Robinson's Munchable Minnow

Well, it's that time of year again. We are all getting excited for our favorite time of year...Steelhead season. The fresh chrome is coming in as we speak, so now seemed as good a time as any to finally get the Munchable Minnow up on the blog. Many have requested it and I apologize for the delay, but here it is. I hope you do as well with them as I do!

SAO Guide Patrick Robinson poses with his son after

a dropback hen slammed his Munchable Minnow

The Munchable Minnow can be tied in a number of different color combinations for different water conditions and/or species being targeted. This fly is deadly on our Steelhead, and equally as deadly on Bass and Pike. Tie a few up and get out there and give em' a shot.

- - - - - Creek Chub - - - - -

Hook: Daiichi 2441 - 1/0

Thread: White/Black Danville Flat Waxed Nylon

Tail: Hairline Black Barred Rabbit Strips - Crawfish Orange

Flash: Krystal Flash in Copper & Pearl

Collar: 5-7 Inch Schlappen - Orange

Head: Senyo Laser Dub - Brown,

Laser Yarn or Senyo Laser Dub - Tan

Ice Dub - Orange

Step 1: Tie in a rabbit zonker strip even with the hook point, leaving 2-3 inches for the tail. Pull Material out of the way and move the thread forward, half the distance to the eye of the hook. Palmer the remaining zonker strip forward to the halfway mark and capture. (use glue before palmering zonker to strenghten the tie)

Step 2: Tie in one piece (doubled) of copper and pearl Krystal Flash. Next, take one schlappen feather, prepare and tie in. Palmer forward 3-5 times and capture.

Step 3: Take two small clumps of Senyo Laser Dub and capture one on each side of the hook shank. Fold back the material and move the thread forward. Repeat until proper amount of material has been applied.

Step 4: Continue adding the desired material(s), starting with Laser Yarn or Senyo's Laser Dub and then switch to Ice Dub to finish the head. Be careful to comb out each layer after tying it in. Do so with a wire bristle brush. This will remove any loose material and ensure a stronger tie.

Step 5: After all the materials are tied in and the fly has been tied off with a whip finish, it is time to trim. Comb all material in the upper half up, and the material in the lower half of material down. Once this is done, trim the head materials at a 45 degree angle to the hook shank. Once trimmed comb back and give shape as seen below.

Step 6: Upon completion of trimming, comb everything back and place an eye on each side and do any touch up trimming that you may desire. Your fly is now read to hit the water.

For those of you interested in other color combos, here are the others I tie:

- - - - - Pumpkinseed - - - - -

Hook: Daiichi 2441 - 1/0

Thread: White/Black Danville Flat Waxed Nylon

Tail: Hairline Black Barred Rabbit Strips - Chartreuse

Flash: Krystal Flash in Pearl

Collar: 5-7 Inch Schlappen - Orange

Head: Laser Yarn - Yellow,

Ice Dub - UV Pink

Ice Dub - Orange

Eyes: 3/16" Silver Holographic Eyes

- - - - - Little Steelie - - - - -

Hook: Daiichi 2441 - 1/0

Thread: White/Black Danville Flat Waxed Nylon

Tail: Hairline Black Barred Rabbit Strips - Baby Blue

Flash: Krystal Flash in Pearl & Rainbow

Collar: 5-7 Inch Schlappen - Shrimp Pink

Head: Senyo's Laser Dub - Purple

Ice Dub - UV Pink

Ice Dub - Blue Steelie

Eyes: 3/16" Silver Holographic Eyes

- - - - - Sculpin - - - - -

Hook: Daiichi 2441 - 1/0

Thread: White/Black Danville Flat Waxed Nylon

Tail: Hairline Black Barred Rabbit Strips - Olive Variant

Flash: Krystal Flash in Pearl

Collar: - Large Woodduck or Dyed Mallard (Gold)

Head: Senyo's Laser Dub - Tan

Ice Dub - UV Pink

Ice Dub - Peacock Black

Eyes: 3/16" Silver Holographic Eyes

- - - - - White Lightning - - - - -

Hook: Daiichi 2441 - 1/0

Thread: White/Black Danville Flat Waxed Nylon

Tail: Hairline White Rabbit

Flash: Krystal Flash in Pearl

Collar: 5-7 Inch Schlappen - Kingfisher Blue

Head: Senyo's Laser Dub - Hot Pink

Ice Dub - UV Pearl

Eyes: 3/16" Silver Holographic Eyes

- - - - - Goby - - - - -

Hook: Daiichi 2441 - 1/0

Thread: White/Black Danville Flat Waxed Nylon

Tail: Hairline Black Barred Rabbit Strips - Medium Brown

Flash: Krystal Flash in Gold

Collar:

Large Woodduck or Dyed Mallard (Gold)

Head: Senyo's Laser Dub - Tan

Ice Dub - Chartreuse

Ice Dub - Peacock

Eyes: 3/16" Silver Holographic Eyes

I hope that you find this fly to be a favorite in your fly boxes as they are for me. Now get out there and get some fresh Chrome and send us your photos to share with others.

Tight Lines and Good Ties!

Patrick "Flybum" Robinson

Head Guide

Steelhead Alley Outfitters

Mike's Reaper

All right big fly fans...here you go! The Reaper is 7" of fish wrecking fury at the end of your line. I had intended to get this up for you all in time for the initial salmon run in Michigan, but low and hot water put it off so I just lost track of time. The recent rains and colder weather have fish finally moving in to the rivers so for the next couple weeks you have a chance to hook up with some seriously strong fish both in the rivers and at the mouths. With this fly you no longer have to be jealous of the gear guys throwing Thundersticks...this fly has all the size and mass they do but you can give it some seriously sexy slink in the water with the right retrieve.

Thread: UTC140 denier
Hook: Gamagatsu SL12S 8/0
Body1: Yak hair
Body2: Icelandic Sheep hair
Body3: Whiting Flatwing Saddle hackle
Flash: Flashabou
Head: Large Northern Bucktail
Eyes: 1/2" 3D Holographic Epoxy, Super Pearl

STEP 1: Start off by placing the 8/0 Gamagatsu SL12S firmly in your vise jaws, then get your thread started. No need to cover the hook shank with your thread on a pattern of this size, so simply getting your thread started towards the back of the hook is perfectly acceptable.

STEP 2: First off on this fly is the yak underbody. Tie in a chunk of yellow yak on top of the hook shank and orange on the bottom. To help add bulk it is best to tie each hunk in with a fair amount hanging off the front of the hook, then fold it back, tie it off, then trim it down to the desired shape.

STEP 3: The first round of Flashabou is then added with Pearl Yellow on top of the hook shank and Pearl Orange on bottom. Hold the flash in place for the length you wish to achieve, give a few secure thread wraps, then fold the flash back and tie it down. This allows you to waste less Flashabou as well as ensure it will not pull out.

STEP 4: The next step to add bulk to the body of the fly is to tie in the Icelandic Sheep hair. Again to assist with a larger profile you will tie in the hair hanging off the front ot the hook shank, with yellow on top and orange underneath. Seeing as delicacy is not an issue, make sure to give a good 6-10 tight wraps with both tufts of hair in place to really lock them in place. These wraps should end up at about the halfway point of the hook shank.

STEP 5: With the Icelandic Sheep Hair off the front of the hook you will now reverse the two bunches of hair backwards and secure them. As stated in the previous step you can give it a fair number of tight wraps to lock the hair in place.

STEP 6: Now for the second addition of Flashabou. As before you will take a liberal amount of yellow flash for the top and orange for the bottom. Lay it out to length on the tail, a few tight wraps in the middle, then reverse and secure with a few tight wraps. During this step you will use the thread torque, and your fingers if necessary, to ensure you have flash around the whole body of the fly.

STEP 7: Pick out a few Flatwing Saddle feathers in the appropriate colors and tie them in at a length that alllows for the correct body taper to continue as you build the fly.

STEP 8 (optional): This is an optional step to be used for those color combinations that you wish to have a dark top. For the Firetiger combination shown here I tie in a few grizzly green hackles.

STEP 9: The final material to be added to the fly is the bucktail head. Advance your thread to just behind the eye. At that point you will tie in a chunk of green bucktail on top of the hook shank and orange on the bottom of the hook shank. You will tie the hair in with the tips extending out over the eye of the hook. Make sure to give half a dozen or so good tight wraps, after each bunch it tied in, to really lock the hair in place before moving to the next step.

STEP 10: After making sure the hair is tightly secured behind the eye of the hook you will now reverse the hair backwards and tie down with 10-12 wraps. To assist you in reversing the hair it may be helpful to use a pen tube ;literally a pen with the tip and insides removed. slide the pen tube over the eye of the hook, and that will flair then reverse the hair. I usually hit this joint with Hard as Hull and then whip finish right behind the eye.

STEP 11: To finish the fly I then use Zap a Gap gel to affix a 1/2" 3D Epoxy Super Pearl to each side. If I could find bigger 3D eyes I would use them!

Whether targetting fish in the rivers or out on the main lakes this fly has the size to move some serious water and the slink to match. Tied in various color combinations you can match the fly to the current water and light conditions. I have them stocked in my box in Firetiger, Green/White, Black/Orange, Orange/White, Pink/White, Blue/White, and Blue/Orange. While this was tied up with casting for salmon in mind, it is a serious mouthful for any predator fish that may be around and looking for food. I like to throw this on my 8WT with 250 or 300gr sinking line, though on the big water you may want to go heavier both with the rod weight and the line weight.

To order this pattern or my other patterns, or if you have any questions about the pattern that were not addressed, please visit http://www.anglerschoiceflies.com/ or find me at Anglers Choice Flies on Facebook.