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 The original Muddler Minnow was first tied around 1936 by an American named Don Gapen to imitate sculpin, and was popularized by another American fly fisher and tyer, Dan Bailey.
The fact that it is still around today, not having faded into obscurity like so many other fly patterns, bears strong testament to its success over the years.
The Marabou Muddler is one of many variations of the original pattern. It is an incredibly versatile pattern in that by varying certain characteristics such as size, colour and sparseness, this pattern can imitate many different food sources from grasshoppers to tadpoles and even minnows. My favourite colour combinations are black wing/black head and collar, black wing/natural head and collar, brown wing/brown head and natural collar, and olive green/olive green head and collar.
Adding to its versatility are the different ways in which it can be fished. Fished subsurface on an intermediate or sinking line, the waterlogged fly becomes almost neutrally buoyant but does retain some of the buoyancy created by the deer hair head. This allows it to be fished over weed beds and other potential snags without hanging up as often as other flies would. Where this pattern truly comes into its own though, is fished on the surface at last light retrieving in short, sharp bursts. Fishing the Marabou Muddler in this way has accounted for some of the most heart stopping, adrenalin fueled fishing I have ever encountered, with fish often abandoning all inhibitions and launching themselves clean out the water in their bid to catch what must look like a tasty meal.
Most versions of the Marabou Muddler I have encountered seem to be pretty bulky, with a thick marabou wing and very dense collar. Having tied many iterations of this pattern over the last few years, I have fairly consistently found that the fly seems to become more effective as bits of the marabou wing get chewed off, hence the reason you will see that my version of this fly is tied sparser than most, right off the bat.
I hope you will enjoy the sequence and look forward to any comments or feedback you may have.
Recipe
Hook: Tiemco TMC300 (6x long Streamer hook) #10 - #6
Thread: UTC 140 Denier – Colour of choice
Tail: Red Hackle Fibres
Body: Mylar Tubing - Small
Wing: Marabou – Colour of Choice, Peacock Herl, Flashabou Accent
Head/Collar: Deer hair
 Start your thread about one third the length of the hook shank from the hook eye and wrap down to just above the barb. For the first part of this fly, I like to use red thread, which shows through the mylar body just slightly and in my opinion just adds something to its appearance.  Tie in a small clump of red hackle fibres for the tail, and wrap back to the point where you started your thread.  Cut a piece of mylar tubing just slightly longer than the hook shank, and tie it in as shown, with its length sticking forward over the hook eye, ensuring that all strands are well secured. Make a few half hitches, cut your thread and apply some head cement.  Using your fingers, gently grip the mylar tubing just in front of where you have secured it, and push it over the tie in point, towards the hook bend. It should fold over on itself. Keep pushing, effectively rolling it all the way down the hook shank until it covers the tail’s tie in point.  Take up your bobbin again, with a thread colour matched to the deer hair you will be using for the head. Holding both the bobbin and the end of the thread, make a loose turn of thread around the mylar, just in front of the point where you first tied it in. Pull on both the bobbin and the end of the thread to tighten it. Doing this effectively forms a noose which applies equal pressure around the circumference of the mylar, allowing it to be neatly secured without it folding over on one side. Make a few more turns of thread to secure properly.  Once secured, trim the excess mylar with a pair of scissors.  Tie in a bunch of marabou. Ideally it should extend just to the end of the tail. I tend to tie it in slightly longer, and then pinch off the tips to the correct length later. If the wing is too long, it will wrap around the hook bend when fishing.  Trim the excess marabou and tie in 4 or 5 lengths of peacock herl on top of the marabou. They should be slightly shorter than the marabou. Trim the excess.  Tie in a few strands of Flashabou Accent on top of the peacock herl. The strands should be roughly the same length as the herl.  Clean and stack some deer hair, and tie in as a collar. For brown variations of the Marabou Muddler, I like using natural coloured deer hair for the collar and dyed brown for the head, as it forms a nice contrast. Feel free to experiment and choose those colours that do it for you.  Clean and tie in a bunch of deer hair and spin it around the hook shank. This will be the first bunch that will form the head of the fly.  Spin additional bunches of deer hair until you reach the hook eye, and which point you can whip finish the fly, apply head cement and remove from the vice.  Using a sharp pair of sissors or a razor blade, trim to form a bullet shaped head but take care not to cut the collar. You're done! Hope you enjoyed the sequence and trying out the fly for yourself! |
