My maddening misshapen mylar minnow mishaps, man!

[Diver Dan]

I have been trying to tie mylar minnows. I can get the heads to look good but I can't get the tail to narrow down in a realistic way. I'm not sure it makes a differance to the fish, but it is driving me nuts. I did a couple of them a few years ago and I think they turned out better than the ones I'm doing now. Do any of you have a good trick for the tail end of these?

[BigCliff]

Are you talking about the type where you make the football shape with the tubing and fill in the gap with epoxy,

the one where you fold mylar tubing back over a chenille body,

or something else?

[Diver Dan]

Nope. I'm talking about minnow shaped flies made out of mylar tube that are 3 - 4" long. Kind of like this. This does not have the best taper in the rear either. It's better than the one's I just tied though. It'll give you the idea though. I get a bigger head but they have a fat butt to go with it.

[BigCliff]

Oh, that looks more like ez-body tubing to me.

I haven't worked with the stuff in a while, but I would think the trick is something like this: After you've tied in the tubing in the head area, grab the tail section and move it towards the head so that the tubing expands in diameter near the head. Then apply whatever adhesive you're using to the head and hold the tubing in that position where its flared out and expanded into the shape you're after, and hold it until the glue/epoxy sets up.

Hope that helps, good luck!

[Frank Whiton]

Hi Dan,

That is a good looking fly to my eye. That is the body style I like in this type of fly.

Frank

[Diver Dan]

Yup, that fly is EZ body. ( not my fly ) I have regular mylar tube with the rope core. When I do the head I shove the tube back towards the hook bend which inceases the head size. It makes a nice shaped head. I Have a problem getting the nice tapered tail. It ends up rounded, and with bigger tube I get a fold or kink quite often. I did some a few years back that came out perfect, but for the life of me I can't remember how I got them to do it. I used pretty big tube, like 3/8" or 1/2", and still got a nice taper to the tail. I have tried 30 pound mono inside the body with the tail tied to the end, and pulled the tube towards the tail. I think I used string in the old ones though. I have used EZ body and it is much easier to use, which is why I haven't used regular mylar in a couple of years. Unfortunatly all of my old ones have been lost to line clipping Pike or to underwater crud, so I don't have one to look at.

[Kerry Pitt]

I'm with Frank on this. I like your minnow, I can see no fault in it myself and would be happy to fish this style. Nice job in my opinion. Sometimes we are our own worst critic. Do you catch fish on them?

[Diver Dan]

I've caught a ton of smallies on them. I was thinking of trying them for walleye when the shiners start to run in the river. Which ought to be about......now! Thanks for the fly compliments, but it's not my fly. It is an EZ body version by someone else. It is easier to use than the mylar tube I'm attempting to use. I wish had taken notes or video or something.

[BigCliff]

Mylar tubing just won't expand and contract like EZ-Body tubing, so you may be kicking a dead horse there bud. I'd probably throw clousers for the walleye you're describing. They cast easier and have more movement in the water anyway. Popovics Jiggies are another great option-