This is a descendent of the Pearl, White & Silver Crappie Jig that I first threw out in the Big Manistee River on a November day that went 3 for 5 on steelhead. That Pearl-White & Silver theme evolved into half a dozen effective steelhead variations. This one was meant for trout and panfish. It worked very well for trout and panfish when fished deep on a cold, early April day two years ago when the DNR last stocked the Upper Huron River and Proud Lake with trout. It should work when tied as a balanced jig and fished vertically through the ice or under a bobber or indicator. The fly below was tied on the 60 degree jig hook and intended to be cast and retrieved.
Ice Dub Marabou Minnow Jig
- Hook: Small Jig Hook, size #8 or #10, KoreasSun 5220 #8 here
- Bead: Silver 3.5mm to 4.5mm to match Hook 4.0mm Silver Slotted Tungsten here
- Body Thread: Chartreuse, 210 or 140 Denier, Super Thread or Flat Waxed Nylon
- Head Thread: Fire Orange 140 Denier, Flymaster+ or Uni 6/0
- Tail: White Marabou 1.5 times shank length
- Body: Pearl Ice Dub, dubbed with and over Chartreuse Thread
- Collar: Narrow band of Fire Orange Thread up against the bead
The above hook on top of the bag had the eye bent up to 85 degrees The weight of the bead will lie under the hook eye and when hanging vertically in the water, it will "balance" with the body nearly horizontal. Getting the bead around that near 90 degree bend turned out to be more difficult than this first attempt which happened to go very smoothly. Using a small pliers with sharp serrations on the jaws and gripping the bead opposite the hook eye with the right torque applied to the hook shank was necessary to force the bead around the bend.
The slotted bead is held back here so you can see the hook eye was bent.
Use very fluffy Marabou for a fly this small, this was chosen from the lower side of a fluffy feather.
The Fire Orange thread is used to wrap the previous thread tight against the bead, then a few turns back and a whip finish for the collar will lock the old thread down.
This SuperFly Thread is a good shade of Chartreuse. The 3/0 size is confusing to most tiers because SuperFly based their 3/0, 6/0 or 8/0 sizes to represent much thinner thread sizes than the more familiar Uni Thread sizes.