Marco's Bass Muddler

Tied by Marco Breschi October 2007

Demo Bass MuddlerTied by Marco

Tying instructions

1. Start thread above barb of hook and tie in flat section of foam.
2. Tie in the tail (1/3 length of hook shank) and fritz. Wind the thread forward to about 1/2 the shank length from the eye.
3. Wind the fritz forward over the foam and tie off at the same point.
4. Stack a clump of deer hair in a stacker and tie in directly in front of the Fritz on top of the hook. The tips should extend to the bend in the hook.
5. Tie in a small bunch of marabou directly over the deer hair (colour of choice) and 4-5 Peacock Herls directly on top of that.
6. Stack a thick clump of deer hair in the stacker and spin a collar around the hook shank.
7. Repeat the above step (stacking no longer required) over and over until the front third of the shank is covered. make sure to pack the hair tightly back after each application.

8. Tie off the thread behind the hook eye and apply a drop of head cement, then shape the head with scissors or a sharp rasor blade. The larger the head and collar the better the pattern will float.

Note:- The collar particularly the bottom provides most of the buoyancy to the fly. Clipping the bottom close to the hook shank results in a loss of buoyancy thus allowing the fly to fish sub surface.

How to fish the Bass Surface Muddler

Due to the wind resistance of the pattern at least a 5/6 weight rod is required. Cast in the direction of the bank (as close as possible) or structure, allow to settle for a few seconds then give a a few rapid short strips interspersed with pauses of a few seconds. Continue to strip until over the drop off and the repeat the sequence gradually covering all the water in front of you. The idea is to create sufficient disturbance to test the agression of the bass. By the way many a wary trout has been caught in the shallows in the early morning and late evenings on windy/stormy days.