Scandi Minnow

[Nick Pionessa]

been working on making the scandi style tubes a little more baitfishy and here's what i came up with. switched from a schlappen collar to arctic fox tail spun in a loop and then collared with duck flank over the final wing. i will get a SBS done next week, hopefully. attempting to have the fly meld together a bit better when wet and with the addition of the scaley look the duck flank brings. also the final wing is cashmere goat, a new material we just got in. great length (4-6") and has a nice sheen to it also. makes a great minnow back.

olive goat over yellow and white fox


grey goat over lavender and white fox


brown olive finn raccoon over red fox tail with a wood duck collar


black goat over purple and pink fox with pink mallard collar. yeah i know not many baitfish colored that way bit i like the color combo.


let me know what you think.

[Justin Damude]

those look pretty damn good

[david marrocco]

awesome flies. i like that last one!

[Frank Swarner]

Those are winners right there!! I can see all types of species slamming them!!

[johnjarosz(jj)]

They're all great looking patterns & they all look successful. I'd be more inclined, though, to use the last one in a stream & the first three out in the lake, probably more because of the colors, but that's personal preference. Either way, you can't beat those minnows!

So here are a few questions:
- do you have, or can you post some pics of these "wet"?

- materials like 'cashmere goat', urine stained hair from 'sheep scrotums', hair from the' hooves of camels', etc. are exciting to try, are interesting & might be something different to tie with, & I do it for all three of those reasons. I think after a person ties, he naturally wants to experiment, which is good, but how much of a difference does it REALLY make TO A FISH? Do some different materials (not color) imitate natural bait or trigger strikes better than others or does tying with different material change an angler's level of confidence?
Don't get me wrong, I've got boxes of materials & they'll catch fish, but could I tie with a few "boring" standbys & still catch the same fish (not that I ever would want to try)?
- and is, sometimes, tying new patterns and trying new materials as much fun, or more fun, as catching fish? Catching fish then becomes a result of the pursuit of new tying techniques?

I must be getting philosophical in my age and I think it's time for a Grey Goose martini !!. Keep up the ties. I learn a lot from them..jj

[Tony Medina]

Those look great. As usual. Where's the orange, black and red one !?!?

[Michael Hartman]

That last one looks amazing. Even though its not baitfish colors it turned out nice! I like the Grey goat over lavender too! Nice nick.

[B.Ingersoll]

Nice goat flies

I like the olive goat over yellow and white best for minnow'ish stuff and the olive brown over red fox w) woody is very sculpin like combo............nice

[Nick Pionessa]

JJ- valid questions for sure. i'm always looking for more stuff to carry in the shop but it has to be something that isn't already there in another package. the cashmere goat is a long fiber 4"+ so it fits in with the fact that it is longer than the fox or finn raccoon and therefore gets a place in the lineup. would the fly work s well with another material? most likely. my goal is always to catch more fish. i have been accused of tying "workman like" flies in the past and at first it pissed me off then i realized that yes that was actually an apt description and i've come to embrace that idea. i do love to tie some flies just because but for the most part it is alway building a better mouse trap. maybe not necessarily a prettier one but hopefully better.

i do believe that tinkering with flies is damn near as much fun as fishing. not sitting and cranking out production, frankly that sucks, but working on the next mouse trap is what gets me going still. i will get some wet shots up too. i did that but somehow failed to take photos of it.

[Nick Pionessa]

wet ones