OK, so the title sounds like a good old boy discussing his favorite bass
bait. In a sense, that's exactly what this is, except us fly-fishin'
folks call 'em flies. And, it's also a good pike fly, or saltwater fly,
or good fly for anything big and hungry.
Bob Clouser gets the credit for the inspiration but not the total design
of this fly. As with many other flies, the Mega-Minner is a modification
of a great working pattern, the Clouser Minnow. This modification is
geared towards saltwater and big hungry pike. It also can be used to
fool lake trout and bass.
The idea for this fly is pretty simple; take a fly that fools fish well,
and make it swim like a jig. The upturned hook, heavy hourglass eyes,
epoxy style head and prismatic flash of the oversized eyes coupled with
flashy body materials are just what the fish doctor ordered to fool a
hungry predator.
Once again, this fly was created for adaptation. You have the choice to
change colors and sizes to match the local baitfish populations. If you
want it to go deeper, change the size of the hourglass eyes. It's really
designed for the bottom run anyway, so tie it that way.
The main technique to learn here is how to manipulate the body
materials to achieve the desired effect. In reality, that is precisely
what fly tying is all about anyway. You manipulate the body materials to
achieve the desired look, shape and effect. This fly just takes that
idea one step further. Here, we manipulate the materials around the head
to achieve the minnow profile we want.
You'll need a twist-tie or some soft wire in addition to the listed body
materials. This isn't going to be part of the body, but will be used to
hold the body in shape until the epoxy or finish used on the head has a
chance to dry.
If you like to experiment a little, you can add mylar tubing over the
hourglass eyes before you glue on the prismatic eyes and dip the head in
Angler's Choice thick Soft Body. It gives the fly a lot of flash, and
looks pretty good too.
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