The patterns I have seen of these look really great, but I have seen them written up as being an “out of date” pattern in more than one place and only found 1 hit from a search of the forum here. Wondering if anyone ties and uses this type of fly - and what exactly makes a fly “out of date???” Is there a style that replaced this or something? Would love to see some from members on here… if anyone makes them.
Thinking of making some up for river small smouth and maybe some smaller ones for crappie.
I’ve tied and fished them. They don’t hold up as well as streamers tied with synthetics, maybe thats why they were called outdated? They’ve caught me enough bass for me to keep a couple in my boxes though.
I used this one to test my new scanner a while back: [
I prefer hen feathers for the wings. I don’t trim one side of the hackle. I pull those barbules up to form a thicker wing. You need four feathers for one wing. Start the rib a little forward of the hook bend so that you are on the shank of the hook.
Matuku’s are still exceptionally popular here in New Zealand. A Grey Ghost (no the Carrie Stevens version) is very popular on the Ngongataha stream (tail: red hackle fibres (optional), body: flat silver tinsel ; wing: grey hackle feathers ; rib : oval silver tinsel/silver wire; hackle : grey) and Parson’s Glory (tail: red hackle fibres (optional), body: yellow chenille/wool; wing: honey grizzle ; rib : narrow flat silver tinsel/oval silver tinsel/silver wire; hackle : honey grizzle) is probably still one of the most popular large wet flies in the country. They are often tied quite larger here, but are effective in smaller sizes (size 8 or 10).
Jeff - Thanks for the great info. In looking up the patterns, I saw some that use a rabbit or squirell zonker strip in place of a feather wing. Not the traditional fly, but they looked interesting as well. Will have to tie some both ways and give them a shot as soon as all the ice is gone.
ELHead - Kinda thought the same thing, but after reading it in 2 different places and not many posts about them on here, got me wondering if the fish just woke up one morning and figured out that there actually was a hook in there. :lol: Russ
At the fly shop I help out at sometimes, matukas are one of the top three or four most requested patterns. Even more than woolly buggers I think. Black, White, and Olive mostly. Very popular for bass, panfish, and trout. My favorite version is one I tie with using olive grizzly hen for the wing and color, a body of light olive light bright spun in a dubbing loop, black thread for a rib, and a turn of red micro chenille behind the collar.
JeffHamm, Aren’t Matuka’s originally FROM New Zealand? I remember reading somewhere that the Matuka ‘style’ (the way the wing is cut to fit the hook and lashed down on top) was tied for a Matuka lake or some other named body of water down in your hemisphere. Or am I totally mistaken on that?
I always carry some in my bigger fly boxes for bass (SM & LMB). Fishing mostly that general size fly I usuallylook for those in fly shops and along with scuplins and other similar size/types of big streamers, Cant say I always see them, but will make a note to self to start checking.
I theorize that the ‘passe’ part likely comes from a columnist/writer who can only tie simple dries.
Also if you use a strip of fur still on the hide (rabbit, squirrel etc) doesn’t that make it a zonker at that point?
Sorry, I went back and tried to search for the pics I was looking at and couldn’t find them!!! But when I searched for a “rabbit matuka” pattern, i found them again. Do a search once for them, lots pop up. Here are the ones I was looking at that I am working on trying to make. - Rabbit Matuka you have to scroll down a ways - When I can get them to where I like them, maybe I will post up what I make. Thanks!
Yes, Matuku’s originated in New Zealand. Matuku is the Maori name for a bittern, the feathers of which were use to tie a fly years ago (called a Matuku, and tied with the wing lashed to the hook shank). They were so popular that the matuku was being shot to extinction, so they were made a protected species (as was the kiwi, whose feathers were also being used for flies in a similar way). Since they were very popular and succesful flies, substitues were looked for. Hackles were used and are now the most common, but some have also used flank feathers from hen pheasants and other game birds. So, originally a Matuku was a specific fly pattern, named after the bird the feather came from, but now it refers to a general style of pattern (a feather wing streamer with the wing lashed to the shank). Also, the name changed to Matuka when it crossed the equator, while the proper spelling is Matuku to keep with the origins.
One of my personal favorites is a “copper Dorathy”. Basically, a Matuku tied with grizzle hackle wings and collar is a “Dorathy”, and the copper indicates the body is copper tinsel. The tail is blue hackle fibres and it’s ribbed with copper wire. This is my own variation, the more common Dorathy’s you’ll find in the shops would be a yellow Dorathy, a silver Dorathy, and green Dorathy’s seem to be popular recently (they all tend to have silver ribs and red tails). A silver bodied, silver ribbed, matuku tied with badger wings and collar is a “Jack’s Sprat”, and I think it’s a great looking minnow immitation.
And yes, the “Rabbit Matuku”, or just called a Rabbit fly, is also very very popular here. They’ve been popular in NZ since the 30s, so I think they pre-date “zonkers”. Ferrel cat skins are also used for strips (ferrel cats are a big pest on the native birds here; New Zealand has no natural mamals predators, so all the native birds are quite easy pickings for cats, dogs, ferrets, etc). Anyway, they are usually tied with chenille bodies, red hackle fibre tails, and hackle throats. Yellow Rabbits and Red Rabbits (colour of the chenille body) are both very popular day and night patterns, respectively.
