Discovering The Muddler Minnow

On Thursday of last week, I discovered a new dry fly. In fact, I discovered this fly around dusty dark on one of our local lakes. This thing really lit up my spirits on two different takes right before I left the lake when I was able to land the two largest bream I have ever caught on the fly rod. This 'thing" I am referring to is the Muddler Minnow. I know many of you have heard of this fly number of times, but with me, this is my first experience fishing with it. You know in fly fishing there are flies that really have a great looking appearance to the individual who is fishing it. Then, there are also files in my opinion that are just plain ugly and their appearance looks grungy; well this is the Muddler. But regardless of appearance, this thing will catch fish. I did a little research on the Muddler and found out it has been around since 1937. Don Gapen from Minnesota first tied the fly to imitate the slimy sculpin. To me, it looks more like a moth. I like the fact that I can fish it as a dry or as a nymph. I landed both big gills with the dry presentation, but I will be trying it as a nymph on my next trip. The Muddler could be the fly to help me land some of those elusive 14" to 16" bows on our tailrace below Smith Lake.  I would need to add weight to get the fly down where the big trout hang out. I found the version I was using last week in a fly shop in Birmingham Alabama which is about 30 minutes south of Jasper. I only bought just the one thinking negatives thoughts about the two bucks I paid for it, but now after it proved its worth here I am keyboarding its praises. In fact, I was so impressed that I paid that fly shop another visit this past weekend and bought two other colors. I will post a report on their progress on the water in the coming weeks.