Fly Tying: WMD Sculpin Pattern

This session of fly-tying is brought to you by the guys at Mossy’s Fly Shop, where they pride themselves on not only premiere fly fishing, rods, reels, lines, and other accessories but also providing high-quality fly-tying materials and teaching fly-tying techniques to both novice and experienced fly anglers. Whether you’re new to fly fishing or think you could have taught Brad Pitt how to fly fish, Mossy’s Fly Shop has got everything you need.

Mossy’s Fly Shop – (907) 770-2666 | mbrown@mossysflyshop.com | www.mossysflyshop.com

We’ve said it before, and we’ll say it again: big trout like sculpins, and we like to tie them. During his many exploits as a guide in Alaska, Jerry French developed a fundamental understanding of big trout and the development of an arsenal of flies to catch them. The WMD Sculpin is one such fly.

The WMD Sculpin is simple to tie and has a remarkably effective pattern for BRTs or Big Rainbow Trout. Try tying in various natural colors, like olive, brown, black, and tan, to match a variety of local sculpin species. Give this tie a try. It won’t disappoint.

Tied By: Brian Davenport, Mossy’s Fly Shop

Photos By: Mike Brown, Mossy’s Fly Shop

Ingredients:

Shank: Aqua Flies 27mm Return Eye
Stinger Loop: Power Pro 30lb
Dumbbell Eyes: Med Brass Gold
Tail: Hareline Two Tone Rabbit Blk/Olv
Rear Flank: MFC Ostrich White Black Barred
Flank Flash: Red Ice Dub
Body: Composite Loop w/ UV Lt. Olive Ice Dub, Copper Ice Dub, Rainbow Scud Dub, Nasty Rusty Angel Hair, Pearl Angel Hair
Rubber Legs: Grizzly Flutter Legs Rootbeer
Mohawk: Hareline Two Tone Rabbit Blk/Olv
Hook: Stinger Style Sz 6 to Sz 2
Thread: Veevus V140 Olive

Step 1. Start your thread and tie in your stinger loop. Adjust the loop to make the overall length of the fly approximately 3”

Step 2. Tie in your dumbbell eyes to the bottom side of the shank approximately 1-1/2 hook eye widths back of the shank eye.

Step 3. Tie in your rabbit strip, and make the tail the same length as the stinger loop. Do not trim off the rabbit, fold it back out of the way.

Step 4. Using a small clump of ostrich, tie in on each side of the shank. You want the flank feathers to extend back approximately half the length of the tail.

Step 5. Using a small clump of red ice dub, tie in on each side. The dubbing should extend back approximately ½ the length of the ostrich.

Step 6. Using your composite loop ruler, build your composite loop. Place the material in your dubbing loop, spin it, and pick/brush it out.

Step 7. Wrap your composite loop forward to the back of the eyes. Then, split the top down the middle and fold the material over each side. This will fill in the body more and give the mohawk a flat surface to lay on.

Step 8. Using 4 rubber legs, tie in and position the 4 legs on each side of the shank. Trim the legs to size approximately ½ the body length. These legs will create pectoral fins.