Fly Tying

Marabou Muddler
While this yellow and gold version of the Marabou Muddler works extremely well, the pattern can also be tied in a wide range of colors. In white and silver it makes a great imitation of a silvery bait fish, while in olive or brown it can be used to suggest anything from a leech to a small bottom-dwelling fish. In all its variations, the basic techniques and materials remain the same. Its pulsating, fish-attracting action comes from a generous wing of turkey marabou while the bulky deer hair head makes plenty of subsurface disturbance on the retrieve. The pattern can be fished at all depths, but on those variations designed to work close to the lake or riverbed, a weighted underbody is used.

Hook: Size 8–12 wet fly or 4–12 3X

Thread: Black (UTC 140 or Unithread 3/0)

Wing: Dyed yellow marabou and gold or pearl Flashabou

Tail: Dyed red marabou

Body: Gold tinsel

Collar and Head: Deer hair

 
Muddler Minnow
This is the original Don Gapen pattern that spawned, literally, thousands of flies that now carry the Muddler appellation. First designed to imitate a small bottom-dwelling fish, Muddlers are now tied as general attractor patterns and to imitate anything from caddis flies to grasshoppers. While each Muddler may differ in color and profile, all have the same basis in their construction: the spinning and clipping of deer hair to create a buoyant head or body. Being hollow and easily compressed, deer hair can be flared on the hook to form a ruff. By adding more bunches and compacting them, the hair is made dense enough to be shaped by trimming with scissors or a blade. When tying Muddlers it pays to use a strong thread that allows plenty of pressure to be applied to the hair.

Hook: Size 8–12 wet fly or 4–12 3X

Thread: Black (UTC 140 or Unithread 3/0)

Wing: Gray squirrel hair and mottled turkey feather

Body: Flat gold Mylar tinsel

Rib: Medium-width oval gold tinsel

Tail: Slips of mottled turkey feather

Collar and Head: Deer hair