The Sili Legs Shrimp from Montana Fly Company is a bonefish shrimp built on the Gotcha blueprint, with silicone legs added for movement. Bead chain eyes keep it light enough for skinny water, and the flash body and kicking legs give a cruising fish something to track. It is a white sand flats fly for bonefish first, and it will also take redfish and permit that are feeding on small shrimp.

What It Imitates

This fly imitates the small, translucent shrimp that bonefish root out of sand and turtle grass. The flash body and pearl tail give it the sheen of a shrimp shell, and the tan wing is the body profile. The silicone legs kick and settle like a shrimp’s legs and antennae when the fly stops. The Tan color, with barred brown and white legs, matches sand and marl bottoms. The Pink color, with clear silver-flake legs, is the brighter option when you want the fish to pick the fly out over pale sand.

How To Use It

Cast ahead of a cruising or tailing fish, let the fly settle to the bottom, and start with short strips. The bead chain eyes land softly and sink slowly. In shallow water, lead the fish by several feet and give the fly time to get down. Strip, pause, strip: the legs flare on the pause, and most eats come when the fly stops.

When a fish follows without eating, make one long slow strip and stop again. Over turtle grass, keep the retrieve a little faster so the fly rides above the grass. The eyes turn the hook point up, so it tracks over sand without digging in.

When To Use It

Fish it in one to three feet of water on sand and marl flats. Its light weight lets it land without spooking fish. On calm, bright days when fish refuse flies that sit still, the legs keep working while the fly rests on the bottom. Size 2 is for deeper edges and wind. Size 6 is for the shallowest, spookiest fish.

Why We Like It

Plenty of bonefish shrimp have rubber legs, and most of them are tied heavy. This one keeps the weight to bead chain. You get the movement of silicone legs on a fly you can drop near a tailing fish. The barred legs on the Tan and the flake legs on the Pink give each color its own look. MFC ties it in a full size run of 2, 4 and 6, so you can match the fly to the depth and the mood of the fish.

Comparisons

Sili Legs Shrimp vs Beck’s Sili Legs Fly: Both are Gotcha-based bonefish shrimp with silicone legs, and the two fish the same way. Choose on color. The Umpqua Beck’s Sili Legs in our catalog is Tan only. The MFC Sili Legs Shrimp comes in Tan with barred legs and in Pink. If you already trust the Beck pattern, stay with it. If you want a pink shrimp or a barred leg for marl bottoms, this is the one.

Sili Legs Shrimp vs Gotcha Fly: The Umpqua Gotcha is the fly this pattern grows from: the same bead chain eyes, flash body and wing, with no legs. The Gotcha is a slimmer, cleaner silhouette and the fly to throw first on an unpressured flat. When fish follow a Gotcha and turn away, the Sili Legs Shrimp gives them extra movement on the pause.

Sili Legs Shrimp vs Crazy Charlie Fly: The Umpqua Crazy Charlie is sparser still: a flash body with a thin wing and bead chain eyes. It is the better fly when you need to get down in deeper water or current. The Sili Legs Shrimp has a fuller profile and the legs, so it fishes better slow and on the bottom. Carry both: Crazy Charlies for channels and moving water, the Sili Legs Shrimp for the flats.