| Peanut Mushy Steps (Printable Version) | |||||||||
|
Hook: 1/0 Tiemco 600SP or other short shank hook Thread: clear mono, fine Tail: pre-tapered white or polar bear Super Hair and pearl Wing 'N Flash or Angel Hair Belly / Back: pre-tapered, Poly Bear by Larva Lace Eyes: prismatic "fly eyes" with a tie-in tab - 1/4" or size 3.5EY prismatic lure eye covered with 5-minute epoxy Note: Softex or Soft Body glue must be applied to the tail and back/belly areas to prevent the fly from fouling during the cast. The Peanut Mushy is another Mushmouth variation from Captain Jaime Boyle. Large schools of surface-feeding false albacore were frustrating numerous anglers on a hot August day. The fish were feeding on juvenile menhaden (peanut bunker) and ignored all conventional albie patterns and techniques. Jaime figured out that these fish were suckers for a small Peanut Mushy on a floating or intermediate line. Jaime had his clients cast into the melee to just let it sit there like a worm on a bobber. Since that time, I have seen many occasions when a "floated" bunker fly was the only sure solution for taking finicky tunas. This pattern travels well as it is an excellent imitation of small herring, pilchards and shad, as well as the aforementioned baby bunker. I always tie this pattern on a premium hook so it can perform double-duty as both an albie / bonito / bass fly and still be strong enough to tough it out during a prolonged battle with a schoolie tuna. Some anglers may argue that this pattern is too stiff to be effective due to the Super Hair / Softex spine and the short overall length of the pattern. It's not - a couple hundred little fishys told me so. |
|||||||||
| Step 1 | |||||||||
 |
|||||||||
|
1) Attach clear monofilament thread to a 1/0 - 3/0 hook, mid-shank. |
|||||||||
| Step 2 | |||||||||
 |
|||||||||
|
2) 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 3 | |||||||||
 |
|||||||||
|
3) PULL out a bundle of pearl Wing 'N Flash or Angel Hair. 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 flash (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 4 | |||||||||
 |
|||||||||
|
4) Prepare 2
bunches of Poly Bear 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 2" - 3".
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 the center
strands out to form a staggered appearance. It
is critical that you prepare your Poly Bear 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 / flash tail along the entire shank and PAST THE BEND. I find it easiest to apply the glue with a bodkin. |
|||||||||
| Step 5 | |||||||||
 |
|||||||||
|
5) Tie in the light color bunch of the Poly Bear 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 Poly Bear 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 off the butt ends of the bunch. |
|||||||||
| Step 6 | |||||||||
 |
|||||||||
|
6) Tie in the darker color bunch of Poly Bear blend 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. Again, DO NOT TRIM the butt ends of the bunch. |
|||||||||
| Step 7 | |||||||||
 |
|||||||||
|
7) Advance the thread forward, 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 blending the bunches. |
|||||||||
| Step 8 | |||||||||
 |
|||||||||
|
8) 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. Due to the wide profile of this fly, some Softex must be applied to both the back and belly fibers past the bend by poking your glue-covered needle into the fibers. |
|||||||||
| Step 9 | |||||||||
 |
|||||||||
|
9) Fold back the remaining Poly Bear 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. Clear the eye area of any random material filaments. |
|||||||||
| Step 10 | |||||||||
|
|||||||||
| 10) Tie in a pair of 1/4" fly eyes with the mono thread. Whip finish and apply head cement. Stroke a clean bodkin through the Poly Bear fibers to take out any remaining snarls. | |||||||||
| Step 11 | |||||||||
|
|||||||||
| 11) Trim the fly to shape with long-bladed scissors so that the fibers closest to the top and bottom of the fly are the shortest. The longest fibers will be in the center, nearest to the Super Hair / Softex spine. | |||||||||
| Step 12 | |||||||||
|
|||||||||
| 12) DONE! | |||||||||
|
|
|||||||||
| HOME | Fly Tying | Fly Tying Classes | Slide Show Presentations | Scheduled Appearances | Bio | Stock Photography | Boston Harbor Shore Guiding | E-MAIL LIST | Contact Info |