The Menemsha Minnow

By Page Rogers, a Reel-Time contributor

Materials List

Hook: TMC 511S, 911S; Eagle Claw 066SS; Partridge Sea Lord; Gamakatsu SP11-3L3H - Sizes #3/0 - 2
Thread: Danvilles Flat Waxed Nylon - White
Tail: White marabou, topped with Kelly Green Flashabou
Body: Belly: Silver Prismatic “Witchlite” Tape Dorsal: Mackerel green Prismatic “Witchlite” tape, hash-marked with a black Sharpie marker
Eyes: Witchcraft prismatic eye; sizes 4.5 mm - 3 mm
Gill: Testors paint pen - gloss red
Epoxy: The entire fly body is filled and covered with the epoxy of your choice.

About 10 years ago I was struggling to create a very durable and shiny tinker mackerel imitation that would irresistibly imitate the plentiful schools of spike and tinker mackerel which inhabited the deep waters of Menemsha harbor. The tinkers provide the definitive dinner bell, marking the heyday of the bonito season along the north shore of the Vineyard. And although bonito will eat any bait plentiful, it’s blood cousin, the Atlantic mackerel (family: scromber), is a particularly favorite forage species. Because the Vineyard sits (usually) at the edge of the Gulf Stream, both mackerel and bonito are found there in good numbers, and usually earlier than most other New England locations. I believe the waters in and around Martha’s Vineyard offer the longest bonito season in the entire Northeast. Where tinkers are present you may want to give the “original” Menemsha Minnow a try.

Naturally the concept involved in making this fly led to other applications, a blue/silver version representing baby bunker or blue-back herring, and a black/silver version representing mullet or Atlantic herring. I always encourage fly tiers to let their own imagination, experience and needs dictate their application of concepts and recipes; so feel free to adapt the concept and recipes as you need to.

Also, as is so often the case, although the fly was originally designed to take bonito, it has proven to be one of the most effective bluefish flies ever developed. It is very bright, very durable and the rear placement of the hook almost always ensures a hookup. I’ve attached a photo of what a couple of Menemsha Minnows look like after they have taken between 40-60 blues. Fish were still hitting the flies, even in this condition.

Sometimes it helps to have a model of the fly in front of you. If you find you have trouble making the fly, they are available through your Umpqua Feather Merchants dealer or there are detailed videotaped instructions on the tape “Getting Started with Epoxy” in the Hooked on Fly Tying series of tapes produced by Jim and Kelly Watt.

Tying Sequence

Step One

Tie thread on behind hook point. Tie on one full marabou plume, top with a generous amount of Flashabou. Tie thread off. Cut silver tape into 1” strips (or buy it that way, available in mail-order from Hunters Angling Supplies, New Boston, NH or North Cove Outfitters, Old Saybrook, CT in precut strips). Measure tape from end of tying wraps to beginning of hook eye, cut strip this length. Peel adhesive backing off of tape. Gently fold tape over hook shank, keep rear end as tight as is possible to the tying wraps, drop front end at an angle. Do NOT squeeze the two sides of the tape together. If they inadvertently get stuck together, work them apart with your scissors tip, or cut a new strip of tape and start this step over. See how the scissor tip in the photo can go INTO the fly body.

Cut top of belly tape as flush as possible with hook shank.

Step Two

Cut dorsal tape into 1/2” strips, (or buy it precut from Hunters or North Cove Outfitters). Again, measure from end of silver tape to end of hook shank and cut strip of dorsal colored tape this length. Peel off adhesive backing. Slightly angle the tape up from tail to hook eye, folding it, so that it lies equally on both sides. With a black Sharpie permanent marker, color very top and make hash marks on dorsal tape - see photo. With scissors, make two cuts in the tape: on the dorsal, an angled notch going down toward hook eye; on the belly, a defined curve, going up toward hook eye. If belly tape closes while making the cut, gently pry it open with scissors tips. Again, the scissor tip should be able to fit in the fly.

Step Three

Place Witchcraft stick-on prismatic eye and paint in gill. With other color configurations, this is the time to draw on a lateral line, if desired. Make sure fly is in perfect vertical alignment with hook shank and point, and that the fly’s body is still open at the hook eye. Lightly wet down marabou to keep it under control and out of the mixed epoxy. Place fly in vise as is shown in photo.

Step Four

Mix two nickle-sized pools of epoxy resin and hardener on a Post-It note. I use a plastic coffee stirrer cut in half at a sharp angle as an epoxy mixing stick. Do not use tooth picks as mixer sticks, or any other “organic” base on which to stir or mix your epoxy. The chemicals in epoxy leech resins out of these natural organic materials which then prematurely yellow your epoxy.

Taking a bit of epoxy on the end of your stick, fill the body of the fly completely with epoxy. Keep pushing the material in with your stir stick. The tape, tightly pressed to the tying wraps will act as a plug and keep the epoxy from running out the tail end. Once the fly is filled, move a SMALL amount of epoxy out onto the tape and with the stick moving left and right, work a candy-thin shell of epoxy over the tape. All the while, keep the fly moving and rotating. Once you have your material in a place where you’re happy with it, keep the fly rotating either on a drying motor, your vise or in your hand until the epoxy has set.

Like many things in tying and life; these flies get easier as you make more of them.

Menemsha Minnows after a hard day with the bluefish

Enjoy your tying and your fishing!

Reel -Time