FLYMPH FORUM

The Winter 2022 edition of Fly Tyer Magazine had an article entitled "The Wood Duck Minnow", by Greg DeYoung (pages 12 to 15). The article described an elegantly simple soft hackle baitfish pattern. After reading the article, I was "hooked" and had to put down the magazine and head straight to the vice.



Scruffy looking fly, right after the hackle is wrapped and thread counter wrapped to reinforce stem.


Hackle fibers pinched firmly to get them to lay back around the body.




I like to take the finished flies and run them in the sink to soak the hackle fibers, which further shapes them into a slender baitfish profile. The flies are allowed to air dry on an adsorbent tissue or paper towel.


Playing around with different hackle (woodduck and barred gadwall flank feathers) and bodies.

Here is one with a smooth pearlescent mylar body, wrapped over white Uni-Floss. The tinsel takes on a subtle pink glow as light passes thru the mylar and is reflected back from the white floss underbody (see bottom fly in the photo above).


One of my favorite so far, is holographic tinsel wrapped in open spirals over a white floss body. I like the glints of color as the fly moves around.


MATERIALS USED:
Hook - Mustad 3906B (Size 4)
Underbody - UNI-Stretch (White)
Tinsel Rib or Body - UTC Large Flat Pearl Tinsel or UNI-Mylar #12 (Holographic Silver)
Thread - 8/0 UNI-Thread (Red)
Hackle - Woodduck or Gadwall Flank Feathers (Natural)

Note - the materials in the article are slightly different
(Tiemco TMC200R hook/Size 2 & black thread & grouse or hen collar hackle)



Anyway, just wanted to share an simple baitfish imitation that I am excited to try.

Thanks for the inspiration Greg, and congratulations on your first article. I really enjoyed it and am excited to fish this pattern in the future.



YouTube Tying Videos:

Nicely done Ray.

Great job Ray,
Kinda reminds me of your pop series flies.

Lou

Lou,

That may be some bleed over, from my tying style. Hard to change old habits.

Ray, Howdy;

You be da MAN!!! See something ya like and make it.
Willing to bet that a smaller size (6 or 8), would bring some nice pan fish .

hank

Really nice, Ray. Smelt patterns are the go-to flies up here for big brookies and land lock salmon. I'll be tying a few to add to my big fish box.

Love it!!

It reminds me of the Mallard Spider that was one of 4 streamers my dad used to fish when he borrowed my fly rod on rare occasions in the 60's. It has been a go to streamer for me since then.

IMGP5700 by William Lovelace, on Flickr

Ray,
Wow! This is just the minnow imitation that I have been looking for! Your body work on these patterns is really what caught my eye and so it will be with many different species of fish! In particular, I can see big smallies smashing this one to smitherines! I have got to try this series soon! I really like the look of the wood duck but I think the gadwall is slightly more minnow looking (realistic)! Can I place my order with you now? Just kidding! Your SBS is wonderful!
Come on Springtime! Your breadth and depth of tying is simply amazing Ray!
Dougsden

EDIT - ADDING DOUG's VERSION:

It's a great design that has been around in many forms as Bill shows. Love your variations Ray. I'm working on Salty Tenkara flies this winter and I had this one chosen to experiment with. I think I like the option with a tail. This way the fly retains some length when it's not actively being stripped in. In any pause, the hackle will open and loose a lot of the profile.

An easy way to force feathers to lay back is to use a hair dryer with the hottest setting Just hold the nozzle of the air dryer close to the eye. It only takes a few seconds.
Works perfectly for all variety of duck feathers along with wooly buggers and any palmered fly. It will easily sweep back game bird feathers on soft hackles too.