Fly of the Month
March/April 2022
Mini Minnow
Mini Minnow
As the water warms up, it seems the first fish moving up to spawn are the crappie followed by the bass and finally the bluegill. One of the best baits for Crappie is minnows, but they have to be the small ones – especially in the spring. This little Clouser-based minnow is perfect for spring crappie, bass, and bluegill all summer long. The gray-over-white colors with a little flash makes a very realistic minnow imitation. I tie them with both bead-chain eyes and small lead dumbbell eyes depending on where I fish and how deep I need to go.
Materials
• Hook: Firehole Sticks #618 size 12
• Thread: White 8/0 • Eyes: Silver Bead Chain Eyes – Small (or small silver lead dumbbells)
• Tail: - Pearl Crystal Flash
• Under-Body: White Marabou
• Lateral Flash: Silver Holographic Tinsel
• Wing: Gray Bucktail
Tying Steps
1. Secure hook in vise, start thread behind hook eye, and advance to the ¼ point. Build a small bump of thread here to act as a base for the bead chain eyes.
2. Tie in the bead chain eyes on top of the hook against the thread bump using crisscrossing wraps. I use a little super glue help keep them from moving around. Advance the thread to the hook bend.
3. Tie in 4 or 5 strands of crystal flash and trim to the length of the hook shank.
4. Advance thread to the eyes using touching turns to form a smooth body.
5. Tie in a small bunch of marabou just behind the eyes and pinch off the excess just shorter than the tail.
6. Place a section of holographic tinsel around the eyes, one on each side, and tie in with thread wraps behind the eyes. You should end up with one strand flat against each side. Trim to the end of the tail.
7. Advance the thread to in front of the eyes, and tie in a smaller section of marabou and pinch off just a little shorter than the other marabou.
8. Turn the fly over in the vise and tie in a small section of gray bucktail that extends just past the end of the tai. Measure the length and trim it before you tie it in so that you end up with a neater head.
9. Whip-finish and trim the thread.
I fish this just like any other warm-water fly – pitch it out to a likely looking spot, let it sink, and then start a short quick twitching retrieve. In the spring, most fish do not bed in deep water so stick to casing along the shoreline in front of you as you walk. Crappie love to bed in and around sticks and brush, so look for that close to the shoreline. I have also tied this in white & chartreuse and white/gold/brown colors. So far, the original works best.