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Wikipedia on The Muddler Minnow: The Muddler Minnow was spawned, so to speak, by Don Gapen of Anoka, Minnesota in 1937, to imitate the slimy sculpin. Gapen developed this fly to catch Nipigon strain brook trout in Ontario, Canada. The Muddler, as it is informally known by anglers, was popularized by Montana, USA fisherman and fly tier Dan Bailey. It is now a popular pattern worldwide and is likely found in nearly every angler’s fly box, in one form or another. Due to its universal appeal to game fish, the muddler minnow will remain as an integral tool in sport fishing.

The Muddler Minnow Catches More Than Just Trout

I have tied a few muddler minnows over the years as they are a variable pattern and can be fished in a number of ways. I have always been a top water guy so that’s how I fish it most often but it does excellent under the surface as well.

Even though I most often tie my muddler minnows to go after brook trout they also catch smallmouth bass and even chain pickerel. Look out when these guys hit the fly as you’re in for some major fun.

Note: When I plan to fly fish for pickerel I will use a small section of fluorocarbon as a leader as those little teeth are like razors and will cut through regular leader line like butter.

Here is a video I found on Youtube that will help you tie muddler minnows so you can see for your self.

The fly tying materials you will need to tie the standard Muddler Minnow:

• Head: Deer hair, natural colour
• Tail And Wing Section: Mottled turkey wing feather
• The Body: Gold flat mylar tinsel
• The Under Wing: Grey squirrel tail for the under
• Standard dry fly black thread
• Hook: 4X Long Shanked Hook – Size 8

More Great Trout Flies

Holofusion Fly Tying Material - Model HF23 - Tan - Flies & Flytying Offer by: Bass Pro Shops Price: USD 5.49 This Holufusion Fly Tying Material is an easy way to add a just the right amount shimmer and appeal to trout, salmon, bass and saltwater fly and streamer patterns. The semi-translucent Holofusioin fly tying fibers and can be used for accent or as the body on baitfish imitations like the world-famous Clouser pattern. This Holufusion Fly Tying Material is an easy way to add a just the right amount shimmer and appeal to trout, salmon, bass and saltwater fly and streamer patterns. The semi-translucent Holofusioin fly tying fibers and can be used for accent or as the

Holofusion Fly Tying Material - Model HF23 - Tan - Flies & Flytying Offer by: Bass Pro Shops Price: USD 5.49 This Holufusion Fly Tying Material is an easy way to add a just the right amount shimmer and appeal to trout, salmon, bass and saltwater fly and streamer patterns. The semi-translucent Holofusioin fly tying fibers and can be used for accent or as the body on baitfish imitations like the world-famous Clouser pattern. This Holufusion Fly Tying Material is an easy way to add a just the right amount shimmer and appeal to trout, salmon, bass and saltwater fly and streamer patterns. The semi-translucent Holofusioin fly tying fibers and can be used for accent or as the

Tie-Fast Magnum Knot Tying Tool - Line/term/acc/boats Offer by: Bass Pro Shops Price: USD 10.49 This oversized Tie Fast tool makes tying 6/0 hooks and 120-lb. mono a breeze. This oversized Tie Fast tool makes tying 6/0 hooks and 120-lb. mono a breeze.

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I have done some fly fishing for chain pickerel. Actually New Brunswick was the first place I ever saw and caught a pickerel on the fly, well really on anything, it was my first pickerel, but it set the stage for many many happy days on the water battling these wacky and vicious toothy water wolf.

My first pickerel was while fly fishing a little brown dry fly for brook trout and got a surprise catch, a little pickerel which was actually smaller than most of the brookies we caught that day.

Over the years since I have used boats, canoes and my float tubes to fish for pickerel on the fly and started using some bigger flies we use for smallmouth bass and Atlantic salmon.

I also used a few black wooly bugger leech patterns to have fun on the water and would like to share a video showing you how to tie the wooly bugger so you can give them a try yourself.

Fly Tying Materials You Will Need For The Wooly Bugger

Here’s a video showing what you need to tie a wooly bugger, a great description of materials.

How To Tie A Wooly Bugger

I tie the wooly bugger streamer as a leech pattern and don’t use the bead head. I have never had a trout, bass or pickerel ever complain about the lack of a head. They wooly bugger is a very easy fly to tie and I’ve found that a 6 – 10 inch retrieve works best for me. So here is a video that shows how to tie the wooly bugger.

Don’t have time to tie your own, try this one:

White River Fly Shop Rainy's Wooly Bugger Assortment - 25 Pieces - Flies & Flytying Offer by: Bass Pro Shops Price: USD 44.99 Rainy's Wooly Bugger Assortment comes complete with 24 tried and true woolies in the best colors and a 6-compartment see-through fly box. Includes: Beadhead Wooly Buggers Beadhead Halloween Buggers Beadhead Krystal Buggers Beadhead Autumn Buggers Conehead Rubber Leg Buggers Wooly Buggers Rainy's Wooly Bugger Assortment comes complete with 24 tried and true woolies in the best colors and a 6-compartment see-through fly box. Includes: Beadhead Wooly Buggers Beadhead Halloween Buggers Beadhead Krystal Buggers Beadhead Autumn Buggers C

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Image by 'Scratch' via Flickr

Living in New Brunswick Canada I don’t see pike like I did in Ontario but I do see Chain pickerel, which get up to about a max of 30 inches and are just as aggressive as a pike the same size. They are after all part of the pike family.

My first pickerel caught was on a fly rod while I was fly fishing for brook trout. Imagine my surprise when a little pickerel grabbed it in mid-air. Even though it was a tiny specimen I could see they were vicious and was eager to try the fly rod for some bigger ones.

Since my first pickerel I have caught hundreds and hundreds of them, all exciting fun but the most fun I think I have had fly fishing for pickerel is using a fly that had the hook point snapped off. I was using it just for the reaction I get from the pickerel, same applies to pike of course. I would just cast it out and watch the reaction from the pike and to see how far I could attract them from.

On the right days I have had them easily come from 10 or 15 feet away while casting in the weeds. Most times they would be moving, more than one coming in all directions, before the fly ever hit the water so they had to be sitting right at the top of the water. So cool.

I have had pickerel take the fly, the one with no point on the hook, and still hold on to it all the way back to the boat or float tube. I have even lifted some out of the water, without being hooked and they just won’t let go.

What I have found is that pike and pickerel like the same food and will attack all the same flies. I use bass flies and salmon flies to catch them here in New Brunswick and do quite well with them.

But I am looking to tie a few flies designed for pike so I was looking through Youtube as I do often and found some cool pike on the fly videos I would like to share and then at the end I will add in a video showing how to tie a pike fly.

Here is a cool video where they are casting to pike and watching them take flies. I get such a kick out of watching that wake more through the water.

That was so much fun watching but I have to add this one as well. We don’t get pickerel that big here in New Brunswick but even so I have great fun catching them on a variety of flies.

And now a video showing you how to tie a fly for your pike or pickerel fly fishing trips. Enjoy and keep your arms strong.

I love top water action, who doesn’t, but I also like to use streamers, the same streamers I use for Atlantic salmon work great. Streamers will run just under the surface and they get a lot of action and most times I still get to see the strike right at the surface too.

The Mickey Finn Streamer

I usually use the Mickey Finn streamer for spring run Atlantic salmon but once I gave the Mickey Finn a try for pickerel I added it to my pike on the fly flies. The Mickey Finn streamer takes about 3 minutes to tie once you learn how and is quite durable.

Enjoy the video and maybe I will see you on the water fly fishing pike or pickerel.

Related Product:

''Pike on the Fly In Pursuit of the Water Wolf'' with Barry Reynolds - DVD - Line/term/acc/boats Offer by: Bass Pro Shops Price: USD 29.95 Fly fishing for pike is not for the faint of heart! However, for fly fishers with the desire to test their skills against the fiercest freshwater gamefish, this DVD ''Pike on the Fly In Pursuit of the Water Wolf'' with Barry Reynolds is a must-watch. Follow along as Barry Reynolds takes you to some of the most pike infested waters in North America, from little know rivers and tributaries to the mighty Yukon while he pursues the great water wolf with flies. Barry explains his admiration for the tremendous northern pike and why he keeps going back year after year, the quest for the ''Holy Grail'' a pike of over 50 inches on the fly! In fact, eight pike of over 50 inches were taken during production of ''Pike on the Fly In Pursuit of the Water Wolf'', including Barry's personal best&8212 a monster pike measuring 54'' in length and 28'' in girth. The film's intense soundtrack along with its breathtaking beauty and heart-pounding pike-fighting action will entertain every angler and not just those armed with a fly rod. ''Pike on the Fly In Pursuit of the Water Wolf'' also includes bonus footage for those who want to know more about flies, leader set-ups, fly lines and other valuable information that&8217 s required for taking pike on the fly. Approximately 68 minutes. Fly fishing for pike is not for the faint of heart! However, for fly fishers with the desire to test their skills against the fiercest freshwater gamefish, this DVD ''Pike on the Fly In Pursuit of the Water Wolf'' with Barry Reynolds is a must-watch.

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Catching smallmouth bass on the fly rod is a blast, especially when I’m using some of my bass popper flies.

Bass popper flies are easy to fish, they’re fun and the strikes are quite often very explosive and that’s why I like using poppers.

Here is a video I found on Youtube that shows how to tie a popper.

Crease Fly Bass Popper – PA Fly Tying Lessons

Crease flies were originated by Capt Joe Blados for stripers and blues.

Scaled down, these flies are an effective alternative to loud poppers when largemouth and smallmouth are skittish but still taking surface patterns. Crease flies wiggle and swirl when stripped and this action often drives bass crazy.

Watch this video to see how to tie a very simple, effective, and durable surface pattern for smallmouth and largemouth bass fishing.

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One of my favourite methods for fishing trout, well really any fish, is using my fly rod and artificial flies. I also tie most of my own flies. For me that’s just part of fly fishing. There’s just something extra in fishing when you make your own flies and lures.

Some of these flies are so tiny that I am amazed every single time I hook into a brook trout with them. Others are bigger and some are ones I actually use for fly fishing Atlantic salmon, Smallmouth bass and Chain pickerel. I do like to use a lot of top water flies, just to watch the action when I get a strike. It’s so cool and makes me keep coming back for more.

When I am fishing new water I always take both my spinning rod and fly rod. That way if the terrain is too tough to get a fly rod through I can use my spinning rod but most places I go I tend to be able to use my fly rod. I also must admit I don’t do that well on those windy days so the spinning rod does come in very handy.

Flies I Use To Catch Brook Trout

I like tying my own trout flies for those days on the water and I never go with anything complicated so even if you never tied an artificial fly you would be able to put one of these together.

Most often, almost 100% of the time I use dry flies. It’s just so much fun watching them take it from the surface of the water, but every once in a while I will use a wet fly, a streamer or even a nymph to get below the surface if they aren’t taking anything from the surface.

My personal favourite dry, wet and streamer trout flies:

Dry Flies – Hair Wing Dry Flies – size 8-18

• Gray Wulff
• White Wulff
• Irrisistible

Dry Flies – Fan Wing – size 10-20

• Adams
• Royal Coachman Fanwing
• Dark Hendrickson

Other Trout Dry Flies I Use

• Misquito size 10-20
• Brown Bivisible sizes 10-20
• Brown Hackle Peacock sizes 12-20

Wet Flies

• Black and Grizzly Weighted Wooly Worm – size 2-10
• Coachman Lead Wing Wet Fly sizes 12 -18
• March Brown English Wet Fly sizes 10-14

Streamers For Brook Trout

• Mickey Finn – size – 6-10
• White Maribou Streamer sizes 10-14
• Black Woolly Bugger – size – 6-10

Brook trout fishing, whether on your spinning rod or fly rod is a great hobby but always think conservation for our children and their children. Practice CPR – Catch, Photograph and Release.

Note there is nothing wrong with eating a few trout. I love to keep a few for dinner in the early spring when the water is still ice cold here. They taste great but for the rest of the year I always release them unless I hurt them during the fight and know they won’t survive.

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I love to get out fishing from my float tube. It’s so relaxing and at the same time exciting. Back when I had a canoe and a boat I had a nice little Humminbird portable fish-finder but found it too big for my float tube so I sold it with my boat.

I have looked for a nice portable fish finder since but never saw anything that I really liked, until this morning.

It’s getting close to Christmas so I was looking through Amazon to see what was there and found this cool little wrist mounted fish finder, perfect for float tube fishing adventures.

Humminbird Smartcast Wrist Mount

I remember fishing Lake George New Brunswick, along with a few other larger lakes in the area, from both my canoe and boat. It was nice to have a fishfinder so we could located active spots we could come back to. We must have fished Lake George a hundred times and always seemed to hook into a lot of smallmouth bass.

I’d say it was mostly because of the Humminbird fishfinder keeping us on the right locations.

I remember so many times I wished I had a fishfinder for my float tube so I could find those great spots again.

Here are a few specs for the Humminbird Smartcast RF 35 fish-finder.

First, Humminbird is using wireless technologies to the Smartcaster rf35 so you don’t require a wire going to the sensor. Just attach a length of fishing line and give it a toss out on the water and you’re ready to go fish finding.

The Remote Sonar Sensor has a separate, lithium battery that is non-replaceable , that has a lifespan of three years and will work for somewhere around five-hundred hours in the water.

Note: It’s always good advice to clean your equipment after a day on the water and it goes the same for your remote sensor. Keep it cleaned and it will keep going on keeping on.

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Tying a Beaded Micro Leech Pattern

Note: To tie in the bead to start this fly you can slide the bead over the hook barb and up the shank of the hook. At that point you can use your thread to place the bead exactly where you want it. Use wraps of thread on the front to secure it’s location and then put thread at that back to keep it from sliding around while you tie your fly.

A Simple Leech Pattern

This pattern is quick and easy and really tricks the trout into striking. In a larger pattern it’s great for bass and pike as well. I have always preferred the black leech but we also see leeches that are brown so those patterns work as well.

Learn How to Tie a Cahill Dry Fly

I love watching people tie flies, especially when they actually explain the steps.

Here is a list of what you will need to tie the Cahill.

Name: Cahill

Hook: #12 Dry Fly

Thread: Black 6/0

Tail: Furnace Hackle

Body: Blue Dun Superfine Dubbing (needs to repel water.)

Wing: Imitation Wookduck Flank

Hackle: Brown Neck Hackle

Using The Whip Finisher To Tie Off Your Fly:

Not comfortable with the whip finisher yet. It took me a long time before I stopped using my fingers to whip finish a fly. Here is a video that will show you how to use the Whip Finisher.

I looked at a few whip finisher videos on Youtube and chose the following because it has audio and is easy to see the process.

I love fly fishing for Atlantic salmon, just never get enough of it, and I also love using the Atlantic salmon pattern known as The Green Machine on most of our salmon rivers here in New Brunswick Canada.

My understanding of the Green Machine is that it was first used here in New Brunswick. No wonder both I and the Atlantic salmon love it.

The following video was created by William at www.FlySpoke.com. Thanks for the great video William.

You can watch the video and I will make a list for you with the materials you will need to successfully duplicate this awesome salmon fly.

Atlantic Salmon Fly: The Green Machine

Pattern: The White Calf Tail Green Machine, a slight variation of the original Green Machine.

• Mustad Hook: 3582 – Size 8 – Down Eye Double Hook
• Tail: White Calf Tail
• Hackle: Size 12 Dry Fly Hackle (Brown or Ginger)
• Body: Deer Body Hair (Green)

Note: Using blue deer hair and you will create a smurf to catch Atlantic salmon.

Feel free to change up the tail colour and see how you do on your salmon water.

If you’re new to deer hair spinning it’s not a problem. I found this little deer hair spinning video, enjoy.

I am sure, we as fishers, all have our confidence baits. I have confidence baits for any species I have fished regularly and it also applies to my fly fishing trips.

About a month ago a friend took me out fly fishing for some brook trout here in New Brunswick. It was close to Sussex but he would shoot me if I said exactly where. Well he might not actually kill me but he might never take me fly fishing again and that surely would kill me. So I’ll keep tight lipped on this one.

When he told me where we would be going I prepared the confidence flies and put them all into one fly box and I put my favourite dry fly on before I ever left the house.

We had a great day and landed many brook trout. All of which we promptly released as it’s a catch and release area only.

Here is a little video that I watched on Youtube this morning and thought you might like to see some of the trout flies I love to have with me.

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