The Little Brown Jig was designed to Target Big Manistee River Steelhead. It is meant to be a small generic bottom minnow, a sucker fry, small sculpin, goby, darter, etc. The mixed brown colors, gold rib, floppy fur tail and black bead head with soft swept back grouse collar giving it broad shoulders all support that impression. It has the colors of the river bottom just as do all the other bottom dwelling crustaceans or insect nymphs. This is made with many of the same materials as my Hex nymphs. Except for it presumably representing a minnow, it could be described as a bead head, soft hackle, fur tailed, gold ribbed hare's ear. It was my first successful Steelhead jig and took a bright buck of around 20 pounds on a 1 for 5 October day some years ago. It also accounted for my highest steelhead numbers day.
- Hook: #6 or 8 90 degree Black Jig Head
- Bead Head: Option, Black Brass Bead 5.0 or 5.5mm
- Thread: Fire Orange 140 Denier
- Tail: Brown Speckled Soft Fur, Natural Domestic Rabbit
- Rib: Gold Oval Tinsel or substitute.
- Body: Speckled Brown Fur Dubbing such as Hare's Ear
- Collar: 2 Turns Brown Phase Ruff Grouse Saddle
- Thread Collar: 1mm Collar of Fire Orange Thread.
Because this was a somewhat large feather for this fly, I trimmed some hackle off the bottom. A smaller feather would be better left untrimmed.
My experience is that this can be effective tied smaller but not bigger.