Bodkin / Patterns

Matt's Steelhead Muddler Minnow

Streamer · Salmon/Steelhead · Steelhead · Trout · Advanced · 1 version

Tyer Recipe

  • Hook Heavy-wire salmon/steelhead hook, #4
  • Thread Brown 8/0 (Semperfli Classic Waxed)

Materials

  • Mirror/Mirage tinsel (tag) Iridescent pearl mirror mirage tinsel (A few turns back and forward)
  • Golden pheasant crest (tail) Natural golden pheasant crest (One feather, curving up)
  • Flat gold mirror tinsel (rib) Gold oval tinsel (1/16 inch, one strand)
  • Seal's fur, blended (body) Orange and yellow blended (Enough for a full buggy body)
  • Turkey quill (wing) Mottled natural turkey quill (One matched slip)
  • Guinea fowl (collar) Natural, small-dotted (One feather, one to two turns)
  • Deer hair (head) Natural with short black tips (Two clumps, stacked)

How to tie it

  1. Mount a size 4 heavy-wire salmon hook and start brown 8/0 thread, running a base back to the tail tie-in point at the bend.
  2. Tie in Mirage tinsel at the bend, wrap it back to the end of the tie-in point and forward again to form a tag; tie off (a touch of resin over the tag adds durability).
  3. Tie in a golden pheasant crest feather as a tail with the natural curve sweeping up, pinching it so it rides straight; bind the butt down.
  4. Tie in 1/16 inch flat gold tinsel on top for the rib.
  5. Dub a full, buggy body of blended orange and yellow seal's fur (use a dubbing loop if you are not on a rotary vise) forward to about a head's length behind the eye.
  6. Rib the body forward with the gold tinsel in evenly spaced open turns and tie it off.
  7. Brush the seal's fur out with a dubbing picker and sweep the fibers back so the body looks spey-like.
  8. Tie a mottled turkey quill slip on top as the wing using a pinch wrap. Hold the quill between your fingers, bring the thread up between them, under the shank, and pull straight up so the wing sits on top.
  9. Tie in a natural guinea feather by the stem with one side stripped, take one to two turns as a collar, sweep the barbs back and tie down.
  10. Clean and stack a clump of deer hair with short black tips, set it in just in front of the guinea with one soft turn, then a second turn, and let it spin around the shank.
  11. Add a second clump the same way, pack it back, build a small thread head in front and whip finish.
  12. Trim the spun deer hair to a muddler head a little at a time, keeping it sparse enough to push water without being bulky.

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