mysis shrimp have brilliant colors from the high protein diet and can double their weight in one year if they consistently chow down on shrimp.  In Colorado, the Blue, Taylor and Frying Pan rivers have reliable populations of Mysis Shrimp.  Like scuds, Mysis shrimp are available to trout year-round but have their greatest impact during high flows.

It is important to carry both clear and opaque Mysis patterns to imitate live and dead shrimp.  Sands’ Epoxy Mysis represents a live, clear shrimp and a McFlylon Mysis is an accurate representation of a dead, opaque shrimp.  One of the selling features to a good Mysis pattern is the prominent pair of dark eyes.

Fishing Strategies:

We recommend to seine the water before you begin fishing the Blue, Taylor or Frying Pan rivers.  A seine will remove any doubt of whether there are any Mysis drifting mid-column and help you analyze what size of Shrimp they are.  When the flows are at normal levels, we tend to fish a two-fly nymphing rig with a Mysis as an attractor with a midge or mayfly dropped below.  If flows are above normal and your seine is showing heavy concentrations of Mysis, we will fish two Mysis patterns (one transparent and one opaque).  This allows us to play the odds and fish both alive and dead shrimp.

Recipe:

Hook: #18-20 Tiemco 200R
Thread: Uni Mono
Underbody:Uni Mono
Abdomen: Loon UV Clear Fly Finish
Eyes: 20 pound Fluorocarbon (colored in Black Sharpie)
Antennae: White CDC and Wood Duck shank
Feelers: White Z-Lon