Super Minnow

FLY-TYER'S

CORNER

by Paul Egan

Phone: (916) 640-5126

Super Minnow

Originator: Paul Egan

Hello again! When Bill Carnazzo asked me to write the December article for the Leader, I was delighted and honored to do so. Then he suggested I do a striper fly - even better! For stripers have been my main focus for the past several months, and the top producing fly on my boat has been the Super Minnow that I am featuring now.

The few of you who have taken my class pay attention to the instructions, because a fly like this is always in the development stages and I have made some changes to its construction. The Super Minnow is still an easy to tie, durable fly that catches lots of fish. It can be tied in any number of color combinations and in sizes from #2 to 5/0. The fly this month will be chartreuse over white in a size 2/0. This has been the best fly for the early Fall. If you have fished with me lately we have been using the synthetic version in a 3/0 or 4/0. The larger flies will work better now until the water gets cold. Actually, it is probably already cold now that this article is in print, so I will be going back to the smaller flies like the one here.

MATERIALS:

	Hook:		Eagle Claw #410 (bronze) or #413 Plated
	Thread:		Danville Fly Master Plus, white
	Eyes:		Real Eyes dumbbell
	Flash Tail:		10 strands of silver flashabou and 10 strands of pearl flashabou
	Tail:		White buck tail
	Tail Minder:		30# Mono
	Body:		Pearl crystal chenille
	Belly:		White buck tail
	Under Wing:		White buck tail
	Wing Flash:		Crystal flash to match over wing
	Wing:		Two stacks of chartreuse buck tail
	Topping:		Doug’s Bugs Electra-Flash

TYING INSTRUCTIONS:

1.       Mount hook in vise, sharpen, and then smash the barb.

2.       Remount the hook in the vise with the eye-bend down.

3.       Tie on eyes approximately 1/8 inch behind the eye-bend of the hook

4.       Wrap the thread to the rear of the hook. Apply Zap-A-Gap.

5.       Wrap the thread five turns forward.

6.       Clip clean and stack a clump of white buck tail. Separate the clump in half.

7.       Tie in the first half, tips pointing to the rear about 1/2 inch past the bend of the hook. Let the buck tail cover the sides of the hook shank.

8.       Tie in all 20 pieces of flash pointing forward, pull them to the rear of the hook and tie them down again. The tips should extend about 1½ inches past the buck tail.

9.       Tie in one end of the tail minder on the side of the shank, form a loop, and tie in the other end on the opposite side of the shank.

10.   Now tie in the second half of the buck tail on top of the tail minder.

11.   Use your bodkin to pull the tail through the loop. Leave some buck tail on the under side of the loop.

12.   Tie in a piece of crystal chenille and wrap the thread to the eyes, and then the chenille. Tie it off and clip the tag.

13.   Clean and stack another bunch of buck tail and tie it in over the eyes with a couple of figure eight wraps. (The points should be just as long as the shank of the hook.) Pull the butt ends over the eyes and tie them down and clip the tags on a taper and form a base layer for the nose and Glue.

14.   Remove the hook from the vise and turn it over, eye-bend up.

15.   Clip, clean, and stack a small bunch of buck tail. Use curly or semi-hollow hair. It should extend to the hook bend and be enough volume to fill the gap of the hook.

16.   Tie it down in front of the eyes and taper-cut the tag ends. Tie them down and glue.

17.   Select 5-7 strands of crystal flash. Tie them in with the loop method. When securing them, pull one end to each side of the fly and position it at 10 or 2 o’clock.

18.   Slide-cut the crystal flash on each side so it ends just beyond the bend of the hook.

19.   Select your first bunch of chartreuse buck tail. Clean, stack lightly. And tie it in so the points stick just past the bend of the hook. Taper-cut the tag ends, tie them down, and glue.

20.   Select your second bunch of chartreuse buck tail. (Always use two stacks; it will hold together better and taper the fly much smoother.) Clean and stack lightly. Tie it in on top of the first bunch. The tips should be slightly longer than the first. Taper cut the tag ends, tie them down, and glue.

21.   Topping: Tie in the Electra-Flash with the loop method, slide-cut, tie down, and glue.

22.   Form the “nose” of the fly. Glue and then for a more lasting finish apply two coats of Loon Hard-Head clear fly finish.

Note to all of the people entering flies in the monthly contest: I would love to hear stories about or see pictures of fish caught on your flies. Please respond to:

paulegan81@yahoo.com

Subject: Fly Tyers Corner

Tel: (916)640-5126