The Nutcracker

The Nutcracker was my most productive streamer for the past two yearsNC: The Nutcracker running. I first ran across this pattern on the Chuck Hawkins website. In 2007 it accounted for a dozen fish over 16 inches, seven of which were over 20 inches. Worked with a swing for steelhead, and an aggressive jerk strip for browns, it’s equally effective. Note: For those that don't "roll your own", here's the only other outlet for the Nutcracker that I've found.

Here’s the tie:

Hook: TMC 300 size 4
Thread: Olive Kevlar or 3/0
Tail: White rabbit zonker
Body: White and olive marabou
Overbody: Red flashabou
Collar 1: Olive mallard flank
Collar 2: Stacked and spun deer hair
Head: Spun and clipped deer hair

NC11. Tie in rabbit zonker tail. Measuring the leather, the zonker strip should be about 1 to 1- ¼ inches long. Note the tie-in point . . . about equal with the point of the hook.

NC22. Immediately in front of the zonker, tie in a white marabou plume by the tip.

NC33. Palmer forward several turns, taking up about 1/4-inch of the shank. Be sure to pull back the fibers so they don’t get trapped as you wind the stem around the shank.

NC44. Move a tad forward, and tie in an olive marabou plume, again by the tip. Palmer forward as you did with the white marabou.

NC55. On top of the marabou, tie in six pieces of red flash-a-bou.

NC66. Select an olive mallard flank feather with long fibers Tie it in at the tip.

NC77. Wrap the stem around the shank about 3 times. Stroke the fibers toward the rear of the hook as you wrap. Each wrap should be tight against the previous wrap, working toward the eye of the hook.

NC88. Cut and stack a generous clump of deer hair. With the tips toward the rear of the hook, tie in and compress and flair this deer hair collar. The tips should extend about 5/8 of an inch from the tie-in point. It may be necessary to use two clumps to get good coverage on the top and sides of the shank.

NC99. Work your thread forward through the butt ends. Take two or three wraps around the shank to help hold the butt ends up and toward the rear.

NC1010. Tie in, flair and spin another generous clump of deer hair. No need to stack this (or the next two) clumps. Again, work your thread forward and take a couple turns, to hold the butt ends up and out of the way.

NC1111. One more clump of deer hair to flair and spin.

NC1212. The final clump of deer hair. Flair, spin and whip finish.

NC1313. Using a flat razor blade, make a flat cut on the bottom of the deer hair head. It’s ok to cut any mallard flank or collar that my be on the bottom of the shank.

NC1414. Now, bend the flexible razor blade into a semi-circle, and shave the top and sides of deer hair head.

NC1515. The final result should be a broadly-convex shape on top, and flat on the bottom.