Muddler Minnow

The Muddler Minnow is widely used and has many versions.  Some are tied in the classic hair version, some with maribou, some with bunny strips.  The picture above reflects the classic style with respect to its proportions although the feathers used on the wings and tail on the true classic version are a from brown and white striped turkey wing feathers as opposed to the lighter colors depicted in the photograph.  The recipe below will be somewhat different but the proportions will be like those shown; however, instead of the turkey feathers we will use maribou which will be much fuller than the underwing hair fibers in this picture.  This maribou will replace the wing and underwing of the classic version illustrated.

• Hook:          4X long stone fly / muddler hook or substitute a streamer hook
• Thread:      black 6/0(maybe 3/0 for tying the head and collar)
• Tail:            red hackle fibers or antron fibers tied the size of the hook gap
• Weight:     wrap lead substitute wire from the bend ¾ up the shank
• Body:        gold tinsel, preferably embossed, to cover the "lead"
• Wing:        dark gray or black maribou extending the length of the tail and tied fairly full using the tips of two maribou feathers; on each side of the maribou wing place two lengths of peacock herl running the length of the maribou
• Collar:      relatively fine dark natural deer hair such as coastal deer hair or comparadun hair
• Head:      same as the collar

If you have not attempted to spin deer hair in the past, it is not very difficult. There are several ways to tie the head and collar of a muddler but the technique shown in the following vidoe is about as easy as I have seen:

http://www.5min.com/Video/How-to-Make-the-Muddler-Minnow-Fishing-Fly-276853304