Easy sculpin- by Kevin Hospodar

featured, Fly Patterns, Step-by-Step Tutorials — By Kevin Hospodar on July 8, 2011 9:34 am

Hook- 60degree streamer
brass eyes
tail- rabbit strip
body- UV polar chenille
throat- schlappen
head- deer hair

While this can be effectively tied and fished on a straight eye streamer hook, I like the level body action the 60* hook gives. Mount your hook and start your thread. Choose an approriate set of eyes for your application

Figure 8 the eyes and coat with some zap-a-gap to lock them in place

Choose a rabbit strip for the tail. I like a thicker cut strip, Hareline makes a nice 2-tone strip. DO NOT use crosscut, you want the hairs to run the direction of the hide. I like to measure out the lenght of the hook shank for my strip.

Mark a spot 1/3 or ¼ down the strip (I used a marker so you can see). This is where you’ll make a small hole for mounting the tail

Now here is the only tricky part of the fly. You need to remove the hook from the vise and stick the hook point through the hole you just made in the rabbit strip. Make sure the hookgoes through the hide side of the strip first. Then remount your hook

Secure your rabbit strip, making sure the hide stays flat facing down

Cut a section of UV polar chenille 2.5x or 3x the length of the hook shank. I’m a big fan of UV materials and this Polar chenille has nice long fibers that provide great profile without a lot of bulk.