Muddler Minnows

[Cliff]

I'm curious, do many fishermen use Muddler Minnows anymore? It seems like they were pretty popular once but have been supplanted by Buggers and similar patterns. I always have a couple in my box, but rarely use them. Since they don't have bead-heads I tend to use them on a sink tip. They have proven to be killers on brown trout in rivers for me, but since I use a floating line most of the time my Muddlers don't get much use. Anyway, just curious.

 

[Tom Butler]

@Zak and a couple others got me inspired to start fishing them last August. I've been fishing different versions of them, using a variety of different presentations, in streams and lakes since then. A classic that I didn't have much faith in, but I became a believer.

 

[Divad]

They’re not my go-to pattern but I keep a couple around for summer, and they are a nice secret during fall salmon.



Also always have a few of these purple ones with a small 3.2 tungsten. They’re cuttie candy, and the summer run seem to like them.



Sometimes the pescatarian comes out and fish only want to eat the homies.

 

[Driftless Dan]

I use Muddler Minnows virtually every time I fish. That's not to say I use them exclusively, but one or two always come home wet. I usually place the smallest split shot I have in my arsenal only about an inch above the fly, to make sure this naturally buoyant fly is near the bottom, and swing it through the channels I find in faster moving water. I find this method very effective. I'm fishing with a 4-weight, so usually use a size 10 Muddler, at the small end of this fly.

Back West, it I used it in pocket water upstream and in tidewater downstream on the NW Oregon coastal streams, such as the Nehalem, for sea run cutts.

 

[Sam Roffe]

Love them. I use them in the salt for cutthroat.

 

[Zak]

I probably fish muddlers more than any other fly. I just love multi-purpose flies. The muddler fishes well on the surface, in the film, and down deep. Here's my Adirondack snowshoe muddler:

 

[Cowlitz Bottomfeeder]

It’s a pretty good choice for Cutthroat and Steelhead in low clear water in September and October. This #6 olive muddler got chewed up. Fish them on a floating line with an intermediate poly leader.

 

[SculpinSwinger]

I am a fan of the muddler!

 

[DerekWhipple]

I fish them when I am swinging for summer steelhead and sea-runs. Usually on a rage with an intermediate or mono polyleader, or if I want to get deeper faster, a 5' MOW tip.

They are popular up north for coho too, but they never seemed to catch on down here.

 

[Bob Rankin]

I’m a huge fan of muddlers, and I’m missing swinging these.

 

[Buzzy]

Three years after I got out of the Navy, my wife and I moved to Klamath Falls where I rediscovered the joy of fishing. A few of my OIT classmates were fly fishing local rivers and I began joining them on their outings - without a fly rod I used my old spinning rod. At the same time, a family friend gave me an old Thompson vise and I snagged a few tying materials. The muddler minnow became a favorite - a couple split shot and I could cast a muddler quite well. The version we tied was supposed to look like Terry Hellekson's version (varnished turkey wings for tail and wing). As we all know, bouncing our lures along a river bottom results in snags. It took me, on average, a half hour to tie one of those flies and I may have cussed a time or two when I'd lose a fly to the river.

I don't fish rivers that much anymore but do enjoy fishing "noisy" variations of the muddler when lake fishing. I deliberately clip the deer hair heads blunt or flat in front, which I think creates noise when stripping it in. They're ugly flies, really ugly but sometimes buy strikes when other flies seem to be ignored:

 

[Cliff]

Guys, thank you very much. There are some really interesting variations of ties here, thanks. I'll be fishing some creeks and rivers in Montana next week and I'll give these a try for browns. I appreciate the advice.
Cliff

 

[Flymph]

I'm curious, do many fishermen use Muddler Minnows anymore? It seems like they were pretty popular once but have been supplanted by Buggers and similar patterns. I always have a couple in my box, but rarely use them. Since they don't have bead-heads I tend to use them on a sink tip. They have proven to be killers on brown trout in rivers for me, but since I use a floating line most of the time my Muddlers don't get much use. Anyway, just curious.

Forty years ago I mainly fished muddlers and GRHE in varying sizes. The fish, the water, and the habitat, are not what they used to be, at least where I fish. Now, those flies are still in my box but I have switched to these that I feel represent a better silhouette and pulse life:

 

[Cowlitz Bottomfeeder]

Forty years ago I mainly fished muddlers and GRHE in varying sizes. The fish, the water, and the habitat, are not what they used to be, at least where I fish. Now, those flies are still in my box but I have switched to these that I feel represent a better silhouette and pulse life:

What you’re missing is the Muddler was designed to be a multi imitator. It can be used as a minnow, a Caddis pupae, or a grasshopper, depending on how you fish it.

 

[wanderingrichard]

Three years after I got out of the Navy, my wife and I moved to Klamath Falls where I rediscovered the joy of fishing. A few of my OIT classmates were fly fishing local rivers and I began joining them on their outings - without a fly rod I used my old spinning rod. At the same time, a family friend gave me an old Thompson vise and I snagged a few tying materials. The muddler minnow became a favorite - a couple split shot and I could cast a muddler quite well. The version we tied was supposed to look like Terry Hellekson's version (varnished turkey wings for tail and wing). As we all know, bouncing our lures along a river bottom results in snags. It took me, on average, a half hour to tie one of those flies and I may have cussed a time or two when I'd lose a fly to the river.

I don't fish rivers that much anymore but do enjoy fishing "noisy" variations of the muddler when lake fishing. I deliberately clip the deer hair heads blunt or flat in front, which I think creates noise when stripping it in. They're ugly flies, really ugly but sometimes buy strikes when other flies seem to be ignored: View attachment 20496

So, could we call your variation a Blunt Faced Muddler ?

 

[Kfish]

I love muddlers and tie to fish them often.

 

[Divad]

I love muddlers and tie to fish them often.

View attachment 21441

What color is that deer hair almost looks like a light purple? I like the color combo too nice fly.

 

[Kfish]

What color is that deer hair almost looks like a light purple? I like the color combo too nice fly.

Thanks, it's natural deer hair. Some uv flash in the wing and body that gives it a purple color.

 

[Phil K]

 

[Buzzy]

View attachment 21505

Fantastic! I look at these muddlers and flashback to Ferguson's Green and Silver*, these I have to try and tie (no chartreuse deer hair).

* In my early SRC fishing days, Ferguson's Green and Silver was my go to fly. Over the years that pattern has morphed many times to where I have a few dozen variations on the original recipe from Bruce.