The story of how the Mickey Finn got its name is available in numerous variations, however nobody contests that the pattern understood initially as the “Red and Yellow Bucktail” was promoted by renowned angler and author John Alden Knight in the 1930s. Obviously, Knight presented the fly to a writer from the Toronto Star, Gregory Clark, who re-dubbed the fly not as soon as, however two times. Initially, he called it the Assassin since it was so fatal on brook trout. Upon discovering that motion picture star Rudolph Valentino had actually allegedly been eliminated by a drug slipped into his beverage– a.k.a. a “Mickey Finn”– Clark chose that that was the best name for the bucktail. (You can read the whole story here)
Anybody who matured in New England, as I did, discovered to like the Mickey Finn for its simpleness and its efficiency on whatever from brookies to panfish. In bigger sizes, it’s a killer bass and pickerel pattern, too.
In today’s video, Tim Flagler of Tightline Productions strolls you through the procedure for connecting this stylish classic. The secret is to produce a slim fly with a sporadic wing, which implies you wish to incorporate and layer all the products thoroughly. The method Tim manages the thread width is innovative and will keep you from producing a bumpy banner.
Mickey Finn
Hook: 4X-strong banner hook (here, a Dai-Riki # 700), sizes 4 to 14.
Thread: Black, 8/0 or 70-denier.
Rib: Silver oval tinsel, medium.
Body: Gold/Silver Mylar tinsel, medium.
Adhesive # 1: Superglue or Z-Ment.
Lower wing: Yellow bucktail, cleaned up and stacked.
Mid wing: Red bucktail, cleaned up and stacked.
Upper wing: Yellow bucktail, cleaned up and stacked.
Head: Connecting thread.
Adhesive # 2: UV-cure resin.
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