The Thin Mint has been around about five years in the NW. It is a smallish (size 10) woolly bugger with a multi-colored marabou tail and a touch of krystal flash, flashabou or some hint of light added to the tail (don’t over do it). The body is the irrepressible peacock…amazing material…ribbed and wrapped with brown hackle. It is topped off with a gold bead, although I have seen brass/copper also. This pattern could be tied in any size typical of a bugger. But, I have used a size 10 on stillwaters with great success, when green is the ticket. This is probably the smallest Woolly Bugger that I tie. It seems most productive for me and my son, Tony (he uses it more than I do) in and around shoreline weeds. A good damsel pattern if not too heavy a bead, or perhaps a small dragon. It works. Alternatives could be to forgo the bead and go unweighted or a little bit of lead/tungsten wrapped on the shank (keep it equally balanced on the shank for a uniform/horizontal sink if fishing shallow waters with the pattern. So, there you have it: New Mexico, Wisconsin, Oregon and most likely many other points for the Thin Mint.
Andy K wrote: ‘This fly won’t win any awards for originality, but it is my go to fly on a section of the Lower Tomorrow river that I enjoy fishing. It works elsewhere as well, but it’s THE first fly I grab for the Lower Tomorrow.’ (Think Freestone)
Thin Mint Wooley Bugger
Tied By Andy_K
Hook: Daiichi 2220 #10
Thread: Black 6/0
Bead: Tungsten gold bead
Tail: Brown, olive and black marabou with Krystal Flash tied in on both sides
Body: Pearl Peacock Angel Hair dubbed
Hackle: Black variant saddle hackle
http://www.flyfishingwis.com/html/fly_swap_07.html
the pattern I have seen is similar to these except it has a heavy palmered dk brown hackle in front, green palmered hackle in the middle. peacock herl body with multi colored tail. a Wyoming pattern
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Like the peacock body for sure. Never sure about heavily palmered hackle. It displaces water if moving fast enough but seems a less packed palmered hackled would allow the hackle to pulse or move a bit. Guess if it catches fish it doesn’t really matter does it…thanks for dropping by.
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