Solitude's Wounded Sculpin is a pretty simple pattern and a little baby sibling to larger streamers like the Zonker. Though sculpin come in a variety of sizes big and small in streams throughout the US, it stands to reason that trout get the opportunity to see and eat more small ones that big ones in most places. The Wounded Sculpin is often overshadowed by it's bigger sexier cousins like the Sheila Sculpin, Sculpzilla, Woolhead Sculpin and the like, but this thing fishes so consistently from the Skagit to the Methow to hunting for that one 14" cutty in your favorite little stream within a sea of 6 inchers.
The Wounded Sculpin has made my top 5 list of summer streamers for the past several years. It's deadly as a trailer fly off a bigger pattern and a fine sea run cutthroat fly throughout the left coast as well. It's a fairly natural looking no frills little fly in the water, with just enough pizzazz from the Ice Dub and holographic flashabou to pique the interest of trout and char from afar. Tie them in a variety of colors to match the sculpins darting in and around the riverbed rocks. Natural, olive brown and black are my favorite colors to tie.
Wounded Sculpin Recipe:
Hook: #8-10 Tiemco 5262
Cone Head: Black nickel small cone
Thread: Burnt Orange 70 denier Ultra Thread
Tail/Wing: Pine Squirrel Zonker strip
Rib: Small copper wire
Body: Orange Ice Dub
Flash: Red holographic flashabou
Collar: 1-2 turns of Pine Squirrel Zonker
Confluence Beer Pairing: I know we did a Kulshan beer last month for the FOTM, but honestly, they just keep upping the ante and seem to be eerily dialed in to what we like. While Kulshan's Sunnyland has for several years been my top pick in the way of on-the-water refreshments, their new Greenwood Summer Ale (available in cans or to fill your empty growler) is pretty darn amazing.