| |
| The Mushmouth
(as pictured)
Hook: Owner AKI 2/0 or other
short shank hook
Thread: clear mono, fine
Tail: white Super Hair, tapered surrounded
by gold Flashabou, saturated w/ Softex or Soft Body (entire hook shank
to past the bend)
Belly: pearl Wing ‘N Flash (tied reverse-style)
Back: peacock Long Brite (tied reverse style)
- thread wraps and back material should have liberal dose of Softex or
Soft Body
Eyes: gold prismatic (Witchcraft # 35), size
3.5EY, epoxied |
|
Step 1
Using clear monofilament thread and a #4 – 2/0 short shank hook,
tie in a tail of white Super Hair mid-shank. Make sure to taper the ends
of the Super Hair by pulling the center strands out to longer lengths
before tying it in. Take one or two turns of thread under the tail to
cock it up at a slight angle.
|
Step 2
Cut off six full-length strands of Flashabou and fold it in half and cut
it so you have 12 strands of half-length Flashabou. Stagger the ends of
the flash and fold it in half. With your thread just in front of the Super
Hair tie-in point, hook the loop of Flashabou (formed by folding the flash
in half) under the hook eye and tie down with the clear thread. This should
put equal amounts of flash of varying lengths on either side of the Super
Hair tail.
|
Step 3
Prepare 2 bunches of Wing ‘N Flash, Angel Hair or Lite (Long)
Brite for the body, a light color for the belly and a darker color for
the back. The two bunches should be prepared so that they are longer
than the length of the tail plus about ¾” – 11/4”.
The bunches should be pre-tapered so that the thickest portion of the
bunch is at the tie-in point (just in front of the Super Hair) and getting
progressively thinner towards the tail. The easiest method to achieve
this taper is to PULL (not cut) the material from the hank and then
deal with the material in your fingers. Take any excess material and
pull it from the bunch. Realign this material in the area of the tie-in
point. Repeat until the necessary taper is acquired. Additional material
may be need to gain the proper thickness and taper. Conversely, you
may initially select too much material and need to remove some. Practice
is key. Your first Mushmouths will probably look horrible, but fish
well. Most people find it much easier to produce a finished-looking
fly after six or eight attempts.
It is critical that you prepare your Wing ‘N Flash bunches ahead
of time as you want to tie them in while the Softex or Soft Body glue
is still wet.
Apply a liberal dose of Softex or Soft Body one-part adhesive to the
Super Hair / Flashabou tail along the entire shank and PAST THE BEND.
I find it easiest to use apply the glue with a bodkin.
|
Step 4
Tie in the light color bunch of Wing ‘N Flash underneath the shank
just in front of the tail (about 1/3 of the way back from the hook eye)
while the glue is still wet. Take a moment to take the fly out of the
vise to equally distribute the bunch of Wing ‘N Flash on either
side of the hook bend. It is far easier to do this now, before the glue
has set, than later. DO NOT TRIM the butt ends of the bunch.
|
Step 5
Tie in the darker color bunch of Long Brite on top of the shank at the
same spot as the bottom bunch (about 1/3 of the way back from the hook
eye) while the glue is still wet. DO NOT TRIM the butt ends of the bunch.
|
Step 6
Advance the thread tight to the hook eye, taking care that the dark
color stays on top and the light color stays on the bottom. Comb through
the bunches (both behind and forward of the hook eye) with a bodkin
to remove any snarls that may have formed when pre-tapering the bunches.
|
Step 7
Apply an additional liberal coat of Softex or Soft Body around the exposed
thread wraps and along the back PAST THE BEND. Apply a small amount
of glue along the belly fibers.
|
Step 8
Fold back the remaining Wing ‘N Flash / Lite Brite bunches and
tie down. I typically reverse and tie down the dark color first to prevent
any spillover of the dark color to the belly. Whip finish. Squeeze and
stroke the fly until the desired shape is acquired. Clear the eye area
of any random filaments of flash as they will make the epoxy application
messy and difficult.
|
Step 9
Apply eyes, cover with 5-minute epoxy and let dry on a rotating wheel.
You’ll find it easier to apply the epoxy if you let the Softex
dry before application. I can typically apply epoxy to six size 2/0
Mushmouths when moving quickly. Larger flies and eye sizes will only
let you do two to four flies per epoxy mixing. Smaller flies and eye
sizes will let you do more per mixing.
I do not use 30-minute epoxy for this task as it is less viscous than
5-minute and tends to bleed into the belly fibers thereby reducing the
gap.
|
Step 10
SLAY GIANT FISH!!!
|
