SPARKLE MINNOW

[TOMMY TROUT 0]

Has any one heard of the coffey sparkle minnow? I have heard that this fly catches anything that swims and has accounted for more trouphy size fish than any fly ever tyed.

[Guest]

I wouldn't doubt it! That's an awesome fly and "sparkleminnow" is a member of this site so hopefully he will see this.

[sparkleminnow 0]

Well, I see Tommy Trout found this site, too! With the remodeling work I'm doing right now those SM's will be in shot supply. Hmm..., I wonder if the supply shortage might drive up the price?

[mhackney 0]

Here you go - did a google and it was the first hit listed: http://www.ozarkflyfishers.org/pages/flies...rkleminnow.html

 

looks like a great fly! I'm going to tie some up.

 

Michael

[Guest]

looks really close to a chili pepper, instead of the estaz body fur was used.

[Guest]

SM has a particular way of forming the body dubbing. Get him to send you directions.

[ArkieFlyGuy 0]

Looks like a wooly bugger on steroids!

 

I'd like to get the inside scoop on how to form the body dubbing, too.

[Joe Hard 0]

Me three, What about a step by step.

[sparkleminnow 0]

Well, the directions get rather lengthy, as there ar e a few things that must be done differently than what is considered "standard." For instance. The usual way to finish a fly of this type is to whip finish at the head,and add head cement, but his will not work. The dubbing loop is about 10" long, and monofilament. If you whip finish with mono, over mono, it will slip. I don't care what kind of glue you use, or how many wraps you use when you finish, it will slip. Then the fly falls apart. You can't use glue to finish it, as the glue will always wick up into the body material. For some reason, that is the death of the body material. It's not the glue's composition that is the problem, it's the fact that the glue's hold on the material is too solid. The loop allows the material to shift, and slip, if only slightly. This is enough to keep it from breaking off, too bad. The way I do it is to fishish the body by using a variation of a Gary Borger technique. I make a hitch(not to be confused with a half-hitch) using the dubbing loop, itself. The dubbing loop is around 10"-11" long, and the last 4-5" of it have no material in it. This allows me to make the hitch using the dubbing loop, itself, and the body will never unravel. No glue needed. I have NEVER had one come apart when done this way, and I don't use glue to finish.

 

The differences of this fly, as opposed to Estaz and such, is that it is much finer. As a result the motion of the body material is more like marabou, and less like bucktail....more action. It comes in a much wider array of colors, and has a different "look" in the water than other materials. Don't use a coffee grinder to "chop" the dubbing, either. Just cut the pieces in 3/8" lengths, roughly adjusting for the size of the pattern. I only tie them in sz8-4. If you make the dubbing loop too short,and cram the material in it, the body will look clumpy. For a smother, more seamless look, you have to use a longer loop with less material. I usually have 6-7" of material in a loop when tying a sz 4. I can send the directions to those who send me their email addys.

 

I need to get busy, and convert my photos to JPGs, so they are small enough to load, here. If you want to see some other pics of them, on line, check out MontanaFly.com. Look under "C" for "Coffey's SM." They spelled my name wrong, though.

 

The best color, by far, is the pearl pattern. This is strange, but while there are at least four tones of the pearl color, only the Pearl Gold (Angel Hair), and Polar Pearl (Lite Brite) are effective. I tried the other types of pearl colors like pearl blue, pearl purple, and pearl green. None of them were even close in performance. There are lots of colors, or color combos that can work, but I found that "Pearl-green & Olive" Lite Brite, works great for S.M./L.M.Bass and bluegill. The Black Light color works well for bass, trout, and especially for King Salmon. The Electric Pink (Angel Hair) works for G.L. steelhead and coho salmon, and the brown works well for S.M. Bass.

[Guest]

Awesome fly as far as performance goes, but Greg is STILL gonna hafta put out that video. He gave me step by step and I sit at my vise like "D'uh?" and wonder how itis that I'm missing it.

 

 

'Course, that's a fantastic advantage when it comes to putting it on the market. Most folks are gonna just buy it instead!

[mhackney 0]

sparkleminnow,

 

Why use mono rather than an appropriate colored thread? For instance, in tying up a polar pearl, using a white thread.

 

thanks in advance,

Michael

[Guest]

Sweet indeed.

 

Looks like a perfect candidate for the Magic Tool. I bet it breathes like a 16 year old with his first piece of tail.

 

Thanks SM

[Guest]

I had the same thought Shoe. I haven't used a Magic Tool, but I'm susceptible to new gadgets. If I just had a need.

[Guest]

The only problem with the tool would be the length of the tool. I wish Mark would make a table/clamps that are longer for this type of application. It could be done in stages....

 

 

And a shallower one for shorter furs like squirrel and mink

[sparkleminnow 0]

MHackney,

I use mono thread because no matter that you might have the approriate colored thread, it is still visible through the body material. I tried seveal kinds of thread until I settled on mono. Lefty Kreh, and Bob Clouser recomend it, too. Another thing is that the mono is invisible with whatever color body I am making. If I go from making a pearl to a brown, to a peacock, I only need one thread. No more being out of the color thread that I need when I'm making several colors of flies. Now, I don't use mono on dry flies, or nymphs, but I do on this pattern.

Lastly, the mono stretches. This allows me to put a fair amount of tension on the thread, and it will remain under tension after I tie it down. This helps assure that the material doesn't slip out as the thread relaxes, as stranded thread can.

 

To address the magic tool, I just put the material in the loop by hand, and save $30. Not to be too negative, as there may be practical uses for it, and it very well may perform as advertised, I have yet to see it do something that I can't do by hand....or, other methods currently in use. I take smaller clumps of material, orient the fibers in the same direction by rolling, and pulling at the length (and then restacking it) until the fibers are all running the same direction. After I get the first clump done, I place it on the table in front of me. I repeat this until I have a strip of material in front of me roughly 3-4" long. Now I spread four fingers across the strip, place my fingers on the strip(lengthwise), and squeeze them together; leaving enough of the material sticking out so that I can now insert it into the dubbing loop. The whirl should be already hanging on the loop. This will keep tension on the loop so when I let go of the fibers they don't fall to the floor. (NOTE: I use a Dyna-King Wastrol to contain the clippings. I also use a 90 degree extension arm to get the vise out away from the table. This helps deal with the longer than normal dubbing loop.) I then spread the material, evenly, throughout the upper 2/3ds of the loop. To spin it up I pinch the loop with my left thumb, and forefinger at the point where the material ends in the loop. I then pull against the fly to keep tension on the loop, while spinning the dubbing whirl. As the whirl slows, I slowly, and gently relax my grip with my left thumb, and forefinger on the dubbing loop. It should now spin up nicely. With the material secured I spin it once more. Now I will hold the whirl while I use my bodkin to rake the loop a few times. Some of the material will fall out. It shouldn't be much if it was done correctly. I then re-adjust the material as needed. Once I'm happy with how the material loop looks, I wind at the rear of the fly until the material has flared at a right agle to the body for 360 degrees around the rear of the body, before proceeding forward in closely spaced wraps. Once at the front of the fly, I remove any material that I don't need (By now I guess the correct amount every time.), and I will finish with a HITCH. Not a half-hitch. To do this, place your finger parallel to the fly. Bring the dubbing loop from the back of the bead to the underside of your finger, go over your finger, over the top of the bead. You should now have a 360 degree loop. Now make another 360 wrap around the bead (don't take it around your finger this time.), and let the dubbing whirl just hang. Now for the part that throws almost everyone; you have a loop across your finger. What to do with it....OK, as a bucket has a handle, and the handle will swing from one side of the bucket to the other, you want to do exactly that with the loop of thread. The loop should pass across the front of the fly to the opposite side. Now draw the loop closed by pulling on the dubbing whirl. It may help to use your bodkin to keep tension on the loop while drawing it down. Be careful not to catch any material in the loop while doing this. I do this twice, at the head. That should do it. No need to bring the bobbin into play. I just cut it away before making the hitch with the dubbing loop. I guarantee it to be 100% fool-proof. There is absolutely no need for glue, and I guarantee it to never fall apart. The body can still get munched down to the lead wraps, by fish, but the fly will not unravel for any lack of glue at the head!

 

As in the instructions, I also stipulate to use zap-a-gap on the hook shank after starting the thread, and before adding any tailing materail. There are two reasons. One, this fly will retain water, and cause the hook to rust; making a rusty stain on the tail marabou. Second, the mono thread can slip down the shank, of the finished fly, taking the rest of the body with it. Gluing the first few wraps before adding materials will solve these problems. I also hit the zap-a-gap with zip-kicker to fast cure the glue. It greatly speeds the tying time.