Steelhead Muddler

[turkey]

I got this idea from a tyer on another forum, but I wanted to post it here because I really like the way these are tied. Decided to use purple deer hair instead of natural. I plan on fishing these sub-surface and on the swing for lake run rainbows and browns. I can't catch any less fish than I am now so I might as well fish flies that I like. Does anyone here fish muddlers with any regularity?

 

[SBecker]

Turkey, FlipnFly caught two chromadomes legally with dead drifting a yellow muddler. Seemed to work good for him.

Actually, natural deer hair with yellow under body, if I remember correctly.

 

[gfen]

SBecker wrote:
Actually, natural deer hair with yellow under body, if I remember correctly.

Do believe that would be considered your bog standard muddler, no? I know I'm too lazy to make these things, and I've done them with yellow buck underwings?

Maybe I'm totally lying. Am I getting confused? Marabou perhaps? I wonder what became of that thing. I made it in George's class, then its..wherever?

Way too lazy for all that spinning and clipping.

 

[turkey]

Becker, I have a couple with natural hair and orange bodies, ala steelhead caddis. Was Flip skating/waking it on the surface? I'm still PO'd that I missed the trip. I fished yesterday and Elk was blown out. Its probably perfect today through tomorrow. Oh, and I snapped the top 6" off of my rod. Why do I keep doing this...

 

[turkey]

gfen, I don't know one muddler from the next. They seem to be really open to interpretation...which I like. I don't mind the spinning, its the clipping that gets to me. After I did a few of these, I looked a bass bug frog made completely out of deer hair and I almost threw up.

 

[McSneek]

I love muddlers because they just look cool to me. I like the materials that go into them. I've had good success with them on stocked trout. Also have done OK with a marabou muddler. I find getting the turkey tail and wing in place properly on a conventional version to be more challenging than spinning and trimming the head. What do you have to lose by tying some up and trying them out for steel?

 

[gfen]

turkey wrote:
gfen, I don't know one muddler from the next.

My thought is what makes a muddler matter is the head, after that the hallmarks are the hair fringe and the wing, and even that's debatable with marabou muddlers.

So, uhm, the head it is. Coz hell, the fringe is the head.

 

[SBecker]

turkey wrote:
Becker, I have a couple with natural hair and orange bodies, ala steelhead caddis. Was Flip skating/waking it on the surface? I'm still PO'd that I missed the trip. I fished yesterday and Elk was blown out. Its probably perfect today through tomorrow. Oh, and I snapped the top 6" off of my rod. Why do I keep doing this...

No I believe he was just dead drifting it like a nymph then stripping it back. Hopefully he reply's to this thread. Because, I can not remember to good.