Sunday, April 1, 2018

Hairless Muddler


   Designed to simulate sculpin, there’s no denying the effectiveness of Don Gapen’s original Muddler Minnow, a pattern that has spawned countless variations tied with heads of clipped deer hair or wool to create a fat-headed sculpin profile.  

Though quicker to tie, I’ve found wool-head versions not as killing as I’d like; & though there aren’t many fly-tying operations I don’t enjoy, I’m not that fond of spinning & clipping deer hair – mainly because it is time-consuming, hence frustrating when the Muddler snags the bottom & is broken off, or otherwise lost by any means (these work best fished with a sink-tip, tickling over the bottom).

Because it is such an important & wide-ranging trout food form, I’m always experimenting with new sculpin patterns & have had good results with several hackle-headed versions, employing multiple brahma hackles to effect the wide-headed profile. However, those versions use up a lot of brahma hackle in the process.

My recent fascination with the dabbler design frame has led me to realize how well it serves to create a sculpin profile, giving the illusion of mass without a lot of material build-up. The hackle version breathes & pulses; the hackle head providing a more realistic color blend with the rest of the fly than one might achieve from hair. Here’s the dressing for one I like:

Olive/Brown Muddler

Hook: #4-#6 TMC 200R

Thread: camel UNI 8/0

Hackle: front collar: olive guinea hen; rear collar: brahma hen

Tailing: brown over olive marabou, topped with a pinch of olive guinea hackle barbs

Rib: copper wire

Body: dark olive hare’s mask blended with a pinch of lighter olive antron & a pinch of chopped Hareline UV Shrimp dubbing for highlights – build the body heavier toward the front of the fly

Palmer: brown or brown-grizzly shlappen, 5 turns over the body (counting the initial collar) – wind a collar of 3 full turns of the hackle before palmering back to the hook bend

Wind the ribbing wire forward to cinch down the palmered hackle, tie off the wire in front of the palmer hackle collar (having left room to wind the 2 collars in front); wind the brahma hackle back to the palmer collar, 3 full turns, apply a turn of thread over the hackle tip & wind the tying thread forward over (through) to the front of the hackle (then trim away the hackle tip); & then do the same with the guinea hackle behind the hook eye.