Pine squirrel strip Natural pine squirrel strip (dubbing loop)
Deer hair (head) Orange deer hair (clump the diameter of a pencil)
Head cement Thin
How to tie it
On a size 1 Ahrex HR410, start Nano Silk 12/0 behind the return eye and build a base. Fold a length of.025 lead wire over a bodkin, straddle it onto the shank from beneath and bind it parallel to the shank, then flatten it with smooth pliers and taper the ends. Flattening rather than leaving the wire round is what gives a sculpin its broad, bottom-hugging profile.
Whip finish, cement the lead wraps and switch to 18/0. Spin a split-thread loop of reddish brown Ice Dub, brush it out, and wrap it edge to edge over the rear of the body, then a second loop of olive Ice Dub over the front. Brushing before every wrap is the theme of this fly. Trapped fibres never come back out.
Prepare a natural rabbit strip about twice the length of the dubbed body, trimming the hide flush with the fur and tapering it (fur swept to one side before the cut). Secure the tip in front of the dubbing, then pull the strip firmly over the back, part the fur down to the hide and take a dozen wraps around the hide and bare hook. Whip finish and cement. That pin-down stops the strip fouling on the cast.
Set two cree hackle tips level with the end of the hide, one on each side of the rabbit wing, fold the remaining stems over and lock them, then add sparse blue Ice Dub Shimmer Fringe on top. The cree tips are what give the wing its mottled sculpin barring.
Build the front in successive dubbing loops, brushing and sweeping back each time: dark gray fox (guard hairs removed) in front of the wing, then a natural rabbit fur collar wrapped edge to edge. Add the yellow-with-orange-tips rabbit throat from underneath, tips level with the collar.
Corral everything with a temporary wrap of lead wire, then set two olive grizzly marabou tips as gills, one on each side tight to the collar with tips even with the rabbit collar. Wrap the wire back over the gills too. Keeping the soft materials out of the way is the only way to get a clean head.
Spin a pine squirrel strip in split thread (thread tension is the key to this step), brush it out and wrap it edge to edge along the taper, then spin a pencil-diameter clump of orange deer hair on the last section of shank with a soft loop and cinch wraps, packing it back with a hair packer. Whip finish, cement, and trim the deer hair to an egg shape.