Here's the SBS for the sculpin pattern I posted in the What's in your vice? thread.
I affectionately call it Lil' Sculp.
I don't make too many SBSs so maybe it's too detailed, maybe not enough. Regardless, enjoy.
It's already proven itself this year with some nice fish.
Materials:
Shank: Fish Skull 20mm
Thread: 6/0, 136 D in Olive
Small Pseudo Eyes
Berkley Fireline, 30lb
Owner Mosquito, size 4
Pink and Tan Marabou
UV Pearl Ice Wing
Pine Squirrel Zonkers, Natural Olive
Gold and Copper Ice Dub
Pheasant Rump, Olive
Start thread wrap at the eye, wrapping the thread backwards over the back part of the shank. Bring thread forward.
Attach eyes with tight criss-cross and figure eight wraps. I use small Psuedo Eyes. Notice the UV reflection.
Attach 30lb Berkley Fireline or whatever you prefer. I place the hook about 1 shank length behind the shank, a little more in this case.
Wrap Fireline backwards towards the rear of the shank. Cut excess and cover with thread.
Attach hook. This is a size 4 owner mosquito.
Take 8ish strands of light pink marabou and tie them in fanned out around the top half of the shank.
Tie in 4-6 strands of tan marabou along the top half of the shank. I really like to keep the tail sparse so that it has a more natural taper in the water.
Tie in about a dozen strands of UV pear ice wing dub. Flare it a bit so that it equally-ish covers the marabou.
Tie the ice wing on the other side. Flare the side a bit.
Tie in Natural Olive pine squirrel zonker at the rear of the hook. It should be long enough to barely eclipse the stinger hook and reach right behind the dumbbell eyes. I add a bit of super glue to really secure this tie-in. Not really necessary though.
Form a dubbing loop with an old jighead you found on the banks of the Snohomish River when you were 16. Secure it down and wrap thread to right behind the eyes.
For the dubbing loop, I use gold and copper ice dub, about 50/50 on the ratio, and not too much that it adds a lot of bulk to the fly. Spin the loop to secure.
Using a velcro brush, tease out the fibers. I typically thin it out a bit as well.
Wrap the dubbing loop forwards to behind the eye, pulling fibers backwards with each wrap so non get trapped. Tie the loop down at the eyes and snip off.
Tie the pine squirrel zonker down right behind the eye. A little space is better; it will allow for a bit bulkier and more natural head.
Aquire two feathers of around the same size off an olive ringneck rump. Peel off the excess webby fibers.
Tie them in so that they are sitting concave on each side. This way the fins stick out, and not adhere to the sides. They probably don't push that much water, but it looks cool. Snip the stems.
Aerial shot of the feather orientation. These ones didn't cave in too much.
Make a dubbing loop and insert a nice long, thick section of pine squirrel. If the zonker is too thin or sparse, the head won't look as natural.
Snip the hide strip off, pushing all of the fur on the cut edge as close to the loop as possible to get the maximum length. Spin the loop tightly, so that no fur comes out. Make sure not to break the loop or you'll have wasted a perfectly good section of squirrel.
Wrap the loop forwards until a nice head exists behind the eyes. Then, wrap the loop once over and once under the eyes to cover them, and finish off the loop by wrapping it in front of the eyes. Tie it down and snip the ends. I don't like to have a ton of space or material between the dumbbell eyes and shank eye. Whip finish if you want (I hardly ever do), add super glue or your preferred adhesive (highly recommend super glue though, esp. if you don't whip finish). Snip thread off.
Kick some ass.
I affectionately call it Lil' Sculp.
I don't make too many SBSs so maybe it's too detailed, maybe not enough. Regardless, enjoy.
It's already proven itself this year with some nice fish.
Materials:
Shank: Fish Skull 20mm
Thread: 6/0, 136 D in Olive
Small Pseudo Eyes
Berkley Fireline, 30lb
Owner Mosquito, size 4
Pink and Tan Marabou
UV Pearl Ice Wing
Pine Squirrel Zonkers, Natural Olive
Gold and Copper Ice Dub
Pheasant Rump, Olive
Start thread wrap at the eye, wrapping the thread backwards over the back part of the shank. Bring thread forward.
Attach eyes with tight criss-cross and figure eight wraps. I use small Psuedo Eyes. Notice the UV reflection.
Attach 30lb Berkley Fireline or whatever you prefer. I place the hook about 1 shank length behind the shank, a little more in this case.
Wrap Fireline backwards towards the rear of the shank. Cut excess and cover with thread.
Attach hook. This is a size 4 owner mosquito.
Take 8ish strands of light pink marabou and tie them in fanned out around the top half of the shank.
Tie in 4-6 strands of tan marabou along the top half of the shank. I really like to keep the tail sparse so that it has a more natural taper in the water.
Tie in about a dozen strands of UV pear ice wing dub. Flare it a bit so that it equally-ish covers the marabou.
Tie the ice wing on the other side. Flare the side a bit.
Tie in Natural Olive pine squirrel zonker at the rear of the hook. It should be long enough to barely eclipse the stinger hook and reach right behind the dumbbell eyes. I add a bit of super glue to really secure this tie-in. Not really necessary though.
Form a dubbing loop with an old jighead you found on the banks of the Snohomish River when you were 16. Secure it down and wrap thread to right behind the eyes.
For the dubbing loop, I use gold and copper ice dub, about 50/50 on the ratio, and not too much that it adds a lot of bulk to the fly. Spin the loop to secure.
Using a velcro brush, tease out the fibers. I typically thin it out a bit as well.
Wrap the dubbing loop forwards to behind the eye, pulling fibers backwards with each wrap so non get trapped. Tie the loop down at the eyes and snip off.
Tie the pine squirrel zonker down right behind the eye. A little space is better; it will allow for a bit bulkier and more natural head.
Aquire two feathers of around the same size off an olive ringneck rump. Peel off the excess webby fibers.
Tie them in so that they are sitting concave on each side. This way the fins stick out, and not adhere to the sides. They probably don't push that much water, but it looks cool. Snip the stems.
Aerial shot of the feather orientation. These ones didn't cave in too much.
Make a dubbing loop and insert a nice long, thick section of pine squirrel. If the zonker is too thin or sparse, the head won't look as natural.
Snip the hide strip off, pushing all of the fur on the cut edge as close to the loop as possible to get the maximum length. Spin the loop tightly, so that no fur comes out. Make sure not to break the loop or you'll have wasted a perfectly good section of squirrel.
Wrap the loop forwards until a nice head exists behind the eyes. Then, wrap the loop once over and once under the eyes to cover them, and finish off the loop by wrapping it in front of the eyes. Tie it down and snip the ends. I don't like to have a ton of space or material between the dumbbell eyes and shank eye. Whip finish if you want (I hardly ever do), add super glue or your preferred adhesive (highly recommend super glue though, esp. if you don't whip finish). Snip thread off.
Kick some ass.
