Curry's Red Shrimp
Tied by Pat Curry of Ballina, this is the house fly of the Ridge Pool. Red seal's fur body, gold oval rib, hot orange cock hackle, golden pheasant tippet antennae — sparse enough to breathe in the current, warm-toned enough to be visible in the peaty Moy water. The River Moy at Ballina is Ireland's most prolific salmon river, and this pattern has accounted for more of those fish than anything else. The Moy supports an extraordinary diversity of shrimp patterns — from Curry's own variants to the dozens of local dressings sold by Tiernan Brothers of Foxford, who have been supplying the river for generations. If you're fishing the Moy, a visit to Tiernan Brothers (themoy.com) is worth the journey for local knowledge alone.
The Moy from June through September, medium to low water. Swing through the Ridge Pool and Cathedral Pool on a floating line at a steady pace. Size down to 10 or 12 in low summer water. The fish are usually there; the take is not in doubt, only the moment.
