Matching the minnow

[dead_horse_bay_fisher 0]

Everbody in fly tying talks about matching the hatch. How about matching the minnow?

I fly fish (I'm new at this so I am using the term "fly fishing" loosely), in a couple of lakes in New Jersey, and when I get a chance, in the salt in Jamaica Bay, NY.

 

I went to my local lake the other day and, following some good advice from an old timer, checked to see what type of bait fish were hanging around in the shallows BEFORE I started fishing.

 

I noticed some minnows about 1 to 2 inches long, olive and black colored and in a small school of about 20 fish. I have no idea what they are called.

 

Does anyone know of a good web site or book that describes bait fish like this? I am interested in Northeast US, and/or Northeast Salt (I know they are different types of fish).

 

Also,

Most folks seem to use deceivers and Clouser Minnows or some variation as far as I can tell. These flys look nothing like any minnow I have ever seen. I have seen some old time flys that attempt to imitate various type of bait fish for both salt and fresh.

 

Why don't we try to imitate bait fish the way we imitate insects?

 

Thanks in advance,

dc

[Guest]

IMO if you get too realistic with a baitfish pattern it can lose its effectiveness and most that I have seen are too stiff and don't give good movement in the water. A clouser for example is a great fly to use because it gives a nice "jigging" movement in the water and it can be tied in any possible color combination with almost any material(natural or synthetic). Most predatory fish that eat baitfish have to have lightning fast reflexes to catch their prey so they only look for something to catch their eye before they will strike. With a fish sipping bugs, they are an easy meal so the fish can sit back and somewhat observe its meal because there is not as big of a risk of it fleeing. That is why I believe most nymphs and dries try to closely resemble the naturals while baitfish patterns are more trying to give a certain movement or flash that will catch a fish's eye.

 

You could defiantly tie more realistic imitations but I would guess that a clouser would work just as well.

[Philly 0]

d c

 

First here's a site you might find useful. It's called the Virtual Aquarium

 

http://www.cnr.vt.edu/efish/

 

I do try to match the hatch with minnows. I'm not a big Clouser fan, I just don't have any luck with them. I tend to tie flie using artificial materials, like Mirror Image, Fuzzy Fiber, Ultra Hair, and there are many others on the market. One trick I've learned is to preblend the flash, usually Angel Hair with the material before starting to tie. A lot of salt water anglers use a ratio of 3:1, flash to material in their blends. That's a bit much for fresh water I usually use 1:1. If you can get minnow net or a seine and catch some of the local minnows. Take a good look at them and see what colors they really are. Look at them from the side not the top. See how prominent the eye is. Then go from there.

 

Here's a couple of flies I've tied to match the hatch. A herring and a shad.

 

[Guest]

I've found that only three things need to be "matched" for baitfish patterns:

 

1. size

2. approximate profile

3. approximate coloration

 

The patterns above are good shad type imitations due to their profiles. A clouser would be a better imitation for a shiner or dace...that being said, there are tons of baitfish streamer pastterns out there but most would be classed as "impressionistic" rather than realistic. Since these flies are retrieved it helps if the materilas move, so real stiff ties aren't the most productive.

 

Mark Delaney

[Philly 0]

Mark:

Those particular flies aren't really stiff. They move in the water. Where a Clouser is designed to imitate a bucktail jig. These are designed to imitate baitfish the way lures are. They're high tied so they have a 3-D appearance. In fact the top one is an extended body fly. For fresh water streams, I tie similar patterns that are easier and quicker to tie, usually 3 to 4 pieces of material tied in behind the hook eye does the trick. The Herring and Shad patterns are 10 and 8 inches long. The typical pattern I tie are 1 1/2 to 3 inches long. Here are some shiner imitations that have worked well for me.

 

 

 

I find I have better luck fishing patterns with pastel backs rather than dark backs. The top and bottom are narrow body imitations. The middle one is a small shad or golden shiner imitation. Have to have at least one fly with chartruese in it.

[Guest]

Three very nice streamers Philly demnonstrating what I was trying to get across:

 

1. size

2. color

3. profile

 

I was referring to what would have to go int the "realistic" section of this site...flies that are exact duplictates...most of those don't fish that well because they usually do end up being stiff. The flies you've shown here I would class as imprressionistic.

 

Mark Delaney