Easiest Fiber Minnow Ever

[Panama Red 0]

The most important thing about constructing a fiber minnow is less is more...use a brush to add volume to your material.

You will find that a only a small amount of material is needed to tie a single fly...I like to add angel hair flash to the mix.

First tie in a tail...no hollow tie fold needed.

 

Add a second tie slightly shorter than the first...It will be a hollow tie style.

IMG]http://i736.photobucket.com/albums/xx3/fuzalfuztoo/P1030773.jpg[/img]

 

Continue until your reach the hook eye.

 

Brush the mass oh crap until it takes a fish like shape.

 

Trim for effect and add eyes.

[Steve P 0]

So sweet man, thanks so much for the SBS... high quality.

 

Steve

[iFly 0]

Thanks for putting this up!

[Kirk Dietrich 0]

Panama, thanks for taking the time to put up the SBS. Forgive my denseness, cause as simple as you laid it out, I have a few questions.

When you tie in the tail, are you tying it in half way up the shank? or is that a second clump for the tail - the fourth pic with the pink?

Also, is the pen tube something you use to push the clump back that appears to be tied in facing forward in the sixth pic? (Are those pics flip flopped?)

Also, also, when you glue the eye, are you cutting away any material down to the shank?

What kind of glue are you using?

 

Well, maybe more than a few questions.

 

Kirk

[agn54 0]

Great work Dave. Do you find that the congo hair holds it shape better when tied hollow style, or does it not make a difference. It looks like it creates a bulkier profile which which I know is the purpose of hollow style but I have always seen it done with stiffer materials like bucktail.

 

Kirk, Dave will have to answer your other questions but as for the pen cap, yes he is using it to push the materials back over themselves. Hollow tying, that is tying the materials facing forward and then pushing them back over themselves, is a method I believe was developed by Bob Popovics. There are some great videos of him doing this here (look for the semper fleye). The purpose is to create a bulkier profile using less materials. I have only done it with stiffer materials like bucktail or SF Flashblend before like Popovics usually does but I love Dave's idea of doing it with congo hair.

[Panama Red 0]

Thanks for the great comments, let me try clear a few things...I may have had a beer or two while posting.

 

Kirk,

 

1. When you tie in the tail, are you tying it in half way up the shank? or is that a second clump for the tail - the fourth pic with the pink?

 

The first clump is tied just back of the middle of the shank (too far back and material gets kind of thick), Tied on straight to add some add some body to the tail for triming. The second tie is just a bit shorter than the tail to help with taper and tied facing forward (go tight and sparce on the wraps), I try to frizz the material and then run the pen tube down the center...Tie off in front of the material, this allows it to fluff up...Rinse and repeat. The clump af material shown tied the fly shown. I started tying a pink fly and the camera batteries died, beer goggles resulted in the pink instead of green pic when posting.

 

2. Also, is the pen tube something you use to push the clump back that appears to be tied in facing forward in the sixth pic? (Are those pics flip flopped?)

 

Pics are flip flopped, I'll edit the post, thanks

 

3. Also, also, when you glue the eye, are you cutting away any material down to the shank?

What kind of glue are you using?

 

No material was removed for the eyes, it has a very thin profile due to sparse materials, brushing before tying, and I also trim the sides a bit to reduce bulk. You can see objects through the mid to tail portion of the fly, the head is more dense. I found an artical on the net about these types of flies and it said that this method provides better action. It's very translucent in the water and provides better action than those with more bulk. I happen to like Loctite Super Glue Ultra Gel for eyes, then a very light coat of thin CCG around the eyes and hook eye for durability and a skoshe bit of weight.

 

Andy,

 

Sounds a little goofy, but...I think it creates light fluffy profile. It's a lot like Bob P's bucktail just a skinnier. I like doing this with congo hair because I suck at high/low ties and it is easier to trim to ge that nice 3D translucent profile. I also think (JMO) that it tends to foul less often.

 

Tight lines....dave

[agn54 0]

Great stuff Dave. I also usually trim my EP style flies along the sides when I Hi/Low tie them. It akes the body niv and sparse to give it a good translucent look but keeps the head bulk enough to push water. I saw a video of a guy who did this using Anvil Taperizing scissors and made it look real easy, but I don't tie enough of these style flies to justify myself forking out the $20 for those scissors (plus I'm cheap )