Published Oct 24. 1996 - 27 years ago
Updated or edited Mar 11. 2023

Monster Muddlers

A large muddler pattern for big fish. This one has caught both pike and baby tarpon.


The Olive Monster Muddler on a 2/0 hook.

A color picture of a #4 Olive Muddler

These flies have come off age, and have now caught fish. Read more about them in this article on muddlers

Big edition

The original inspiration for these giant muddler came in a small private swap that I did with Paul Ramos, a Florida fisherman. I tied up a handful of my usual flies for him - in the normal size and in huge sizes. Huge by my measures is hook sizes of 1/0 and 2/0. Paul was going to fish for tarpon with these flies, so they weren't particularly big by his measures.

Pike flies?

I imagine that these largies could be used for pike too. The pike is rarely fished on a fly here, but the few that do it use poppers or mice. These muddlers tied on a large gape hook, should do the trick.


These flies are big. Here are two in comparison to my normal size 8-10 muddler

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Comments

Martin Joergensen's picture

Paul, So great to...

Paul,

So great to hear from you! I have thought of you many times and remembered those flies, and I have told the story about how I sent flies to Florida and how they caught tarpon! I was proud, I can tell you!

Amazing how fly-fishing and the internet can create connections.

I still have the mail you wrote - December 26th 1995 to be precise. A very nice Christmas present:

Hey Martin:
happy holidays, i hope you're still online and you receive this
note.. Stopped by the Glades the other day, first time since summer
i really checked it out... I was very surprised to see the tarpon
rolling, i threw every fly i had, until the large sized muddler you
tied, hooked and landed a 15lb pounder.. It was a memorable moment,
and loads of fun.. I'm all outta muddlers, and i need some help
with the recipe, so if you're still around, please let me know how
i'd go about creating one.. Merry Xmas..

Paul
NMB, Florida

A lot of water has passed under the bridge since then and yes, GFF has developed into something very different than it was back then - and then again it's essentially much more of the same. And by the way: it's still a hobby!

Martin

Martin, nearly 20 ye...

Martin, nearly 20 years ago next year, I just picked up this great sport of flyfishing. You were kind enough to send me these great muddler flies all the way from Denmark to Florida. I caught my very first Florida tarpon, what a thrill,I'll never forget it. It is people like you in this sport that makes me appreciate being a part of it.Also, your website, was just a hobby back then in the 1990's, look at you now.So proud of what you've done, here's to the next 20 years :)

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