The original Muddler Minnow was introduced in to this country from America in the late 1960s.It was tied to be an imitation of the sculpin minnow. The original pattern enjoyed great success on the Midland reservoirs when it was first introduced. British reservoir anglers, as always, have this shameless habit of ‘improving’ everything that they try. It was not long before the Black muddler, black body and silver rib, was the in fly quickly followed by the Texas Rose and the Orange muddler, orange body and gold rib.
The one thing they all had in common was the deer hair head. This was achieved by using spun deer hair and clipped to form a bulky bouyant head. Hook sizes from long shank 6 to 10. It can be quite an exciting fly to fish when you strip it through a big ripple when the trout are high in the water. You wont get as many as you miss but it can liven up a days fishing.
Once you have mastered the tying in of the deer hair and trimming it to shape there is no end to the patterns you can tie.This lesson has already inspired a line of thought with muddlers which I have not yet seen tied and I think they are looking promising.
Materials
- Hook long shank 10 / 8
- Body orange wool or chenille
- Rib silver lurex
- Wing dyed yellow hair -- goat or calf tail
- Head spun deer hair
- Tying silk orange
Happy Fishing
Dave Cammiss and The Team
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Dear sir,
I find it extraordinarily pleasing that I have found a site for my favorite wintertime hobby. I got my start tying flies when I was laid up for eight months with a spiral break in the left fibula, just above the ankle. It was an old JC Higgins fly tying kit that I got as a bonus when I bought a matched pair of reels from an older friend of mine that he hadpicked up at a yard sale.
I’ve never had any formal tutoring for the tying of flies, let alone trying to figure out the various names that go along with the different life cycles for different bugs, flies, mosquito’s, and the like.
I’ve managed to catch a varying number of different species of fish, and yet I still don’t really know the difference between a dry fly, a wet fly, or even the patterns that I tie up as jigs.
My fishing partner even made a set of fly tying tables,(one for him, & one for me) that fit nicely on the lap, while watching fishing shows, or pro football (Da’ Bears!) on weekends during the winter.
I look forward to your continued good health, as well as the next video in your quality series. Relay to your son that I believe that he is missing out on a great deal of fun, if he’s going to continue hiding behind the camera.
Hi The maninthemoon
Thanks for your newsy letter. I responded earlier but it seem to have got lost in the ether.Sorry about your’break’ no doubt you will be up and running again soon. I know that the choice of flies can be bewildering at the beginning. I leave the floating on the water dries to the experts. I prefer to fish my nymphs and wet flies under the surface, If I dont see the fish not taking my flies it is less frustrating. The nymphs and wets are easier to tie and dont need good quality hackles. I hope the lessons have been some help to you. We will be doing them until my dodgy old fingers give up or Jon gets bored keeping me in order. Quite a role reversal when the son keeps the old man in order.
He gets his fun from music, photography and cycling.
Keep in touch
Happy Fishing
DaveC.and the Team
David, as I was attempting to keep the mail to the short side, I omitted the fact that the broken pin was back in 1992, and although it aches from time to time as the weather changes, it has finally healed nicely. But 4 years ago I blew out 2 discs in the lower back, had the surgery, but have some balance problems from the numbness in my toes. Not to fret, I have managed to get the waders on & do some jig fishing last year for walleye, stripers, & smallies. In fact the jig that we use is tied up utilizing the same techniques for making flies. It has also been effective for channel cats in the 1&1/2 -4 lb range. I got the excitement jitters with my biggest walleye (approx. 36 – 38 inches, and have claimed a 6&1/2 lb. smallie as well below the norway dam @ the Tippecanoe River on the north side of Monticello, Indiana. Haven’t been able to afford the trip due to the gas prices being what they are this year, but come next spring I’ll see if I can’t set some monies aside just for one trip.
Hi themaninthemoon
Good to know that you are up and running. It is no fun as you get older and all the fruits of past ops. start to ache. You seem to have a fair selection of fish over there to have a go at. Are they bass? Travel costs play a major part in where we go these days. The price of our petrol would make you cringe. I usually buddy up with my old mate on the longer trips. Our Grayling season starts next week when we bait fish as well as flyfish for them. They dont run large but they make up for it in quantity. But it is over an hours driving. At this time of the year the river levels are up and down all the time.
Happy Fishing
DaveCand the Team
Hello, hello, hello! I’ve been busy for the past week or so & hadn’t gotten around to jumping back on the page.
Ok, here’s a rundown on the types of fish that we have here in the midwest.
1st off there’s Ol’ Bucketmouth (Largemouth Bass/ Black bass) belongs to the sunfish family. Here in Indiana, I’ve caught them up to 7 & 1/2 pounds (lb), or 23 & 1/2 inches long (sorry, I don’t have the metric conversion available). Their weight can run up to 26 Lb.s? (I think that is the record size, but don’t quote me). And they start getting shoulders around the five to seven lb mark. When caught in an impoundment that has little or no current they start getting fat around 15 inches. They are really prime for filleting at 17 inches and up from there. I got really tired of losing fish due to rod breakage, or my line’s tensile strength, combined with anywhere from 3 to 10 lb.s of weeds. I had been using 6 lb Berkeley line on an 8 & 1/2 foot St. Croix rod, with an open face reel. I now use 20 lb test braided Spiderwire , (has the diameter of 6lb mono), on a $20.00, 2 pc., 7 foot, Rhino “Indestructible” rod. Caught a 30 inch Northern Pike while fishing for the LG Mouth bass in August. Guesstimating the weight at about 9 & 1/2 lb.s, maybe a little more. He was really fat, feeding on bluegill around a brushy area at JC Murphy Lake, aka Willow Slough. It is approximately an hours drive from where I live at the southern most tip of Lake Michigan, in East Chicago, Indiana. I would love to have the opportunity to travel more myself, but it is just too darn expensive anymore.
This coming year I’ll be trying out the flyrod again on a 1979 Ranger Bass boat with a 115 hp Johnson, that, (believe it or not ), I got for the fine price of “FREE”. It’s a little rough, but it sets well in the water, and the motor works fine. It is why I’ve been busy. But winter shall soon be upon us, and I’ll have more time to commit to my tying. I’ll tell you about another species in my next post.
What types of fish species do you have in the UK? You mentioned the grayling, a subspecies of the salmon, right?
Ok, gotta go for now, so fly low, tie it in tight,
John
Ok, I’m back, had to take a 6 hr nap.
On the the 2nd species, another blackbass/sunfish species, the Smallmouth Bass, or smallie as it is commonly called. Now this fish simply loves cold water, rocky/gravel bottoms, has the distinct shape of the American football as they grow huge shoulders as they get larger/older. It takes a long time for a smallie to grow to the weight of a 6 – 6 & 1/2 lb. fish, (about 12 years), yet most states require that they must be a minimum of 14 inches long before you can take one. It will be your mistake to underscore the ferocity of this breed, as a 6 & 1/2 lb.’er almost yanked my rod and me into the drink at the base of the Norway dam @ the southern tip of Lake Schafer, Monticello, Indiana. The sudden, and very powerful strike only serves to inflame the imagination of what’s on the other end of your line, as you must scramble rapidly to recover your composure, only pretending that you actually know what you’re doing. Feeding on crayfish, minnows, and other various species that inhabit the nooks & crannies of well strewn, rocky streams, rivers, and lakes with riprap along the shorelines, and/or gravel beds, the jig & minnow is a perfect compliment for a smallie on the browse.
Blues, yellows, greens, and orange colored wrapped jigs provide incentive to attract the attention of these fine eating fish. A 6 & 1/2 lb. smallie gave me 4 fillets, about 1 & 1/4 inch thick, plenty to provide 2 meals apiece for me & the wife.
Enough for now, I’ll talk about the ghostly flourescent green-eyed walleye on the next post.
John
Dear Mr Cammis,
I watch your videos with great joy and have learned a huge amount from these tutorials. I find them extremely theraputic and rewarding even when my flies don’t come out quite right. For me It’s like going to the source of what it all means and only there in the centre of fly tying can one truly think like a real fish and become the master hunter that was intended.
Now Winter is almost over and the snowdrops are out, with great eagerness I look forward to using my new arsenal of deadly Nymps, Daddys, Caddis and favourite of all the ever varied Muddler.
So Once again I can not thank you enough for helping me through this cold Winter and providing me with over a hundred new flies to hunt with!
Best,
Marco Alessi
How about a Stonefly tutorial! That would be great!
Hi Marco
Sorry about delay in replying.
Do you know how many stonefly patterns there are?
The stone fly spends 95% of its life as a nymph at which stage it is the most attractive to the trout.
The dry fly could be sat in your box for a long time waiting for a hatch.
Have had to ease off on the tutorials because of trouble with my fingers. Professor Davis at the QMC. has given me injections and a window of opportunity last week.We will have to try and get something out in the next 2 weeks
Happy Fishing
DaveC.and the Team
Great fly. Smiler to one I tie. As for a whip finish(or 1/2 hitch) use a hair gaurd. Cut a 1in x1 in piece of a baggie. Tie the fly like normal. poke eye of hook thru plastic. Pull on plastic. 1/2 hitch or whip finish. Cut away plastic.
Hi Nick
All the muddler variants can be good on their day. I did use a head guard myself a few years ago. I made it out of a piece of plastic from a plastic milk carton. Made 2 with different size hole to go over the eye.
Thanks for your comment much appreciated.
Happy Fishing
DaveC. and the Team
Hi Dave
I admire your work and tied almost every fly from your videos…
So i was wnadering when we are gonna see some new tying lessons ?
Your fan Michael
i love this fly
Hey Dave!
I`m a 20 year old boy from Norway and I have been doing with flytying and flyfishing for almost 9 years now, but I learn something new in every lesson you got!
Thank you for making the lessons! I`m looking forward to more lessons!
From a fan in Norway, Marius.
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