The Muddler Minnow is a popular and versatile artificial fly of the streamer type used in fly fishing and fly tying. Origin The Muddler Minnow was originated by Don Gapen of Anoka, Minnesota in 1936, to imitate the slimy sculpin and fool large brook trout in the Nipigon River. Gapen tied the fly by lantern light in his camp, using materials available in his portable kit, after watching First Nations guides capture sculpins and explain to him their importance as forage for the large, piscivorous trout in the Nipigon. Gapen was the son of resort operators Jesse and Sue Gapen who ran the Gateway Lodge Resort on Hungry Jack Lake in what is now the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness in the 1920s. In 1936, the Gapens opened a second resort, the Chalet Bungalow Lodge, on the Nipigon River in Ontario to be operated by Don. In 1937 Gapen developed this fly to catch Nipigon strain brook trout, Ontario, Canada. The Muddler, as it is informally known by anglers, was popularized by Montana, United States fisherman and fly tier Dan Bailey. It is now a popular pattern worldwide and is likely found in nearly every angler's fly box, in one form or another. On March 14, 2008, a size 4 muddler minnow was used by Dr. Brian Yamamoto of Fairbanks, Alaska to catch a 41.66 lbs., 46 inch-long brown trout in Argentina's Rio Grande. Imitations The versatility of the Muddler Minnow stems from this pattern's ability to mimic a variety of aquatic and terrestrial forage, ranging from sculpins, to crayfish to leeches, to grasshoppers, crickets, spent mayflies, emerging green drakes, stonefly nymphs, mice, tadpoles, dace, shiners, chubs, and other "minnows," along with a host of other creatures. Its mottled appearance matches many terrestrial and aquatic lifeforms, enabling it to mimic without imitating. Construction There are limitless material and colour variations, however the essence of the Muddler Minnow is a spun deer hair head. While each Muddler may differ in colour or profile, all true Muddlers have a fore-end or body of spun deer hair that is clipped close to the shank to provide a buoyant head. Typically there is an underwing of squirrel hair and a wing of mottled secondary turkey feather. Often the fly body is made of gold/silver Mylar or tinsel wrapped around the hook shank. Marabou may be tied in as a substitute wing for colour and