Mickey Finn 10 Step

Just to let you know I will be adding pictures and videos to each of my flies at later dates. For now I am going to give basic instructions on how to tie the flies. Each of these flies should be tied ten consecutive times, at least three in the same sitting. This is how you should improve the quality of your flies. Also, when tying flies (unless tying saltwater or for bass) less can be more. You do not want a fly with tons of material. It may be harder to tie, will most likely take longer, and it doesn't always work as well. These are tips that have helped me learn to tie flies and I would like to share them with everyone else who wants to learn to tie flies. Have fun tying and please comment, subscribe, and share this page with your friends to help grow this blog. Comment on anything that seems confusing to you or if you want a picture, video, or a new fly to be tied. Everything that I tie with is picked up with for small prices at a local LL Bean store. Many of the materials can also be bought at smaller Fly Stores. Have fun tying.

Here is what your finished fly should look like:

The silver wire on top of the tinsel is optional and should not be used if you are just beginning tying this specific fly or beginning tying in general.

This fly and how to use it will be described at the bottom of this post.

Materials
- Hook sized 8-12. (8 for beginners 10 or 12 as you get farther in).
- Red Buck Tail
- Yellow Buck Tail
- Flat Silver Tinsel
- Black Thread
- Clear Nail Hardener or Head Cement (I prefer the clear nail hardener).

You are going to need a fair amount of tinsel, I suggest cutting a piece about 6-8 inches long depending on what hook size you are using.

Steps -

1.) Start your thread about 3/4 of the way towards the eye of your hook.

2.) Tie to the curve of your hook.

3.) Tie in the silver tinsel so that most of it goes off the back and about an inch stays over the hook, GOLD SIDE UP. (When you wrap the tinsel the silver side will be up.)

4.) Tie your thread back to the front of the hook, about three head spaces back from the eye if you are a beginner, two if you have had practice.

5.) Wrap your tinsel up to the front overlapping each wrap barely over the other so the entire fly should be wrapped in silver tinsel.

6.) Tie in a small amount of yellow deer hair, about 10 strands that are just longer than the hook shank.

7.) Tie in a slightly larger amount of red deer hair the same length as the yellow hair.

8.) Tie in an amount of hair in between the last two amounts. More than the first time, but not as much as the second time, this will give your fly a balanced color difference.

9.) Wrap the head with the thread, heads should normally be relatively short and small but that is a hard task of a fly with this much material.

10.) Tie of the head with a knot of your choice. (I will post a set of directions for at least two different ways to finish a fly.)

Your first few Flies will not be perfect but stick to one fly at a time.

This fly is an excellent imitator. It looks like a baitfish that you see in almost any stream, pond, or lake. It is multipurpose and will catch trout almost anywhere. You can also use this fly for many other species including bass. There are also many variations of this fly. To see some of these variations follow this link. (Variation for Salmon and for deeper ponds/lakes).

 http://globalflyfisher.com/patterns/mickey-finn/

Please comment and subscribe to this blog for more flies and tips on how to become a better fly tier. Also, please comment if you wish to ask anything such as a specific step. Please ask for more flies, I will keep doing beginner flies until I get some comments on more specific flies to tie. Also, make sure you look at SouthernMaineFishing.blogspot.com to see more about fishing in Southern Maine.

Here is a Mickey Finn video which I have not created. I take no credit in making this video. Some aspect may be slightly different. I hope to start posting my own videos soon. This video uses silver wire. This looks better but is harder and makes only the slightest difference. It also starts the thread very close to the head. This can be done if you have been tying for a while, but if you are a beginner to this fly or tying in general than you do not want to start that close to the eye.

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