The skullet

What do Hulk Hogan, Benjamin Franklin, William Shakespeare and David Crosby all have in common?  They all rocked a skullet at some point in their lives.  With the rate that my hair is receding I could sport a mean skullet myself pretty soon, perhaps elevating my awesomeness to the caliber of those skullet-bearers before me!  Blake’s latest pattern pays tribute to those brave men before us via fish skull and zonker strip.  Use this fly whenever you want to catch the most baddest ass fish in the pond/river/lake you’re fishing.

Materials:

• Hook to match the size of baitfish you are trying to imitate
• Fish skull
• Mono
• Bucktail
• Rabbit zonker
• Trilobal fiber
• EP Fox brush
• Krystal flash

1. Put the fish skull over the hook eye to make sure that it will fit. Start the thread and put down a base. I like to stop the base where the fish skull will end. It acts as a reference point so I don’t overcrowd the eye.

2. Tie in a mono loop at the bend of the hook. This helps to support the zonker so that it doesn’t foul as much.

3. Tie in some bucktail on the under side of the hook. This fills in a bit of the body and also gives a tad bit more support for the zonker.

4. Tie in the zonker. Pull the tag in back and out of the way for the next steps.

5. Tie in the trilobal wrap and palmer.

6. Tie in the EP brush and palmer a few wraps. This material is what is going to give you the profile. The more wraps you do, the bigger the profile. I was going for the finger mullet look, so I went with three. Pick out the fibers after wrapping.

Unpicked:

Picked:

7. Separate the brush fibers on the top of the fly, bring over the zonker, tie in, clip excess, and tidy up behind the eye.

8. Tie in red krystal flash on the bottom for gills. Whip finish.

9. Coat the head with glue and push on the skull. I normally like to make a few wraps between the skull and the eye with thread, but I didn’t have room here. The glue will hold it on just fine though.

10. Add the eyes that come with the skulls using some glue and the fly is ready to go. I like to run these flies under hot water and let them dry by hanging them from the hook eyes. It sets them in a nice, bait fish shape. Enjoy!

Before bath:

 

Completed fly after bath and dry: