Buffy Special variation SBS

[ScottP]

John Mundinger's (VFS forum blast from the past) derivation of Sandy Pittendrigh's Werewolf hopper; kind of a Rogue/Jughead/Bomber amalgamation. Both those flies utilized furled yarn abdomens, but that I prefer foam. Haven't used pronghorn hair in a while; nice stuff, forgot how well it spun.


hook - Mustad 9671 #8
thread - UTC 140/70 tan
abdomen - 2mm foam cinnamon/dubbing
binder strip - 2mm foam
underwing - Krystal Flash rootbeer
wing - deer hair
legs - medium rubber brown
head - pronghorn hair spun/clipped
hackle - ginger grizzly


Part 1

taper foam strip; optional - creates a tapered body which you may like (if not use a strip gap width)




insert needle in vise/foam on needle at the thin waist




start thread on needle




fold foam forward; 2 soft loops (so the foam isn't cut), pull tight and create first segment




pull foam back, move thread forward on needle




repeat previous steps; when finished, tie off, trim thread, brush wraps with Sally, slide off the needle

[ScottP]

Part 2


poke a hole where you want the hook, then slide body on






start thread on hook; tie on binder strip






brush a little Super Glue on binder strip, squeeze body on tight, wrap with thread and trim






tie in KF






clean, stack, measure (extend to back of foam) a clump of deer hair; trim to length, tie in

[ScottP]

Part 3


tie in legs




add a little dubbing; fold legs back, then wrap with non-tox wire to keep everything out of the way






clean a clump of pronghorn, trim tips, tie on with 2 soft loops and spin it






pack it back, then repeat 'till you've filled the shank; tie off thread and trim






flip it over; establish underside (even with foam abdomen) with razor blade

[ScottP]

Part 4

trim rest of head to shape (2x diameter of foam abdomen)




restart thread (UTC 70 this time) at base of head , tie in hackle (did it this way instead of tying hackle before the head was spun because I can never gauge the hackle length properly; also allows me to rib it with tying thread for a little more protection)




wind hackle through head, then follow with thread rib; half hitch x 2, trim hackle tip SHHAN






unwrap non-tox, trim KF and legs




Regards,
Scott

[whatfly]

Nice trick to get the tapering body, although unless you have a template, that's got to be pretty tedious to achieve on a regular basis.

Excellent tutorial as always, although that is one ugly fly (the pattern, not the tie).

[ScottP]

Actually, getting the taper was pretty easy - fold a piece of foam and make angled cuts with straightedge/X-acto with the "waist" being the fold and the wider head & foot being the open ends. It is a bit of a beast; kinda reminds me of Michael Landon in "I was a Teenage Werewolf" (probably where the name came from).

Regards,
Scott