Stories

Essentially a standard beadhead olive woolly bugger with some Krystal Flash mixed with the tail, one strand of Krystal Flash counter-wrapped over the chenille, and most important, the trademark; a red "neck" tied with red floss behind the bead head (to simulate the reddish color of the gills in a small baitfish; -or just to make it look good).

After tying in the marabou tail, tie in the tip of the hackle feather, one strand of Krystal flash and the chenille at the tie-in point of the tail. Wrap the chenille, reverse wrap the krystal flash and palmer the hackle and tie off about 1/8" behind the bead head. Tie in the floss behind the bead, finish tying off the thread, then wrap a 1/16" - 1/8" band of floss between the hackle and the bead head (a Whip-finishing tool is handy).

Consider using non-water based head cement over the floss to preserve the color when wet and to prevent unraveling.

For a size 6 or 8 hook, use a 5/32" bead, and two layers of chenille over the body. (Use only a couple of wraps of lead wire if you want to cast with a 5wt or lighter rod)

Variations? -none -the "Virginia Redneck" is unique!

Detailed tying instructions for the "Virginia "Redneck":

Take the hook and crimp the barb down.
Put the bead on the hook with the smaller opening towards the hook eye.
Fasten the hook with the bead in the wise.
Make 5-7 wraps of "lead" wire starting in the middle of the hook shank. Cut the wire ends close to the hook shank. Use a pair of tweezers to fold the cut tag ends of the wire against the hook shank. (Preferably use lead-free weighted wire and use more wraps for deeper water or faster currents) Use your thumb nail to push the wrapped lead wire up against the bead which should now be against the hook eye. The lead wire should slide a bit inside the larger flared opening of the bead.
Start wrapping the thread around the hook shank at the end of the wire wraps. Wrap over the wire to the bead head, then back to the end of the hook shank.
Cut about 2 inches of the crystal flash and tie it in at the bend of the hook. Fold both ends of the crystal flash backwards in a "V" shape and wrap over the tie in point to secure.
Take the black marabou, stroke it back and pinch it between your thump and index finger such that you have a section bout the length of the hook. Lay this over the tie in point at the end of the hook shank and tie in with about 3 - 4 wraps of thread. Trim off the marabou section in front of the tie in point and secure the marabou tail with a few more wraps. Use a little extra tension on the wraps to keep the tail from turning.
Take another 4 - 5 inch section of crystal flash and tie in at such that about 1 inch is laying back over the top of the marabou tail. Fold the remaining section back to be tied in later.
Grab the tip of a black hen hackle saddle feather and stroke the barbs backwards toward the back of the feather.
Tie in the tip of the feather at the tie in point of the tail. Again fold the feather back out of the way to be palmered in later. (One of those fine wire springs fastened to the wise comes in handy to keep things held back out of the way)
Take a 5 - 6 inch section of dark olive chenille. With your thumb nail or a pair of scissors strip off about 1/4 inch of the "fuzz" to leave a bit of bare thread. Tie in this bare thread section at the tie in point of the tail.
You now have a section of crystal flash, a hackle feather and a piece of chenille tied in at the end of the hook shank.
Wrap the thread forward all the way to the bead head, then back about 3/32 inch and let the thread bobbin hang down.
Wrap the chenille forward in tight wraps and tie in 3/32" behind the bead head. Secure the thread with a few wraps using a whip finishing tool.
Take the crystal flash and without stretching it, make reverse open wraps over the chenille and tie in behind the bead head.
Palmer (open wrap) the hackle feather forward over the chenille and tie in 3/32" behind the bead head.
Wrap the thread over the open space behind the bead head and secure with a half hitch or a couple of turns using a whip finishing tool. (do not cut the thread yet)
Lay the end of a 5"-6" section of red floss forward over the bead and cover the floss with several wraps of thread. Pull the floss slowly back until the end is just about covered by the thread wraps. Wrap in a few more tight wraps of thread, tie in with a whip finishing tool and cut the thread. You now have a 5"-6" section of red floss tied in and hanging loose behind the bead head.
At this point I dab a drop of non-water based head cement behind the bead head and hand wrap a layer of floss behind the bead.
Now I use a whip finishing tool to wrap another layer of floss behind the bead head. Cut off the end of the floss.
If necessary trim the krystal flash to about the same length as the marabou tail. The non-water based head cement could also be applied at this stage. Tie another one!
Click on Thumbnail picture below for the Anatomy of the Redneck.