Not only does the appearance of the Perfect Fly “Brown Sculpin” closely resemble the sculpin, but its movements and and its behavior also closely resemble that of the actual sculpin. After several tests, we decided to use the eyes but not weight the fly. If the fly had added weight it would not work nearly as well as it does without weight in shallow water. Without the weight, the fly can be fished in very shallow water such as during low light conditions where the trout may be very shallow or when they are hidden in shallow water under overhanging limbs or grass.
However Sculpins stay right on the bottom, usually hidden down between the rocks on the stream’s bottom. They do move around on the bottom when they are feeding and that is when they are most likely to be eaten by a trout and as most of you know, deer hair adds buoyancy to the fly. The head is spun deer hair and the beginning of the body is deer hair. Part of the body and the tail consist of feathers that look and move like the real thing. For that reason, you may want to add weight to get the fly deeper.
When you add weight 4 to 5 inches above the fly, it helps increase the wiggle or natural swimming motion of the fly. In the current, It looks and acts like a real sculpin. The weight added close to the fly does not appear to affect the trout taking the fly and it keeps the fly only an inch or two above the bottom. By not adding weight to the fly, it gives you the option of adjusting the weight to match the water conditions, or by using no weight for those shallow water conditions.
Our “Perfect Fly” sculpin fly has been tested in tanks, swimming pools and of course, many trout streams from the east to the west coast in order to develop the natural action of a sculpin. We believe this is the best sculpin imitation there is for clear water trout streams. If you try it, we believe that you will be successful and like it.
