Head Banger sculpin variation using a single-hook

[Alberto]

I adapted the recipe of the Head Banger sculpin which is an articulated fly to a single hook variation that would still have good bulk and length to entice hungry fish. This is the pattern recipe:

Hook: 4XL, straight-eye streamer hook, this one is a size 4
Thread: Olive
Tail: Small bunch of black Krystal Flash, surrounded by black and olive marabou
Body: Black and olive marabou, overwrapped with black sparkle chenille
Body Hackle: Grizzly dyed olive hen neck
Legs: Rubber legs
Collar: Olive arctic fox then a couple turns of over-sized grizzly dyed olive hen neck
Head: Fish skull



A couple tying notes, to make the marabou tail and underbody, tie the two (one olive and one black) marabou feathers by their tips. Tie them in almost at the bend where the Krystal Flash tail is. Then wrap them together forward towards the eye of the hook. Stroke the marabou fibers back after every wrap. It's going to look messy but it will all come together in the end. Wrap the feathers to the point where you want to body to end. Secure the feathers and trim the excess, stroke all the fibers back towards the bend and wrap back towards the bend with the tying thread. You will end up with a nice marabou tail that mixes two colors and a thicker underbody. You can then tie in the hackle feather and the chenille to complete making the body.

The pattern uses olive Craft Fur for the collar, I used Arctic Fox and reverse tied it. I added the extra turns of hen hackle because the tail and body had the two colors (black and olive) but the collar was monotone. The little bit of black from the grizzly dyed olive hackle made a big difference to the final look I was going for.

Enjoy,

Alberto