NBK Sculpin Variant ( Happy New Year Edition! ) ;-)

[salvelinusfontinalis]

I am by no means an expert tier and I'm sure this fly can be improved but here is a sculpin I have been tying. I tested the NBK Sculpin from Orvis on the famous spring creeks here in PA. I never tested it on Falling Spring but found that it works on Big Spring. The wary brown trout of the Letort would not close the deal on this fly. IMO too much flash and unrealistic colors make it just too fake. Its a simple pattern to tie so it needed improved in my book. Here is what I came up with.


The Original Fly

Material List For Mine

#4 Daiichi Streamer Hook
1 Pseudo Eye Nickel and Chartreuse Color
.035 Lead Wire
Black Barred Rabbit Strip Olive Variant
Wooly Bugger Chenille, Medium in Sculpin Olive
Rabbit Half Skin Zonked in Olive
Olive and Black Marabou
4 strands of Sili Legs Black/Blue Flake
A few strands of Crystal Flash in Chartreuse
Olive Thread

Lay a good thread base on your hook. Tie in the Black Barred Rabbit Strip Olive Variant tale upside down onto the hook. Add a few strands of Chartreuse Crystal Flash.
Pic 1

Next Add a flank of Olive Marabou on each side of the tail
Pic2

Now ad some Black Marabou over the upside down tail. Add a drop of glue.
Pic3

Pull the tail and remove the excess skin from the tail. DO NOT CUT THE RABBIT FUR!
See exccess?
Finished Cut

Tie in the Wooly Bugger Chenille, Medium in Sculpin Olive so it will be ready to wrap but dont wrap the hook yet. Work thread to front and tie in the 1 Pseudo Eye Nickel and Chartreuse Color. Leave plenty of room for material in the front of the hook. Add .035 Lead from behind the eye to the tail material build up. Wrap the lead tight and even and when it starts to climb the hump of material at the tail, cut it off.
Pic4

Wrap the lead with plenty of thread so it wont move. Take the 4 strands of Sili Legs Black/Blue Flake and loop them. put the loop in front of the eyes and pull back. You should have 4 strand on either side.Wrap them just behind the eye and back a little bit.
Pic5

Then pull forward and wrap some thread. Then back and up and wrap some thread.
Pic6

Cut the legs down and save the scraps for beetles or something else.
Pic7

Wrap the Wooly Bugger Chenille, Medium in Sculpin Olive to just behind the eyes and tie off. Add a drop of glue.
Make sure you leave the Sili Legs in place.
Pic8

Now tie at the front of the eyes, a long piece of the Rabbit Half Skin Zonked in Olive. Wrap this around the eyes in a figure 8 pattern. Make sure the skin is behind the eyes and not over them!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Pic9

Do this a few times an d bring the material to the front of the eyes. Wrap with thread and cut it off.
Pic10

Work the material for the head back and make a good thread base. And add a drop of glue.
Pic11

Finished

Finished 2

Finished3

In Case you weren't payin attention........Happy New Year!

The fly rides hook up and is really heavy and good for getting down low and deep. I throw it to the far edges of the stream and past my target, then twitch it to where I want it. The fly is big but not real large. It was killed fish on the Letort and Big Spring this year! Hope it works well tomorrow

Satisfied Customer1

Satisfied Customer2

 

[salvelinusfontinalis]

Excuse the typos

I got a little too much material at the front of this one. Sorry I was 6 flies in and four drinks past.......the other ones look really good. :lol:

 

[atlantisboy911]

Sal ,

Nice tie, I love Sculpins for Big Spring but when I tie them that big the splash they make often spooks the target. How do you get round that, especially on the Letort ?

Also is that a 4xl hook and what kind of leader do you typically throw them on, I tie mine with cream under belly , works good!

Happy New Year.

 

[salvelinusfontinalis]

Here is the eel like model. It worked last weekend also.

Play around with it Jul. Its an easy pattern. I was drinking and being merry. I personally like a little less material. Both flies worked through. The splash factor I avoid by doing this.

Approach target low from up stream and throw your fly to the edge of the stream, downstream about 15 yards or so. The twitch out to the middle or along watercress, slowly upstream. I'm aiming for fish closer to me, in the 10 yard range and hiding under the cress or something. I'm sure the splash in the area it falls may spook a fish, but I'm pulling for the ones already hiding and don't know I am there.

As far as leader I have being using 9ft of 3x Mirage with 3 ft or so of 3x Mirage Tippet.

The hook is just a size 4 streamer hook I think. I ordered hooks in 8 and 6 along with more eyes to make smaller eel like patterns.

Put as little flash in it as you desire, but yes I get away with some on the Letort. You should have seen the bow I missed and brown I hooked.

Ill be there and Big Spring all day towmorrow and maybe not in that order. ;-)

 

[salvelinusfontinalis]

Edit: Just checked. Its a Size 4 6x long streamer hook.

 

[Fishidiot]

Sal,
Please check your PM.

 

[salvelinusfontinalis]

Here are some pics of a version, tied smaller with only back marabou, the silly legs/crystal flash. Its a bit more sparse in the head also.

I like this one.

Pic1

Pic2

 

[salvelinusfontinalis]

Here is a size 6 model. I really had to dig down deep in the fly tying stuff to find a few smaller hooks. I used jiggy eyes on this one. Your right FI. I like this one much better.

 

[atlantisboy911]

Thanks for the advice Sal , I thought that hook was a long one, 6x is defintely long, any problems with them leveraging the hook out ?

I really like the size 6 ,thecolors and proportions look great, I'm going to tie a few of those, maybe even do a mini articulation.

How did you make out on the streams?

 

[salvelinusfontinalis]

Not bad at all, not bad at all.

As far as the fish leveraging the hook, not to many problems with that so far

 

[atlantisboy911]

Very nice Sal, did it eat the Sculpin?

 

[salvelinusfontinalis]

Yes sir. I caught 3 fish on the sculpin and 1 absolute monster bow on a red midge larva tandemed with a cressbug.

 

[wgmiller]

Is that...is that a booger on your keyboard??? :-D

 

[salvelinusfontinalis]

The joys of having a two year old