This fly is ideal for largemouth yellows but works well for bass and trophy trout. Fish it on a slow sink poly leader/floating line setup, largely dependent on the situation. Fast or slow retrieve, short or long, can be fished near or on structure as the inverted ride of the fly helps against snagging.
Materials List:
Hook: Ahrex NS172 Salt Gammarus
Eyes: Ufudu Dumbbell 5mm
Under Tail: 1inch Estaz Chenille (Ice Wing would work too)
Body1: Peacock Ice Dub
Body2: Purple Ice Dub
Zonker: Big Game/Magnum Zonker
Head: Fettuccine
Belly: Fulling Mill Sculpin Stacker or Senyo’s Laser dub
The Ahrex NS172 is an ideal hook for this pattern due to its freakishly large gape. It is important to note proportions on this hook as we are limited on tying real estate.
Attach the dumbbell onto of the shank, 1.5 hook eye spaces away from the hook eye. This is important for the finish of the fly.
Take your tying thread rearward to just before the bend, Cut away a clump of the Estaz Chenille material away from the chord,(while trying to use the entire 1in of the material) neaten and card as best as you can and tie in the material, lay the butts flush against the eyes as we want to keep a uniform base.
Tie in a “anti-tail wrap guard”. Due to our limited shank real estate and the fact that we won’t be securing the Zonker at the rear onto the shank as would be on a regular MSP, we need the guard to prevent tail wrap as a large chunk of the Zonker will be hanging off the shank/hook.
Split thread your peacock ice dub first and wrap forward leaving about 2-3mm behind the eyes. Then repeat this with the purple to just behind the eyes.
Now measure your zonker to have the tip overlap the tie in point by a bit (tie in point is just behind the eyes) we overshoot should a bit as tying in here allows the zonker to prop up and give us a bit of a bump and a phantom wing.
Cut 1.5inch lengths of Fettuccine, we will use 10 pcs for the first stack.
Offer the 10 fettuccine pcs to the hook, cover with two loose wraps. Now align, pinch the sides so we don’t rotate the foam around the shank but secure in on the top half of the shank. Pressing slightly down on the middle/centre of the foam clump with help spread it evenly.
Grab a clump of your predator dub, this must be sparse as we want to avoid bulk on the belly. Thin out and stack to the underside by folding in in half over the thread and securing it in place.
Now for our second stack of fettuccine, I use 9 pcs (why one less than the first stack?…. I don’t know, it just works) secure the second stack and repeat the for the belly as in the previous step with the predator dub.
Whip finish and cut away thread…
Now to trim the foam head.
Cut at and upward angle, less is more… careful or you render the entire fly useless. Cut a bit at a time and shape the head.
Once trimmed to shape we will now comb and thin out the belly further as per below step.
Once complete you can now go chuck this at some largies.
A variation in colour and tied on a #2 B10S for comparison on hook point clearance
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