High Carb Minnow

Cheech - November, 2017

When I started playing with the Low Fat Minnow years ago, I wanted a suspending fly that I could fish sinking line so I could move it fairly slowly through the strike zone, and it performed (and still does) as a member of the starting team in my fly boxes. As I fished it more and more, I realized that I'd also like a fly that had really good jigging action to match an injured baitfish, and also so I could fish it in smaller rivers where I fish with a floating line. The weighting system on this fly was simplified to a tungsten cone because I'm able to add a lot of weight without a lot of bulk, and it also helps shape the head of the fly with the cone shape. A few other things that I have changed with this fly vs other minnow patterns. The hook. We worked with Fulling Mill to help develop the Streamer Stripper hook, and it's sticky sticky sharp. I still like the Gamakatsu B10S and the Daiichi 3111 (Both can be used on this fly) but the streamer stripper hook is teflon coated, and plain hooks up with fish who sign up for the lip piercing program. I also changed the tail because I really like the way I can taper craft fur vs marabou. The colors and consistency are also a bit more consistent with craft fur. (Also, a quick note... I used cream and white craft fur in this video, but I realized I like tan and white better after we filmed it...) I changed the chenille to polar chenille, but that's mostly just because I wanted to use the gold color that doesn't really exist with palmer chenille. The end result is a fly that isn't too hard to tie, and that has all the action and baitfish-like profile I'm looking for. In all, this fly has a great jigging action in the water, and you can vary the weight with the size of tungsten bead you use (you can use a size S,M, or L on a size 4 hook.) To see this fly in action, check out this video , and you see it wet at 1:50. Tie them up in about infinity colors and go throw them at fish that eat other fish... ~Cheech