The Chubby Muffin by Nick Granato

Advanced / Brown / Hatches / Intermediate / Nick Granato / Tan

15 January 2010 9 Comments

The Chubby Muffin is a sculpin imitation which uses a craft fur dubbing brush for the head. Craft fur is inexpensive, comes in a large variety of colors, and takes markers well. But more importantly, it has a neutral buoyancy after being soaked through, allowing the angler to present the fly in a different manner than sculpin imitations that incorporate a deer hair or wool head.

Materials Needed

Hook: Gamakatsu B10S #1
Eyes: Real Eyes Plus 7/32” Gold/Chart
Flash: Gold Holographic Flashabou
Dubbing: Wapsi Hares Ear SLF Prism Dubbing
Collar: Whiting’s Grizzly Orange Schlappen
Tail: Magnum Gold Variant Rabbit Strip
Pectoral Fins: Natural Partridge
Head: Rainy’s Yellow Craft Fur, Wapsi BR Ultra Wire Hot, Yellow Gold and Brown Sharpie Markers

First, tie the eyes in on top of the hook shank.

Tie in the flash, but don’t cut it just yet.

Wrap the dubbing forward about 1/4″ (6.4mm) then pick it out

Tie in the schlappen, and then make a few wraps forward.

Pick out two natural hen saddle feathers

Tie them in on the sides of the shank, making sure they flare straight out.

Cut the flash.

Cut a 3″ (76mm) long zonker strip.

Pierce it with the hook from the back side, and then slide it down the hook shank.

Pull it forward and then tie it off.

This is the wide profile you are looking for.

Cut off and stack some craft fur.

Cut the craft fur so it is about 1″ (25mm) long.

Wax some wire, and then stack the craft fur in between the wire. Use a ruler to straighten.

Make a dubbing brush.

I use a drill to speed things up, but you can use a dubbing loop tool.

Make two wraps behind the head, and then figure 8 the dubbing brush around the eyes.

Tie the brush off at the eye. Next, build up a small head, whip finish, and then seal it with it with Loctite.

Trim the bottom flat, and then trim the rest to a sculpin profile. Color the whole head with a gold sharpie.

Darken the top with a brown sharpie.

The finished fly

This is the wide profile you want.

Share and Enjoy:

Looks like a great fly to tie on for a day of monster hunting. Just stick with it all day and, while you might not get a lot of fish, you may just might get that whale of a brown. Nice night fly, bass fly, and would be good around rocks for stripers in larger sizes. Would a wider gap hook make sense on bulky flies like this?

# 27 January 2010 at 4:10 pm

Tom Gibbons said:

Sculpin tyes,it never ends. They just get better. This one deserves an A+.

# 29 January 2010 at 10:17 am

Nick Granato said:

Thanks BG and Tom!

Rich, The B10s has a pretty decent gape… It looks like the craft fur head chokes out the hook when it’s dry, but it’s all fluff and compresses a bit when wet.

# 29 January 2010 at 3:49 pm

joe said:

Nick thanks for showing your step by step and sharing it with others. I’m sure I’ll be trying it in the near future, looks like a winnnnner.

# 9 February 2010 at 8:08 am

flytyinfreak said:

I do so love a fly that makes the ig browns twitch with hunger! Time to hit the Boise with this bad boy.

# 14 February 2010 at 3:14 pm

jmw said:

Looks like a winner is right. Nice attention to all the triggers that make a good sculpin, especially the large head. Real sculpins in my waters dont have large heads, they have heads that border on the grotesque in proportion to body size. This guy seems to have that proportion nailed. That B10 is one heck of a good hook. Been using Mustad C52S BLN for most of my bulky streamers,but like the larger gape on the Gamakatsu. Thanks for sharing Nick.

# 21 February 2010 at 11:15 pm

MB said:

I love this fly and am going to feature it on my blog this week with links back to here for the instructions. By the way, chubby muffin, is just about the best name I have heard for a fly!

# 23 February 2010 at 1:56 am

mike williams said:

Really great sculpin Nick. I like your style! Saw your new musky bugs in the new drake, REALLY COOL!! I was wondering if the heads on the musky patterns were the same craft fur method as the muffin? I live in Pennsylvania and fish nonstop for the big man in the Susquahanna and am always searching for new patterns. Not sure if you seen it or not but Brad Bohen posted a video on you tube of a SWEET lipped musky bug, check it out. Keep doing what you do Nick!

# 9 March 2010 at 7:12 am

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