A very versatile fly. I use the muddler and it's many mutant forms such as the Zoo Cougar, Kiwi Muddler etc. I use a jerk-strip retrieve and try to make them look like a fleeing sculpin.

As for the straight up muddler minnow, I fish it sometimes as a surface pattern but I also fish size 6 and 8s down and across for Brook Trout in very small streams. Every fish in the pool will chase them, but I usually only hook the bigger ones with them. I think these flies are fun to tie, and I like the ones I tie better because the sink much easier. I don't spin as much hair as commercially tied ones and they absorb more water.