Marc's Marabou Minnow

I have new respect for pastors, priests, and ministers. Their ability to come up with a Sunday sermon every week that captivates the congregation for 15 minutes must be rather difficult. Oh, it’s a breeze at Christmas or Easter, but in between they must have to scratch for ideas. That’s kinda where I have been lately. Back when I started this blog I didn’t know what to write about because there was so much going on. Now, in the eye of the winter, things have been quite slow along the lake and not much to cheer about. The inner harbor has been fishable, but not all that great. The harbor has been frozen, thawed, frozen, thawed…. very unpredictable.

So I thought, well what am I doing here…… making lures for next month. My backpack was down a good pound (from 30 to 29) so I figured that I must need to resupply jigs.

For the past 5 years, I have noticed that I am catching more and more Trout and Salmon on jigs. They fish deeper and actually represent the baitfish in a more realistic manner than some other lures. And, with the clear water near shore much of the time now, a more subtle presentation is better. Five years ago I began to look for a jig design that would imitate Smelt and Alewives, be easy and fast to tie, and strong enough to handle fish in the 20 pound range. It didn’t happen overnight, but I did come up with a jig design that answered all my challenges. I’ve kept it under my hat till now, but since it will be featured in Midwest Outdoors in February, here is how to make a “Triple M”, Marc’s Marabou Minnow.

I tried a variety of heads and ended up very happy with the Do-It Minnow Head Jig (JME-7-A1). It’s always been a favorite of mine and now that it has the recessed eye sockets it is my favorite for tying baitfish patterns of any type. The sizes you are going to use at Lake Michigan are the 1/8th, 3/16th, and 1/4th ounce sizes. The 3/16th is what I use about 90% of the time. I have been using the Mustad 32833BLN in 1/0 in the 3/16th. That hook is awesome. Reinke has them.

Place the jig in your vice and tie a white thread base from the head down to the bend (but not on the bend) of the hook. Put a little head cement on the base. Now tie in two matching saddle hackles, either white or white grizzly (barred) at the as the tail. You can use neck or saddle hackles (strung) or something like a rooster neck that is sold for bass and saltwater flies. Wrap the hackles tight and secure with a couple half-hitches. Put a little cement on the wraps. As a side note, Sally Hansen Hard as Nails clear nail polish is great head cement. Target, Walgreens, and Wally-world all have it. If anyone gives you a look while you are shopping the nail polish isle, just yell, “What?….it’s for fishing lures!”

Now wrap forward right to the head and half-hitch. Pick out one white marabou plume and tie it in along the side of the jig. Now rotate and tie in another one on the other side. Don’t overdo the marabou!!! More is not better!!! Look at the jig and see how it looks and that there aren’t any bare spots on the jig collar. If there is, add a little. Now, add a little contrasting color to the top of the jig to give it a little color along the back. Black, olive, blue, purple, and chartreuse are all good. I use purple or olive most of the time because it looks like an Alewife, Smelt, or Shad.
Last is a little flash. On each side, tie in a couple strands of Flashabou , Crystalflash, or Firefly. Personally, I have been using a little bunch of a product called Polar Chenille. Here again, more is not better. Two strands of Flashabou doubled making four strands on each side is all you want.

Finish off the head wrap and you are done. One of the best Lake Michigan fish catchers you can have in your tackle box. Most of the time I don’t even paint the heads. Bare lead covered with Hard as Nails is all you need. If you’d like, pearl powder paint is a good color too. I either paint eyes or use a gold or silver 5/32” stick on eye.

The jig looks like a drown rat once you get it wet, but don't worry. It looks alive in the water! There are more durable materials than marabou, but nothing else comes alive in the water like it. Let them dry thoroughly before you store them and they will look great for the next outing.

I’ll get more into fishing them later, but if you need something to keep your fingers busy this winter while you pretend to watch American Idol with your kids, tie up some “Triple M’s”.
They say a picture is worth a thousand words, but a video is worth volumes. If I can figure out how to get a short video of me tying a Triple M on this site I will do that soon.

Till then, tight lines and smooth drags…….