Hambone

Catch fish, or season a pot of beans

Hambone

Several years ago I went to Phoenix on a business trip, and as I usually do, I stopped in a fly shop to "check it out."  Little did I know that I had walked into Arizona Flyfishing; the shop that was owned by the godfather of dubbing - John Rohmer.  His walls were covered top to bottom with all types of dubbing, and I left with some goodies that day.  I was introduced to the simi seal leech that day, and I also talked to him about fishing for bass with baitfish patterns; specifically one of his flies that he used superglue to shape the head.  The technique was very simple, and I tied and fished some with great success.  I never really added a lot of those to my arsenal because my fishing priorities changed a bit, but the important part of that trip was that I learned a great technique by listening to someone much more experienced than I was.  The super glue head technique came in very handy on the Hambone.

The Hambone kind of happened as an accident.  I had fully blacked out in my craft fur brush thuggery (Click HERE to learn how to make these brushes) when I realized that I probably sit down and put these things on some hooks.  I had a tail tied in, some chenille for the guts, and now I was going to attempt to wrap a CF brush around the head of the fly.  After wrapping the head in I knew that I either needed to trim a profile, or slick it back with some type of adhesive.  I used UV resin first, but I didn't love the result so I decided I'd give the old John Rohmer superglue trick a try.  I liked the result much more so I just went with it.  It kind of had that appearance of being just buggy enough, but not completely smooth around the head.  When I got it wet, I really liked that it stayed super bulky and round at the head, and everything else just slimmed down behind it.  The fly was a prototype at this point, so we headed to a local reservoir full of educated cutthroat to give it a test run.

We met up with Justin Hamblin (known for his powers in kicking and photography) to give this fly a whirl.  I just kind of threw it over to him and told him that he could fish it if he wanted.  He wanted.

Hambone eater.  Photo: Justin Hamblin

 Now, I'll be completely open and honest with you.  I love fishing conventional gear almost as much as I love throwing flies, so I was throwing some giant swimbaits and tube jigs for a lot of the day.  Justin outfished all of my expensive swimbaits pretty handily with the now-named "Hambone."  Justin went on to fish it in other waters to experience similar success, so I asked him to tell me what he thought of the fly.  Keep in mind that the fly he was using was unweighted.

I was first introduced to the Hambone on a blustery day at a well known Cutthroat stillwater fishery. Even on a fairly slow day it brought some nice Cutthroat to hand. I fished it the better part of the day and the fly looked virtually unchanged. I've also fished it when targeting Rainbow and Tiger trout and had great results on both. It has just enough weight to be fished shallow on a floating line in still or slow moving water but needs a sinking line if you are wanted to get down a little deeper or fishing moving water. The craft fur really makes the fly come to life in the water which is why I think it is so effective. Great durability, great movement, my new go-to bait fish pattern.

For a large collection of stellar images, go check out Justin's site www.onelastcastphotography.com

Fat Rainbow.  Photo: Justin Hamblin

I think this is a good pattern, but it has a lot more potential.  I will be playing with different color combos, and working with different sizes to try to match many different types of baitfish.  The best part is that it's really a simple fly, so make some time at the vise to try a bunch of them out!

~ Cheech

Video beneath the recipes.


Recipes:

Tools and accessories needed
Stonfo comb and brush tool
Zap a Gap brushable
Zap a Gap Gel

Brown/Yellow
Hook: Gamakatsu SC15 #2/0 or Gamakatsu B10S #1  
Weight: Tungsten 6mm x 5mm or Brass large cone - Gold (BUY TUNGSTEN) (BUY BRASS)
Thread: Danville 140 - Yellow (BUY HERE)
Tail: Craft Fur - Medium brown and yellow (BUY HERE)
Body: Senyo's aqua veil chenille - Peanut brittle (BUY HERE)
Head: Craft fur brush - Brown and yellow
Eyes: Hareline 3D adhesive eyes - Super pearl (BUY HERE)

Brush ingredients to make the head:
Craft Fur 1: Medium brown (BUY HERE)
Craft Fur 2: Yellow (BUY HERE)
Flash: Ice wing fiber - Gold (BUY HERE)
Wire: Uni dubbing brush wire - .009 (BUY HERE)
Wax: Loon low tack swax (BUY HERE)
Link to craft fur brush instructions HERE.

Dark Olive
Hook: Gamakatsu SC15 #2/0 or Gamakatsu B10S #1  
Weight: Tungsten 6mm x 5mm or Brass large cone - Bl. Nickel (BUY TUNGSTEN) (BUY BRASS)
Thread: Danville 140 - Olive or black (BUY HERE)
Tail: Craft Fur - Med. olive and black (BUY HERE)
Body: Senyo's aqua veil chenille - Peanut Brittle (BUY HERE)
Head: Craft fur brush - Med. olive and black
Eyes: Hareline 3D adhesive eyes - Super pearl (BUY HERE)

Brush ingredients to make the head:
Craft Fur 1: Medium olive (BUY HERE)
Craft Fur 2: Black (BUY HERE)
Flash: Ice wing fiber - Minnow back (BUY HERE)
Wire: Uni dubbing brush wire - .009 (BUY HERE)
Wax: Loon low tack swax (BUY HERE)
Link to craft fur brush instructions HERE.

Light Minnow
Hook: Gamakatsu SC15 #2/0 or Gamakatsu B10S #1  
Weight: Tungsten 6mm x 5mm or Brass large cone - Silver(BUY TUNGSTEN) (BUY BRASS)
Thread: Danville 140 - White (BUY HERE)
Tail: Craft Fur - White and medium gray dun (BUY HERE)
Body: UV polar chenille - Silver (BUY HERE)
Head: Craft fur brush - Med gray dun and white.
Eyes: Hareline 3D adhesive eyes - Super pearl (BUY HERE)

Brush ingredients to make the head:
Craft Fur 1: White (BUY HERE)
Craft Fur 2: Med gray dun (BUY HERE)
Flash: Ice wing fiber - Lavender (BUY HERE)
Wire: Uni dubbing brush wire - .009 (BUY HERE)
Wax: Loon low tack swax (BUY HERE)
Link to craft fur brush instructions HERE.

Justin's Jam (The Original Gangster)
Hook: Gamakatsu SC15 #2/0 or Gamakatsu B10S #1  
Weight: Tungsten 6mm x 5mm or Brass large cone - Gold (BUY TUNGSTEN) (BUY BRASS)
Thread: Danville 140 - White (BUY HERE)
Tail: Craft Fur - White and Tan (BUY HERE)
Body: UV polar chenille - Gold (BUY HERE)
Head: Craft fur brush - Tan and white.
Eyes: Hareline 3D adhesive eyes - Super pearl (BUY HERE)

Brush ingredients to make the head:
Craft Fur 1: White (BUY HERE)
Craft Fur 2: Tan (BUY HERE)
Flash: Ice wing fiber - Gold (BUY HERE)
Wire: Uni dubbing brush wire - .009 (BUY HERE)
Wax: Loon low tack swax (BUY HERE)
Link to craft fur brush instructions HERE.

Redfish Magic
Hook: Gamakatsu SC15 #2/0
Weight: Tungsten 6mm x 5mm or Brass large cone - Copper (BUY TUNGSTEN) (BUY BRASS)
Thread: Danville 140 - Tan (BUY HERE)
Tail: Craft Fur - Cream and medium brown (BUY HERE)
Body: UV polar chenille - Rusty copper (BUY HERE)
Head: Craft fur brush - Cream and medium brown
Eyes: Hareline 3D adhesive eyes - Super pearl (BUY HERE)

Brush ingredients to make the head:
Craft Fur 1: Cream (BUY HERE)
Craft Fur 2: Medium Brown (BUY HERE)
Flash: Ice dub - Copper (BUY HERE)
Wire: Uni dubbing brush wire - .009 (BUY HERE)
Wax: Loon low tack swax (BUY HERE)
Link to craft fur brush instructions HERE.