Small Big Spring Sculpin

[salvelinusfontinalis]

About a size 10. I like and seen them bigger but all I could dredge up was 4 this size.

 

[outsider]

Thanks for posting the picture. Heritage-Angler showed me a sculpin imitation a few weeks ago that matches this pretty well. There seems to be so many color variations to match the stream bottom for camouflage.

 

[just_jon]

Great pic Sal. Every sculpin I've ever come across on Big Spring has been mottled just like the picture. Cannot explain for all the world my I catch more fish on Ed Shenk's black sculpin than on a the five or so mottled representations I've tried.

 

[sandfly]

closer veiw of it;

 

[JackM]

Ah, I am reminded of the Great Donny Douple Berber Sculpin Yarn controversy of 2008....

 

[afishinado]

'07

Don's Sculpin

 

[JackM]

afishinado wrote:
'07

Don's Sculpin

I was close with my guess-- I just enjoyed re-reading that whole thread. It is always funny to compare the older discussions with the ones that occur now. I won't state my conclusions about the comparison.

 

[afishinado]

JackM wrote:

afishinado wrote:
'07

Don's Sculpin

I was close with my guess-- I just enjoyed re-reading that whole thread. It is always funny to compare the older discussions with the ones that occur now. I won't state my conclusions about the comparison.

Yeah Jack, a true classic. I miss some of the guys that posted on that thread.

 

[Nymph-O-Maniac]

Wow. I've never seen. Thanks for posting

 

[Fishidiot]

I remember that thread. It's always a blast from the past to go back and see what folks were talking about four or five years ago.

I spend a lot of time looking at sculpins. Although not a hard and fast rule, generally speaking, sculpins get darker in color as they get larger.

 

[midnightangler]

Cannot explain for all the world my I catch more fish on Ed Shenk's black sculpin than on a the five or so mottled representations I've tried.

Think about it this way: a fish has to see a sculpin before it can eat it. Sculpins are mottled because it provides camouflage and makes them less visible to predators. Fish can see black from a long distance away. A live black sculpin would probably have a very short life expectancy in a trout stream. How could it hide?

In streamer fishing matching the natural is secondary to having a fly that is visible to the fish. It doesn't matter how accurately you match a typical food source if fish don't see your imitation. Black and white will usually outfish more realistic imitations simply because fish can see them from a greater distance in typical conditions. Of course, sometimes trout will chase a black streamer only until they get close enough to see that it isn't food - that's when you switch to something more realistic.

 

[JackM]

OK, I'm going to do it: +1 to midnight angler-- what a practical approach to FFing.

 

[midnightangler]

Thanks Jack - but I can't take too much credit as this argument is really the same as the argument Charlie Meck makes for the blueberry or the patriot dry fly. Fish will often swim to eat flies tied in colors that they can see well - even if those flies don't imitate anything.

 

[JackM]

What does "imitate" mean to a trout? They are dumber than my cat and he is D-U-M-B, dumb!

 

[midnightangler]

What does "imitate" mean to a trout? They are dumber than my cat and he is D-U-M-B, dumb!

You should try throwing a big black sculpin to your cat (as long as you cut the hook point off first)

 

[JackM]

If I take a bread-tie and twist it into a coil and throw it on the floor, he thinks it is prey and will slap it around endlessly.

 

[brookiesofpa]

midnightangler wrote:

What does "imitate" mean to a trout? They are dumber than my cat and he is D-U-M-B, dumb!

You should try throwing a big black sculpin to your cat (as long as you cut the hook point off first)

Be careful as the cat will chew up the sculpin and bite yer flyline in half.....Got the fly line to prove it...

 

[ryguyfi]

I remember that post. I sure was a newbie back then. I don't fish sculpins very often and need to change that this year. Now I just need to tie some. Thanks for the pic Sal.

 

[salvelinusfontinalis]

In streamer fishing matching the natural is secondary to having a fly that is visible to the fish. It doesn't matter how accurately you match a typical food source if fish don't see your imitation. Black and white will usually outfish more realistic imitations simply because fish can see them from a greater distance in typical conditions. Of course, sometimes trout will chase a black streamer only until they get close enough to see that it isn't food - that's when you switch to something more realistic.

+1 on this also.

Or you can use a more natural looking streamer, fish it more erratic and give extra life to get the attention of fish.

 

[Maurice]

brookiesofpa wrote:

midnightangler wrote:

What does "imitate" mean to a trout? They are dumber than my cat and he is D-U-M-B, dumb!

You should try throwing a big black sculpin to your cat (as long as you cut the hook point off first)

Be careful as the cat will chew up the sculpin and bite yer flyline in half.....Got the fly line to prove it...

OMG, that happened to me.....my neighbor (a kid in culinary school) came to me knowing I flyfished and offered me his two clearwater rods and orvis reels for sale. He needed money and didn't fish much. I said I really didn't need them but let me check them out. next day when I came home they were on the porch. I put the one I didn't already have together and started casting int he yard....cat came over and I looked down and before you knew it he bit the line in half. Like 20 ft from the leader.

I did the "did anyone see that" head spin and quickly coiled up the end, bit off the leader and retied it on to the "new" end.

Reeled it up and took the whole mess back.

I later bought the whole group when he asked again....