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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 HF02 - Polar - 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 HF02 - Polar - 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 Wooly Bugger Chenille - Purple - Flies & Flytying Offer by: Bass Pro Shops Price: USD 2.99 Introducing the best chenille we&8217 ve found for tying woolies, and no bugger should ever leave home without it! Made from the densest Antron available with a little pearl Mylar tinsel mixed in for fish-attracting flash. Introducing the best chenille weamp 8217 ve found for tying woolies, and no bugger should ever leave home without it! Made from the densest Antron available with a little pearl Mylar tinsel mixed in for fish-attracting flash.

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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 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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Are you amazed at how well a good artificial trout fly holds up and attracts trout? It is pretty cool and I was certainly impressed the first time I did any fly fishing for trout.

Have you ever tied a trout fly or any fly for that matter? If you haven’t you are missing out on an awesome hobby to go right along with your fishing hobby.

Ha, after I tied my first trout fly and actually catch trout with it I started tying my own trout flies. I also put away my spinning rod for a couple of years.

Tying flies for your fly fishing trips is pretty easy, if you start with simple but effective trout flies. I started with a couple of dry flies that only had a few items and that we of course simple to tie.

It’s been so long ago I don’t actually remember what the name of that trout fly was but I do remember what I tied it using.

• a mustad hook about size 12.
• black thread, right from my wife’s sowing kit.
• a couple of brown hen hackle, very common colour for dry flies.
• brown fur or yarn
• a few fibres from the brown hackle for the tail of the trout fly

That was it, a very simple fly to tie and it stayed on the top of the water where I wanted it to and it caught lots of brook trout.

So, if you want to give trout fly tying a try you can’t go wrong with the White River Fly Shop Fly Tying Kit – Trout Tying then get tying.

I have been fly fishing salmon and other big species of fish for 30 years or more and I always tend to start with a big goofy looking top water fly but the truth is I have caught far more large fish on smaller flies, like I use on small streams and brooks for brook trout. I guess I always think big flies catch big fish so I always give them the first shot.

Heck I remember a particular day that I was the only one hooking Atlantic salmon, on almost every cast I made. The guys around the pool started asking me what I was using after the third or fourth hook up. Of course I played the guessing game for a while. Then I gave in and shared two of my flies with my fly fishing buddies.

I lost a couple of those flies, one landed way up a tree I wasn’t ready to climb, another I broke the hook on a big rock that kept getting in the way of my back cast and a couple, well the salmon liked them so much they kept them when they got away.

Before long I was down to my last fly, maybe I should have kept them secret. Anyways we decided to drive back to the closest town that had a fly shop, as I didn’t bother bringing my fly tying kit with me on that day. DUH!!

We got back to town, a 30 mile trip, and I purchased a handful as did my two fishing buddies and we headed back up to our camp site for lunch and then back to the salmon pool. That’s a weekend I will not soon forget.

My point is that small flies will some times catch fish that aren’t looking at big flies. And sharing with friends is a good thing. I would much rather have everyone having a good time as long as I am catching fish.

It looked like a green machine, made of brown deer hair and tied on a hook between #12 and #16, so it’s not very big at all. It had no hackle, just the brown deer hair but it worked like I have never seen a fly work on Atlantic salmon.

Note: The day we fished with this little deer hair bug fly it was hot and had been hot for a week or so. The water level was extremely low and the water temperature was much higher than normal for that time of year.

So the materials for this Deer Hair Salmon Fly:

Wet Fly Hook: #12 – #16

Thread: Black

Body Material: deer hair