Bluegill Low Fat Minnow

Cheech - February, 2013

T he Low Fat Minnow isn't really much of a secret anymore, and it's been fished for everything from Tarpon to Trout. It has gone through many different versions over the past two years, and I've dialed it in to maximize effectiveness and simplicity in tying. Here is the original "write-up" about the Low Fat:

I love fishing for bass. Always have, always will. Largemouth bass are my favorite fish to chase by far, and up until about 5 years ago, I did it with a fly rod only. "Fly or die," was my mantra until I found my self living near, and having access to a private pond with an excellent population of healthy bucketmouth. This pond was covered by weeds most of the months out of the year, and I tried in vain to create the ultimate weedless fly, but I eventually came to the conclusion that I needed to get serious about gear fishing if I wanted to catch these fish. Long story short, I have about 14 baitcast rigs that get USED. I love everything about throwing big stuff for bass, and don't be fooled that it is any less technical than fly fishing.

One fall, I was fishing a lake that has a huge bluegill population and we were throwing lipless crankbaits that yielded a fish on seemingly every cast. As I lipped a nice fish, It YACKED all over the deck of the boat. Up from the gullet came 4 or 5 bluegill minnows that really made me change the way I looked at fishing with bluegill patterns. I could literally see right through them, and their guts looked like little strands of krystal flash. Instead of going to try to find a crankbait with those characteristics, I immediately started creating a fly in my mind. Fishing with gear WILL improve your fly fishing and vise versa... Gear fishing that day led me to start working on a pattern that has both great profile, and translucency. Through much consultation with Uncle Ken, we decided that Senyo Laser dub is a very versatile material that really has some excellent properties in this fly, and the marabou acts the "guts" of the minnow that will not stay translucent. When stripped, this fly will flip around and do a 180, so its best to fish this one on a loop knot. I also didn't put any weight on this fly because the hook is a bit more beefy and will help the fly get down a bit. Happy fishing, and let us know how the "Low Fat" treats you.

Since then, the biggest changes are to the head material and the hook. After we came out with Bruiser Blend I knew that it needed to be incorporated into the Low Fat Minnow. HERE is a good example of a Perch tied with, but the longer fibers of Bruiser Blend didn't really lend well to a small baitfish profile. Bruiser Blend Jr. is about half the length of the original formula, so it's much better for tying flies with a smaller profile. The hook that I use is the Daiichi 3111 for most applications, but I will still tie them on a Gamakatsu B10s from time to time. I like the 3111 because it has a short shank and a very aggressive point.

~ Cheech