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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