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RIO's Short Shank Redemption

Streamer · Trout · Smallmouth Bass · Advanced · 1 version

Tyer Recipe

  • Hook Gamakatsu Finesse Wide Gap (front) + Daiichi 2560 (rear), Flymen micro tail shank, #2 front, #6 rear
  • Thread White (Veevus 100), then mono Veevus GSP 100 / .004 mono

Materials

  • Flymen micro spine tail shank (1)
  • Glass beads (8/0, articulation)
  • Flashabou lateral scale Pearl flashabou (sides)
  • Hen saddle feathers Gray mottled hen saddle feathers (several)
  • Ice Dub UV pink ice dub (belly)
  • Ice Dub UV Lavender (back)
  • Laser Dub White laser dub (body base)
  • Monofilament (25 lb (articulation link))
  • Zap-A-Gap (as needed)

How to tie it

  1. Prep the body: on the bench, stack equal clumps of white Laser Dub (with a taper), then blend UV pink Ice Dub into the belly clumps and UV lavender into the back clumps so the colors are set before tying.
  2. REAR SHANK: lay a thread base on the Flymen micro tail shank. Marry two matched gray-mottled hen feathers back-to-back and tie them in as a short tail rudder about half an inch long; trim the stems.
  3. Tie a strand of pearl lateral-scale Flashabou down each side of the tail feather; trim just past the feather.
  4. Tie in a webby gray hen feather by a trimmed triangle tip and wrap it forward as a soft collar to cover the front gap; tie off, whip finish and secure with Zap-A-Gap.
  5. Link the rear shank to the back hook with a short piece of 25 lb mono (no bead), leaving a slight bend, and lash it to a Daiichi 2560 #6; glue.
  6. On the rear hook, switch to.004 mono thread, tie in lateral scale down the sides, then tie in the prepped Ice/Laser Dub bunches (pink on the bottom, lavender on top) with loose gathering wraps and cinch; repeat forward to build a chunky shad body.
  7. Attach the rear assembly to the Gamakatsu Finesse Wide Gap #2 front hook with mono/beads for articulation; build the front body the same way with prepped dubbing bunches, adding lateral scale and a hen collar.
  8. Whip finish, then trim the whole body to a chunky baby-shad profile (deep belly, pinched tail area) and comb it out.

Tying videos

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