This is the brown winged version of the Jock's Shrimp fitted with a Partridge Nordic No 6 tube fly hook. This is a true weapon of a salmon fly and lethal for attracting salmon on the famous River Tay and other Scottish salmon rivers.

Here's a shot of a team of Copperass & Jock's Shrimp salmon flies that have just come off the fly tying vice. These 2 patterns are highly effective at all times of the Scottish salmon fishing season in varying sizes to cover all water & temperature conditions.

Always carry a few coiled up spare leaders in your fly box like you see here just in case needed while out on the river. Learn how to prepare your salmon fishing approach via tuition from a professional salmon guide. This Wheatley fly box includes my main favourite salmon flies like the Jock's Shrimp & Copperass salmon fly patterns.

This perfect salmon fly was designed by myself on the River Tay 20 years ago and is an absolute salmon magnet when fished properly. Many experienced salmon anglers swear by the effectiveness of this pattern and it's sometimes wrongly referred to as the Newtyle Shrimp however it's proper registered name is the Jock's Shrimp as a credit to its creator. Here are the exact dressings for this deadly Scottish salmon fly pattern;
Hook / Tube: as required
Thread / Silk: Uni Thread 6/0 or 8/0, Red
Tag / Butt: Oval silver as for Rib
Tail: Orange Arctic Fox or equivalent with pearl flashabou accent or mirage over, just 2 or perhaps 3 strands max.
Tying note: it's important to set the Tag / Butt in place first, this helps lift the Fox tail slightly, increases movement and helps avoid

So much nonsense is spoken about how to hook a salmon on the fly which results in the loss on thousands of Scottish salmon each year. Book a professional guide to get you into position and then show you exactly how to set the salmon fly hook effectively. This salmon in the landing net was hooked properly on the River Tay near the rivers Tay & Tummel confluence which is a great fishing area near Dunkeld in Perthshire.

Here's a lovely Tay Spring salmon that fell for the deadly Jock's Shrimp tube fly near the River Tummel mouth where it enters the River Tay. Fly fishing in Scotland is great fun and is highly satisfying when salmon are outsmarted. This fine salmon took the Jock's Shrimp salmon which you can see in the photograph.

Here's a glimpse of the salmon fly patterns I have absolute faith in. Although I'll always experiment with different fly patterns my main 2 are the 'Copperass' & the 'Jock's Shrimp' patterns which account for 85% of the salmon I'm involved in the capture of each year. The Maxima spools you see is my favourite salmon fly leader material.

Here's a perfect cock salmon from the River Tay which was caught in late September near Pitlochry. This adult male salmon is seen here in full Autumn spawning colours which is completely different from their dark grey and silver flanks they have when they first arrive back from feeding in the sea. These creatures and their habits are truly fascinating and booking a personal guide is the most effective way of catching one of these fine Scottish salmon.

Salmon Fly Thoughts

By Jock Monteith 12th March 2026

If you're not completely in love with the salmon fly you're fishing then don't fish it.

A salmon fly needs to inspire your inner soul with her sexy stream movement, tantalising colours and real 'live' creature simulation. If a fly can do that to your mind then a salmon has got no chance of being able to ignore it!

Here's a picture of River Tay professional salmon fishing ghillie legend Willie Laird in a pondering pose beside the river. Willie was a career ghillie and boatman on the Tay for 50+ years before his retirement in 1986. Willie was the Head Ghillie on the Tay's Newtyle Beat near Dunkeld for all of his adult life.

The Old School River Tay Ghillies

I used to hang about with a professional River Tay ghillie who would carried an old tobacco tin in the left hand breast pocket of his tweed jacket with a few old battered looking flies of a few patterns and sizes for most water conditions. The patterns were mainly Orange & Yellow, Thunder & Lightening, Mar Lodge, Garry Dog & the Silver Stoat. Although his flies were old and suffered from mild 'alopecia' the hook points were always well honed and he always carried a little sharpening stone for that very purpose. Seldom did he throw away any of his flies and when he did out of respect it was always a ceremonial cremation in the fishing hut's fire!

Here's a perfectly stocked salmon fly fishing box which was manufactured by Wheatley in England. These fly patterns include Red Flamethrowers, Orange Flamethrowers, Copperass to name a few. It's always good to have a quality selection of flies like this to draw on throughout the seasonal salmon fishing in Scotland.

Too Many Salmon Flies Are Not Necessary

Of course in those days there were more salmon in the Tay (most of the time) but these old flies were all great movers in the stream when tested at the side of the river during selection. To gain entry in to my late friends tobacco tin a fly needed to be something special indeed. These days many anglers turn up with huge boxes of salmon flies to choose from which have been purchased based on colour & bling combinations and rarely due to the more important 'stream movement' element side of the fly. This is great news for the tackle dealers but to lure a difficult salmon more attention should always be placed on the movement of the fly if you seek more than the easier caught fresh runner!

Here's the bow section of a hand built River Tay 16ft salmon fishing 'coble' boat with a Brady fishing back and Bruce & Walker salmon Spey rod fitted with a Van Staal salmon fly reel. Professional salmon guides in Scotland take their personal salmon fishing equipment seriously too!

Travel Light On The Salmon River

During most salmon fishing days all you really need in your pocket is 1 normal sized fly box containing a few of your favourite salmon flies and a few spare lengths of leader material. Great big heavy fishing bags over your shoulder that you've got to keep walking back to on a riverbank only diminishes your fly's swim time throughout the fishing day. Travel light and maintain complete 'faith' in the salmon fly patterns that you're trusting and leave the full selection box suit cases alone as that'll only add confusion to your fishing day. Arctic fox & long soft Schlappen hackles do it for me on the movement side of things but the combination of these materials are seldom found in mass production salmon flies so learning to tie your own will always be advantageous.

Once you've got enough faith in a specific salmon fly pattern then look for the fly that outperforms it's replica associates. Here's a selection of my 'Jock Shrimp' & 'Copperass' patterns with a few other aces that I sometimes fish with too. I love these old aluminium Richard Wheatley fly boxes too and have many of them which I've collected over the decades.

Make Your Salmon Fly Stand Out In The Stream

If you're a salmon swimming up a Scottish river there's a great chance you're going to see a few different salmon flies during your journey. There's more chance of a predatory reaction from a salmon when it's not used to seeing something so any fly that's behaving differently in the stream is going to catch the fish's attention better and that's where good fur, feather & fibre 'stream pulsing' waggle comes into play. Make sure your salmon flies swim differently from the normal stuff salmon are seeing day in and day out and 'flight path' them right down on to fish when the going is tough and watch the difference!

I caught this perfect River Tay Spring salmon in February on the Kinnaird salmon beat near Pitlochry. These fish are in a true class of their own and are the objective of most knowledgable salmon fishers who appreciate their brilliance. February isn't generally regarded as a prime Scottish Spring salmon fishing month but experienced Tay fishers know better. I was resting this lovely fish in the landing net for a few minutes when I took this shot before releasing it back to the river.

Atlantic Salmon Have Acute Vision

Don't underestimate a salmon's radar for spotting a salmon fly either. I've seen heavyweight salmon come to the most sparsely dressed little black trout sized flies and on some occasions in coloured water too! I'm usually always fishing a size smaller or bigger than what most other anglers will fish with and I've had great days with size 9's when all other anglers are touching nothing with the 'correct' big 2 inch tube flies during the higher water conditions of early Spring & late Autumn. To my mind (regarding small flies) if a salmon can't see something too easily then there's a chance he's going to commit to further investigation. Once a fish comes off its lie to inspect a fly more closely it can only properly do that with its mouth!