Kinkibou Muddlers

[Tim A]

These are rough drafts. I've been playing around with different size clumps tying heads for a synthetic(-head) marabou muddler. These use SF blend tied V-style.

 

[Rob G]

In the immortal words of Dave F., "Smallies love yellow" as Jim Z nods his head in agreement.

 

That middle one should be considered illegal on my local streams!

[Tom L]

Like your idea of using marabous as the tails for these streamers. I've never had much confidence in Congo hair or EP fiber as tails for smaller streamers. The systhetic fibers may work fine for larger streamers (5+ inches); but anything smaller I prefer natural materials like marabou, rabbit strip or artic fox .

 

Nicely done, Tim. I'll have to borrow your idea and start playing Congo hairs.

[Ryan Kral]

Tim, what do you mean by "v-style"? And what material is that for the head? They look good! Ryan

[tjtroester]

well tyed!!

[Tim A]

I'm glad you guys like them! I'm hoping to catch a lot of smallmouth on these this year.

 

Rob, thank you. I like yellow, and it doesn't get enough attention from anglers. That's a good thing for those of us that do use it, though!

 

Ryan, the head is made of Steve Farrar's Flash Blend (or SF Blend for short), which is a mix of Kinky Fiber and Angel Hair (hence the "kinky" name used in a lot of flies with this head). A lot of fly shops carry it. Here's a link: http://www.bearsden.com/product4404.html

The "V-style" I'm referring to is a technique usually attributed to East Coast flyrodder Jonny King, who used this style to develop the original "Kinky Muddler." It involves tying in short lengths of a fiber at 45deg, then folding back along the other side of the hook, creating a "V" shape. You do this along the entire length of the head, alternating between the top and bottom of the hook. Then you trim the final product at various angles to get the shape you want. See this great SBS from Jonny King:

http://www.flyfisherman.com/2011/06/28/kinky-muddler-2/

 

Tom, I agree that marabou is a "better" tail material than the synthetics for many bass-size flies--however, I use synthetic tails for toothy fish that don't care about a pretty tail and often eat their prey at high speed (like bluefish, spanish mackerel). It is more durable, and it affects the fly's appearance less to get snipped by teeth. But anyway, yes, the marabou will be good for swinging in the current. And if you do tie some with Congo Hair heads, be aware that they will may a different buoyancy/sink rate than these using SF. I find that Congo Hair heads sink faster than SF. The SF will suspend--but of course, this is affected by the density of the head (i.e. how much material you use).

[Tom L]

Tim, the SF Blends looks very good. They got very nice sparkles in them, unlike the Congo hairs.

 

The V-Style tying is a neat trick. Thanks.

 

I found another style of tying using "Loops". Here is the link.

http://www.flyfishinsalt.com/techniques/fly-tying/tying-loops