How to Tie a Sparkle Minnow

The sparkle minnow is a simple fly with many variations. It is designed to create realistic motion with minimal materials. A sparkle minnow's flash and narrow profile mimic a baitfish when tied in natural color tones, but you can use pink, chartreuse and other colors as attractors. The fly is designed to be retrieved, and the bead eyes make an up-and-down motion that imitates a wounded baitfish. The sparkle minnow is effective for any freshwater or saltwater species that feeds in a predatory manner.

Things You'll Need

  • Fly-tying vise
  • 4XL streamer hook
  • 3/0 thread
  • Marabou
  • Sparkle chenille
  • Dumbell eyes
  • Lead
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Instructions

    • 1

      Place the hook in the fly-tying vise and start the thread at the eye of the hook. Wrap the thread forward to the bend in the hook, covering the entire hook shank. Cover the shank with wraps of lead wire with a gap at the bend in the hook and the eye of the hook.

    • 2

      Wrap the thread down the hook shank and cover all of the lead wire. Stop at the base of the lead wire. Place a set of dumbbell eyes on the wire and make several thread wraps to secure the eyes in place. Make 10 figure-eight wraps around the wire and use your fingers to adjust the position of the eyes. The eyes must be perpendicular to the hook shank.

    • 3

      Wrap the thread to the bend in the hook. Cut a tuft of marabou away from a large bunch. Measure the marabou to one-half the length of the hook shank and hold it on the bend of the hook. Make four firm thread wraps to secure the marabou in place. The marabou will form a tail off the bend in the hook.

    • 4

      Make four additional thread wraps to secure a strand of sparkle chenille immediately behind the marabou. Wrap the thread to the eye of the hook. Wrap the chenille to cover the entire hook shank. Make two figure-eight wraps around the dumbbell eye and make four thread wraps to secure the chenille at the eye of the hook. Cut away the excess chenille.

    • 5

      Wrap the thread several times to form a clean thread head. Use a whip finisher to half-hitch the thread and cut away the excess.