The muddler and it's myriad of variations are such important flies for trout, salmon, and steelhead anglers.
I usually hate tying them, but always make sure I have enough in my box....
The original dressing was created by Don Gapen for fishing for the enormous Brook Trout on the Nipigon River and Lake Nipigon here in North Western Ontario. It was a fairly scruffy fly, with gold tinsel, a turkey quill tail and wing, with an underwing of squirrel, and a collar and head of spun deer hair.
It has long been on my bucket list to tie an original Don Gapen Muddler Minnow while camped on a beach, way, way out on a remote part of Lake Nipigon. I sat down on a big rock after supper Wednesday, and I can now check that off my list.
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The infamous Nipigon system mosquitoes were HIGHLY distracting, and the great wine I had just finished with dinner certainly didn't help make the tying in hand any easier. Here I am trying to set the underwing while donating blood.
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I like my Nipigon Brook Trout Muddlers to float, and often fish them almost like a bass bug. ... so I give them a fairly large clipped head. I don't even up the deer hair tips with a stacker, and I tend to keep the collar shorter than on the original Don Gapen examples. I like them bushy and scruffy.
This is on a #4... like all my brook trout muddlers...
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I gifted this fly to a great friend and fishing buddy.....He put it away and didn't use it...
In closing I thought I would share pictures of a magical, leviathan Lake Nipigon brook trout from this camping trip....
These are the fish the original muddler was created for, and these fish get me through the late spring and summer....until I swing flies again in September.
Great tying lately everyone!
![Image]()
![Image]()
![Image]()
I usually hate tying them, but always make sure I have enough in my box....
The original dressing was created by Don Gapen for fishing for the enormous Brook Trout on the Nipigon River and Lake Nipigon here in North Western Ontario. It was a fairly scruffy fly, with gold tinsel, a turkey quill tail and wing, with an underwing of squirrel, and a collar and head of spun deer hair.
It has long been on my bucket list to tie an original Don Gapen Muddler Minnow while camped on a beach, way, way out on a remote part of Lake Nipigon. I sat down on a big rock after supper Wednesday, and I can now check that off my list.
The infamous Nipigon system mosquitoes were HIGHLY distracting, and the great wine I had just finished with dinner certainly didn't help make the tying in hand any easier. Here I am trying to set the underwing while donating blood.
I like my Nipigon Brook Trout Muddlers to float, and often fish them almost like a bass bug. ... so I give them a fairly large clipped head. I don't even up the deer hair tips with a stacker, and I tend to keep the collar shorter than on the original Don Gapen examples. I like them bushy and scruffy.
This is on a #4... like all my brook trout muddlers...
I gifted this fly to a great friend and fishing buddy.....He put it away and didn't use it...
In closing I thought I would share pictures of a magical, leviathan Lake Nipigon brook trout from this camping trip....
These are the fish the original muddler was created for, and these fish get me through the late spring and summer....until I swing flies again in September.
Great tying lately everyone!
