Description

The Fuzzy Minnow is a fly I first tied when I went to Alaska in 2004 to be used for catching big pike on the Innoko River. I tied them in black and red, yellow and red, white and red and chartuese and white. It gives a big baitfish shape in the water but is not terribly hard to cast. Tie a few up and try them out the next time you want an easy to tie streamer that catches fish. I caught my biggest pike on this fly. It was 36"!

Materials

Hook: Tiemco 811S, Size 4/0 - 8 or 9395, Size 2 - 12

Thread: Ultra Thread 140 Denier on larger sizes and 70 Denier on smaller sizes, color to match the wing.

Eyes: Brass or lead hour glass eyes

Wing: Black and red Flash'N Slinky fiber from H2O products. You can use bucktail or any other synthetic hair that you like.

Step 1

Place the hook securely in the vise.

Step 2

Start the tying thread on the hook and wrap back away from the hook eye about one hook eye length. This will be  agood spot to tie the hour glass eyes on the hook.

Step 3

Tie the hour glass eyes on th hook shank by using figure eight wraps of thread. It is always a good idea to place a drop of head cement or super glue on the thread wrtaps to make sure the eyes stay put on the top of the hook shank.

Step 4

Next, wrap the tying thread back towards the hook bend and stop when the thread is hanging above the hook point. This is where teh hook bend starts.

Step 5

Tie on a small clump of the synthetic hair for the tail of the fly. This color should be whatever color you choose for the belly color of your Fuzzy Minnow. I am using red for the tying tutorial.

Step 6

Now turn the hook upside down in th vise or rotate it upside down if you have a rotary vise and tie in a small clump of sythetic hair of a darker color. This will be the back color of your minnow. I am using black for the back of the fly in the lesson.

Step 7

Keep tying the two different colors of synthetic hair alternating between the top and bottm of the hook shank. The more clumps you tie in along the hook shank the fuller the minnow will be. Try experimenting with more or less clumps to see the different body shapes you will get. You can also use different amounts of the hair to make the minnow thick or thin. Play with it and have fun creating some neat minnows.

Step 8

The last two clumps of hair should be just in front of the hour glass eyes like in the picture. It important to use good thread pressure when tying the clumps of hair on hook shank. You can also add a drop of head cement to the thread wraps after tying the hair onto the hook. This will make your fly more durable for those fish with lots of teeth!

Step 9

Make a whip finish knot and cut off your tying thread. You can do some trimming on the wing and tail to make the shape you want for your Fuzzy Minnow.

Step 10

Great job! you just made your first Fuzzy Minnow. Go cast one of these in your favorite fishing spot and strip it in. Remeber to hold on tight becasue the fish really like to eat these!