The Wood Duck Minnow (Greg DeYoung pattern)

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The Wood Duck Minnow (Greg DeYoung pattern)

Post by letumgo » Sun Dec 11, 2022 9:23 am

The Winter 2022 edition of Fly Tyer Magazine had an article entitled "The Wood Duck Minnow", by Greg DeYoung (pages 12 to 15). The article described an elegantly simple soft hackle baitfish pattern. After reading the article, I was "hooked" and had to put down the magazine and head straight to the vice.

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Scruffy looking fly, right after the hackle is wrapped and thread counter wrapped to reinforce stem.
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Hackle fibers pinched firmly to get them to lay back around the body.
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I like to take the finished flies and run them in the sink to soak the hackle fibers, which further shapes them into a slender baitfish profile. The flies are allowed to air dry on an adsorbent tissue or paper towel.
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Playing around with different hackle (woodduck and barred gadwall flank feathers) and bodies.
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Here is one with a smooth pearlescent mylar body, wrapped over white Uni-Floss. The tinsel takes on a subtle pink glow as light passes thru the mylar and is reflected back from the white floss underbody (see bottom fly in the photo above).
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One of my favorite so far, is holographic tinsel wrapped in open spirals over a white floss body. I like the glints of color as the fly moves around.
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MATERIALS USED:
Hook - Mustad 3906B (Size 4)
Underbody - UNI-Stretch (White)
Tinsel Rib or Body - UTC Large Flat Pearl Tinsel or UNI-Mylar #12 (Holographic Silver)
Thread - 8/0 UNI-Thread (Red)
Hackle - Woodduck or Gadwall Flank Feathers (Natural)

Note - the materials in the article are slightly different
(Tiemco TMC200R hook/Size 2 & black thread & grouse or hen collar hackle)


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Anyway, just wanted to share an simple baitfish imitation that I am excited to try.

Thanks for the inspiration Greg, and congratulations on your first article. I really enjoyed it and am excited to fish this pattern in the future.

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Ray (letumgo)----<°))))))><
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Re: The Wood Duck Minnow (Greg DeYoung pattern)

Post by DUBBN » Sun Dec 11, 2022 9:29 am

Nicely done Ray.
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Re: The Wood Duck Minnow (Greg DeYoung pattern)

Post by Variant » Sun Dec 11, 2022 10:14 am

Great job Ray,
Kinda reminds me of your pop series flies.

Lou
In sport,method is everything.The more the skill the method calls for,the higher it’s yield of emotional stir and satisfaction,the higher it’s place must be in a sportsman’s scale of values. RODERICK HAIG-BROWN
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Re: The Wood Duck Minnow (Greg DeYoung pattern)

Post by letumgo » Sun Dec 11, 2022 10:18 am

Lou,

That may be some bleed over, from my tying style. Hard to change old habits. :D
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Re: The Wood Duck Minnow (Greg DeYoung pattern)

Post by hankaye » Sun Dec 11, 2022 12:17 pm

Ray, Howdy;

You be da MAN!!! See something ya like and make it.
Willing to bet that a smaller size (6 or 8), would bring some nice pan fish .

hank
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Re: The Wood Duck Minnow (Greg DeYoung pattern)

Post by Ron Eagle Elk » Sun Dec 11, 2022 1:31 pm

Really nice, Ray. Smelt patterns are the go-to flies up here for big brookies and land lock salmon. I'll be tying a few to add to my big fish box.
"A man may smile and bid you hale yet curse you to the devil, but when a good dog wags his tail he is always on the level"
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Re: The Wood Duck Minnow (Greg DeYoung pattern)

Post by Roadkill » Sun Dec 11, 2022 2:00 pm

Love it!! 8-)

It reminds me of the Mallard Spider that was one of 4 streamers my dad used to fish when he borrowed my fly rod on rare occasions in the 60's. It has been a go to streamer for me since then.

ImageIMGP5700 by William Lovelace, on Flickr
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Re: The Wood Duck Minnow (Greg DeYoung pattern)

Post by DOUGSDEN » Sun Dec 11, 2022 8:32 pm

Ray,
Wow! This is just the minnow imitation that I have been looking for! Your body work on these patterns is really what caught my eye and so it will be with many different species of fish! In particular, I can see big smallies smashing this one to smitherines! I have got to try this series soon! I really like the look of the wood duck but I think the gadwall is slightly more minnow looking (realistic)! Can I place my order with you now? Just kidding! Your SBS is wonderful!
Come on Springtime! Your breadth and depth of tying is simply amazing Ray!
Dougsden

EDIT - ADDING DOUG's VERSION:
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Fish when you can, not when you should! Anything short of this is just a disaster.
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Re: The Wood Duck Minnow (Greg DeYoung pattern)

Post by Old Hat » Tue Dec 13, 2022 9:29 am

It's a great design that has been around in many forms as Bill shows. Love your variations Ray. I'm working on Salty Tenkara flies this winter and I had this one chosen to experiment with. I think I like the option with a tail. This way the fly retains some length when it's not actively being stripped in. In any pause, the hackle will open and loose a lot of the profile.
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Re: The Wood Duck Minnow (Greg DeYoung pattern)

Post by tworod » Tue Dec 13, 2022 8:51 pm

An easy way to force feathers to lay back is to use a hair dryer with the hottest setting Just hold the nozzle of the air dryer close to the eye. It only takes a few seconds.
Works perfectly for all variety of duck feathers along with wooly buggers and any palmered fly. It will easily sweep back game bird feathers on soft hackles too.
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