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
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
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).
Another beautiful fly, thanks for taking the time to put these tutorials together. Pronghorn hair is my favorite for spinning. I wish all the tips were not broken on it. I use it for poppers and Goddard Caddis.
