01-27-2010, 03:21 PM
muddler minnow is a good fly to start learning something about spinning deer hair.
Use a strong thread. Gel spun polyethylene (GSP) thread is the best for spinning. 50 denier will be good for a muddler. However 3/0 thread will work just fine - you will probably break the thread on the first couple three flies until you get the feel of how much you can stress the thread.
Use deer hair from the backbone area generally works better for spinning. Finer deer hair does not flair enough. Real course deer hair will not pack as dense as medium course hair. However it takes experience or samples of each to distinguish what is meant by fine medium an course. For the muddler minnow any deer hair should work as you really don't need only a moderate amount of flairing and don't need real dense packing.
Trim the bottom first, the top second, and the sides third. Use the tips of your scissors to judge evenness of your cuts. That is; put the tips perpendicular to the shank to judge the height of the cut hair.
[signature]
Use a strong thread. Gel spun polyethylene (GSP) thread is the best for spinning. 50 denier will be good for a muddler. However 3/0 thread will work just fine - you will probably break the thread on the first couple three flies until you get the feel of how much you can stress the thread.
Use deer hair from the backbone area generally works better for spinning. Finer deer hair does not flair enough. Real course deer hair will not pack as dense as medium course hair. However it takes experience or samples of each to distinguish what is meant by fine medium an course. For the muddler minnow any deer hair should work as you really don't need only a moderate amount of flairing and don't need real dense packing.
Trim the bottom first, the top second, and the sides third. Use the tips of your scissors to judge evenness of your cuts. That is; put the tips perpendicular to the shank to judge the height of the cut hair.
[signature]