I wanted to bring you another classic wingless wet fly called the Muskrat and Moorhen! I am not exactly sure who the inventor is and I am sure that I have copied it from.....somewhere! I have tied and used this fly for quite a few years now and it is a fooler for big fish particularly in the fall when the water turns over and 7 & 8x tippet become the norm! I cannot say that it immitates any specific fly that is known to hatch in our area. On trout waters.....please folks, tell me what you think! I have been using it lately in the early evenings over some hard to fool 10" bluegill that, for some reason, want to hang around the surface! A low approach and a delicate cast yield much! Enjoy and let me know what you think of it and how it fishes for you!
Muskrat and Moorhen
Hook: Tiemco 102Y in sizes 13-15-17-19. As you know the 102Y is a fine wire dryfly hook with a black finish, extremely small barb, and a wide hook gape. The fine wire lets the pattern settle slowly in the water column which seems to add to its attractivness! If you were to grease this pattern with floatant, you could fish it as a dryfly at least for a while!
Thread: Danvilles 6/0 waxed. The color I can only describe as "golden yellow". Regular or flouresent thread would prob. work just great but I have never experimented with these! Let's give them a try!
Tag: Four to six turns of the same tying thread but with a slight taper as you head towards the body. It helps to unwind the thread until it's nearly flat as you form the tag.
Body: Medium Gray muskrat belly fur with any long guard hairs pulled out. For the most part there are not too many guard hairs on a muskrats underside but if there is, pluck'm! I have been using Hareline Dubbin's Sheared and Blended Muskrat Belly. Really good stuff esp. for the smaller sizes! The dubbing is applied moderately but squeezed down and rolled clockwise tightly to form a noodle right on the tying thread! This is wound forward without much help and left rather shaggy. A few strokes from Ruards velcro "scratcher" works great to get that just right fuzzy look!
Hackle: From a Moorhens wing - the upper wing covert matched to the size of the hook you have chosen! Suitable substitutes for Moorhen include Jackdaw or Starling! Two turns at most and maybe three if needed! Sparser is betterer!
Head: As small and unnoticeable as possible! A micro-drop of head cement thin enough to penetrate the new head you just created!
Notes...If you tie and fish this pattern, please post your pictures on the forum for all to see and enjoy! I know that I would get a kick out of it! I will try and do the same! D.
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