Alaska Trout Flies Session 4: How To Tie The Fish Skull Sculpin

As my preparation for a another season in Alaska comes to an end, I have one more trout fly to share, the fish skull sculpin. Most sculpin species are found in saltwater, but the freshwater sculpins can be found in river systems searching the bottoms for whatever they can find to eat. For the most part, a sculpin is consider a bait for larger game fish such as trout and stripped bass.

My favorite sculpin patterns are large and heavy. Their bulk and weight will not fair kindly to beginner fly casters. It is good to have a some sculpin patterns in your box when you come to Alaska looking for trout because they can be effective. I use an olive color and a tan color. In dirty water I will use the tan ones and in the clearer water, I use the olive ones. So let us get tying.

Materials list: 1. Danville's thread 120 in olive or tan
                     2. Gamakatsu BS10 stinger hook, size 2
                     3. Fish skull articulated shank 35mm
                     4. Barred zonker cut rabbit strip olive or tan
                     5. Cross cut rabbit in olive or tan
                     6. Grizzly mini marabou olive or tan
                     7. Barred crazy legs in olive
                     8. Enrico Puglisi streamer brush with micro legs in olive or tan.
                     9. Fish skull sculpin helmut in olive or brown size large
                    10. Super glue or head cement

1. Start thread and wrap a piece of barred olive rabbit strip facing down, leave about a 1/4 inch from the eye of the hook. Stop at the the hook bend and tie in a piece of Krystal Flash so that it lays down on both sides.

2. Tie in a piece of cross cut olive rabbit strip and bring the thread to the front leaving about a 1/4 of an inch from the eye of the hook. Then add super glue and wrap the the cross cut to the front still leaving room from the eye of the hook, secure in place with a dozen wraps or so.

3. Turn the fly over, or if you have a rotating vise, rotate, tie in two grizzly mini marabou feathers on the top, secure. Then tie in two barred crazy legs and pull them towards the back and secure with lots of wraps. Trim the legs to about the length of the mini marabou feathers.

4. Insert the articulated shank into the eye of the hook and wrap the thread to close the gap in the shank and make 20 or more wraps to cover the exposed gap. Tie in a piece of cross cut rabbit and then bring the thread to the front leaving about a 1/4 to 1/2 inch.

5. Just like on the tail section of the fly, tie two grizzly mini marabou fathers on the top and then tie in two barred crazy legs, pull them towards the back  and secure with a dozen thread wraps. Trim the legs to about the length of articulated shank.

6. Tie in a piece of  Enrico Puglisi streamer brush with micro legs and wrap the streamer brush several times pulling the fibers out and towards the hook so that in builds a good head of the fly, secure with half a dozen thread wraps, and whip finish.

     

7. Add super glue and the fish skull sculpin helmut.