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Slumpbuster
Slumpbuster, Rust
Tying Instructions
1. Use the vise to remove the barb from the hook. Debarbing helps the fish and the angler with hook removal without excess tissue damage.
2. Slide a large conehead onto the hook and set the hook within the vise with the point of the hook extending past the jaws.
3. Attach the thread behind the conehead and lay a thread foundation to the bend of the hook and back again to the starting point behind the conehead.
4. Place a 5 inch section of copper wire, Brassie size, to the top of the hook shank just behind the conehead and secure with thread wraps. Then, secure a 5 inch section of Flat Diamond Braid to the top of the hook shank at the same location with additional thread wraps.
5. Lay both the wire and diamond braid on the top of the hook shank and secure with thread wraps to the bend of the hook.
6. Wrap the thread back to the conehead and prepare to wrap the diamond braid with overlapping wraps forward.
7. Wrap the braid evenly.
8. Wrap the braid up the the conehead and secure with thread wraps. Secure the end of a Pine Squirrel Zonker strip by the tip of the hide just behind the conehead with tight thread wraps.
9. Lay the strip on the top of the hook shank and secure the strip with the ribbing wire. I like to use a bobkin to split the fur for a clear pathway to wrap the wire. Make a tight wrap.
10. Applying the second wrap of the ribbing wire.
11. Applying the fifth wrap of the ribbing wire.
12. The sixth wrap of the ribbing is over the front of the hide strip, with two more wraps of the ribbing and securing the ribbing with thread wraps behind the conehead.
13. With the wing secure, I am clipping off the excess strip to get the length of the wing that I desire, about 2/3 the hook shank length. This pattern can imitate a baitfish with a short wing or a leech with a longer wing.
14. Utilizing the tag end of the hide strip that was just clipped, attach the end of the hide to just behind the conehead. Secure with thread wraps.
15. Apply some Zap a Gap to the inside of the conehead. This method will insure a tight seal between the collar and the conehead.
16. Start to wrap the collar with 1-2 flat wraps up to the conehead. Preen the fur back as to not trap any hair.
17. This photo shows the collar with two wraps up the the edge of the conehead.
18. Tuck two more wraps into the conehead with the fur preened back. The hide is filling the conehead void and the adehesive that was applied earlier is locking everything into place.
19. Trim off the excess strip close to the edge of the conehead.
20. John Barr has plenty of faith in his zap-a gap and just trims off the thread. I don’t…. I will place a whip finish and then trim off the thread.
21. Apply some pressure squeezing the conehead back onto the collar.
22. Preen the fur with a dubbing brush to get all of the hair flowing back from the conehead.
23. The Finished Slumpbuster
| Materials
to Order Material, click the link |
|
|---|---|
| Hook | Tiemco 5263 #4-10 |
| Thread | Uni 6/0 Rusty Brown |
| Head | Large Brass Conehead, Copper |
| Ribbing | Copper Wire, Medium |
| Body | Orange Flat Diamond Braid |
| Wing | Four Pine Squirrel Strip, Rust |
| Collar | Pine Squirrel Strip, Rust |
Slumpbuster
The Slumpbuster goes back to 2000 when Joe Schmuecker of Wapsi sent John Barr zonker-cut Pine Squirrel strips dyed in a variety of colors. It is based upon Dan Byford’s Zonker pattern that uses a rabbit zonker strip for the wing. The shorter, mottled pine squirrel strips allow for a smaller streamer pattern that can be tied down to a size 10.
Pine Squirrel also has a thinner hide which allowed the material to be wrapped as a collar. Another new material was the Flat Diamond Braid that could be wrapped over the hook shank for a body rather than utilizing mylar tubing as in the zonker. John would use Wapsi Sparkle Braid which is the same material as Flat Diamond Braid. The zonker wing could be lashed down along the length of the hook shank with a wire ribbing similar to a Matuka pattern.
Realistic Profile for a baitfish
The finished pattern results in a realistic baitfish profile with just enough flash to capture some attention. The Pine Squirrel absorbs water and stays wet so that no sink tip is necessary. The conehead provides a jigging motion to the pattern and the hair has much less bulk than a standard zonker allowing the pattern to slice through the water column. You might see some tiers use leadwire wraps behind the conehead for additional weight.
John Barr does not do this as he wants the conehead to provide enough room to tuck in the collar hide so that the collar fur protrudes from the edge of the conehead without a gap. He uses Zap a Gap to adhere the conehead to the collar. John also did not want to overweight this pattern since he often fishes the upper zone of the water column and the pattern retains a more balanced profile to the trout.
Presentation
John fishes all Slumpbusters, singly or in fly combinations, on floating lines and exclusively with a 9ft 0X leaders, cutting off the 0X tippet of the leader and replacing it with fluorocarbon. John prefers to use the pattern with a floating line since it will give him many more presentation options on the stream. The long leader allows the Slumpbuster to quickly sink. His favorite presentation is to cast slightly upstream and throw an upstream mend while the fly sinks. Let the fly drift with an occasional twitch and swing through the drift until the line comes tight, then give a couple of hard strips. This will often induce a strike.
Keep the line fairly straight through the drift so as to not miss takes. John has also fished the Slumpbuster cast tight to the banks, but it is fairly heavy and must be stripped briskly to avoid hanging–up.
John’s favorite color, if he had to choose but one, would be the Rust. This color is different to the fish’s eye or simulates a juicy crayfish. If fishing tandem Slumpbusters he will fish the Natural in a size 4, trailed by an Olive or Rust in a size 6 or 8.
Variations
Slumpbuster, Natural
| Hook | Tiemco 5263 #4-10 |
| Thread | Uni 6/0 Black |
| Head | Large Tungsten Cone, Gold |
| Ribbing | Gold Wire, Medium |
| Body | Root Beer Flat Diamond Braid |
| Wing | Four Pine Squirrel Strip, Natural |
| Collar | Pine Squirrel Strip, Natural |
Slumpbuster, Olive
| Hook | Tiemco 5263 #4-10 |
| Thread | Uni 6/0 Olive |
| Head | Large Tungsten Cone, Gold |
| Ribbing | Chartreuse Wire, Brassie |
| Body | Chartreuse Flat Diamond Braid |
| Wing | Four Pine |
| Collar | Pine Squirrel Strip, Olive |
Slumpbuster, Red & Orange
| Hook | Tiemco 5263 #4-10 |
| Thread | Uni 6/0 Rusty Brown |
| Head | Large Brass Conehead, Copper |
| Ribbing | Copper Wire, Medium |
| Body | Orange Flat Diamond Braid |
| Wing | Four Pine Squirrel Strip, Crawdad Orange |
| Collar | Pine Squirrel Strip, Red Leech |