Muddler Minnow

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The Typical Muddler Minnow Pattern

The Muddler Minnow is a popular and versatile streamer pattern used in fly fishing and fly tying.

1 History
2 Imitations
3 Construction
4 Target Species
5 Fishing the Muddler
6 References

[edit] History

The Muddler Minnow was originally spawned, so to speak, by Don Gapen of Anoka, Minnesota in 1936, to imitate the sculpin, a bottom feeding and dwelling baitfish. Mr. Gapen developed this fly to catch Nipigon Brook Trout in Ontario, Canada. The muddler, as it is informally known by anglers, was popularized by Montana, USA fisherman Dan Bailey. It is now a popular pattern world-wide and is likey found in nearly every angler's fly box, in one form or another. Due to its universal appeal to gamefish, it the muddler minnow will remain as an integral tool in sport fishing.

[edit] Imitations

The versatility of the muddler minnow stems from this pattern's ability to mimic a variety of aquatic and terrestrial forage, ranging from sculpins, to leeches, to grasshoppers, crickets, a spent mayfly, an emerging green drake, a stonefly, tadpoles, minnows, or a mouse, along with a host of other creatures.

[edit] Construction

There are limitless material and colour variations, however the essence of the muddler minnow is a spun deer hair head. While each muddler may differ in colour or profile, all have a fore-end or body of spun deer hair that is clipped close to the shank to provide a buoyant head. Typically there is an underwing of squirrel hair and a wing of mottled primary turkey feather. Often the fly body is made of gold/silver mylar or tinsel wrapped around the hook shank. Marabou may be tied in as a substitute wing for colour and life-like movement through the water. The head may be weighted or unweighted, according to the style of fishing, the target species and the intended imitation. The muddler has served for the basis of several patterns, including the Spuddler, Muddler Hopper, Missoulian Spook, Searcy Muddler, Keel Muddler, and so on, but even in its simplest and original form, it remains a very effective fly.

[edit] Target Species

Muddler patterns are generally effective when fishing for any freshwater or saltwater species in cold or warm water environments. This pattern is most often used to catch brown trout, rainbow trout, steelhead, arctic char, cutthroat trout, brook trout, smallmouth bass and largemouth bass.

[edit] Fishing the Muddler

Effective retrieval tactics include stripping the floating muddler across the water surface rhythmically, imparting a "wake", or allowing the muddler to sink and twitching or pulsating it against or across a river's current. An unweighted muddler will float and appears as a hopper, moth or struggling mouse. With a tiny piece of split shot in front of it (or an intermediate flyline) the muddler can be swam in slow fashion over weedbeds and shallow gravel bars. With more weight, the muddler can be stripped wildly in the shallows to imitate and alarmed baitfish, or allowed to settle in deeper water.