Muddler Minnow calf tail substitutions

[FIN-ITE 34 0]

Maybe to clear up some of the confusion, the muddler has an UNDERWING of squirrel (most usually grey) and a WING of mottled turkey.

[Dave G. 0]

Turkey on the sides and tag or tail if you will, yes. Always had hair of some sort as the internal wing as far as I know. That is where I use red squirrel which is a variant for sure and a further variant on my part at times is to use squirrel as the tag. I still use turkey sides. I suppose my variants takes the fly out of true Muddler classification but ya know what ? The brookies love em !

[flytire 0]

UNDERWING

 

now it makes sense

[Dave G. 0]

UNDERWING

 

now it makes sense

flytire i was searching my memory banks for Underwing, Underwing, Underwing and coming up dry, for the life of me it would not surface (welcome to the going on 66 club David). THANKS !!!

[NoSlack 0]

I was just curious as to what others have had success with

Just with regular muddlers. Nothing fancy. Coastal Cutties love em!!

[phg 0]

...at some point it isn't a muddler any more.

[Dave G. 0]

Can't argue that point.

[David Parker 0]

IMO, to stay within the pattern of being a Muddler, shouldn't the materials being used be as close to those called for in the original pattern?

Anything beyond that is really just a variation of the original, but what does it matter unless you are trying to tie a true "Muddler Minnow".

 

If you look at that photo posted earlier of Don Gapon's original Muddler, it is pretty rustic and almost looks as if it was tied hand held w/o a vice.

An interesting article goes along with that photo and suggests that we as tier's make our Muddlers too beautiful so-to-speak compared to the original pattern.

 

We as fly tiers have the chance to make them as we want them, using whatever materials we have on hand to produce a pattern that will hopefully attract a fish enough to make it eat the fly. So aside from the original Muddler, use whatever material you wish for an underwing and call it a "variation".

 

I have used everything from squirrel, black bear, marabou, yarn and congo hair in various colours just to see if the fish will eat them. In many cases they did, so I feel it's more about the fly presentation to the fish rather than the materials used in it's construction. In the end, some patterns will always produce better than others and that is what makes our craft so enjoyable and rewarding.

[Guest]

Crazy thought: why not go buy some calf tail? It's cheap and readily available. I understand (and support you) if you're trying to do a new thing, but if it's only because you don't have any, get some.

[josephcsylvia 0]

Crazy thought: why not go buy some calf tail? It's cheap and readily available. I understand (and support you) if you're trying to do a new thing, but if it's only because you don't have any, get some.

it certainly is cheap, I just bought a 5 color pack for $4 from my shop

[Dave G. 0]

If I'm repeating myself, sorry.

 

It seems there can be local variations as well. Locally, maybe 20 years ago, if you bought a Muddler in a local shop here it was probably a light barred turkey wing with grey squirrel underwing. Locally the bass like those. Then I ran into an old guy up in Maine was catching fish like crazy. I asked him what he was using and he said Muddler. When he took a break and sat on a rock we got into a discussion about the Muddlers he ties for up there and he said he uses the pattern from up to nearly palm size for lakes and down to 12 or so in a caddis hatch. Those are the dark turkey with natural red squirrel ones. The fish just like them. It looked absolutely nothing like mine, to which I told him I never caught much with mine up there. He could see why right away. Cool ! So I took his advice and for about 20 years now have tied my Maine Muddlers like his and both my wife and I have caught many many trout on them ( though that day that I met him he was catching salmon)..

 

All that said, the first salmon my stepson ever caught , again in Maine, was on a Muddler stocked locally up there, it had a medium to dark turkey wing and tail with yellow underwing of calves tail and the month was September of 1989.

 

Again locally for in the salt estuaries around here there is a fly called The Montauk Minnow, a big variation on a Muddler is basically what it is. And no it is not called a Muddler ( for the purists around the forum), it is called a Montauk Minnow.

[m_grieb 0]

I am fully able to buy calf tail and in fact i just found one laying in my piles of stuff. All i was asking is what you guys have used for a substitution. Not what i "could" use but what you guys have used in the past that has performed. I understand that once you change something, it becomes a variation. I fully understand that. Just wanted to see what you guys did.

[Guest]

Ah, gotcha. I can dig that! 8-)

[Guest]

 

Crazy thought: why not go buy some calf tail? It's cheap and readily available. I understand (and support you) if you're trying to do a new thing, but if it's only because you don't have any, get some.

it certainly is cheap, I just bought a 5 color pack for $4 from my shop

 

Wow, sweet deal!

[troutguy 0]

Below are a couple of good articles on Muddler Minnows.

 

I could not find a recipe that called for calf tail anywhere. I often substitute Russian squirrel, fox, coyote or badger or any long stiff fur that suits my needs. Calf tail would work if you want it.

 

Gray squirrel, bucktail, deer body hair and turkey was the standard.

 

 

http://www.fieldandstream.com/articles/fishing/trout-fishing/what-use-catch-trout/2013/09/falls-classic-fly

 

 

 

http://globalflyfisher.com/patterns-tie-better/gapens-muddler-minnow