Big Fish Eat Smaller Fish

Most warmwater fish routinely feed on smaller fish, including those of their own species. During the spring and summer, fish also feed on insects and other assorted food items, but in the fall the availability of most insects quickly declines as air and water temperatures cool, making minnows and small fish an important food source.
From the time leaves start changing colors and falling from the trees until the pond or lake ices over, I use streamers and other types of minnow-imitating flies to take largemouth bass and crappie.
Among my favorite fall largemouth bass flies are the Gray Woolhead Minnow and the Gray Woolhead Marabou Minnow. Here’s how I tie them:

Gray Woolhead Minnow
Thread: Gray or white pre-waxed
Hook: Mustad 9672 or comparable, size 6 or larger
Tail: A pair of matched pale gray hackle feathers
Collar: Light gray or pale yellow wool flared back towards tail
Eyes: Black/white doll eyes in appropriate size
Head: Gray wool
* I’ve had good luck fishing this pattern along the outside edge of vegetation growing in shallow water. Cast beyond the weed line and retrieve the fly slowly and erratically along the outside edge of the bed.

The Gray Woolhead Marabou Minnow
Thread: Gray or white pre-waxed
Hook: Mustad 9672 or comparable, size 6 or larger
Body: Small, dense bunches of marabou hackle fibers in various colors, such as yellow, orange, green and purple
Wing: A pair of mallard breast feathers tied flat to cover marabou fibers
Gills: Red hackle fibers tied below hook shank
Eyes: Small (dumbbell) black lead eyes
Head: Gray wool
* I really like the way the marabou fibers move in the water and give the illusion of light reflecting off a fish’s scales. I’ve taken several bass by fishing this pattern along the sides of submerged logs, and along the edges of shallow flats where the flat drops sharply into deeper water, such as along the steep side of a creek channel.

The Super Silver Minnow
Thread: Black pre-waxed
Hook: Mustad 9672 or comparable, size 10 or larger
Weight: Three-five turns of small lead wire behind the hook eye to add weight to front
Body: Silver tinsel
Underwiing: A few marabou hackle fibers in various colors, such as yellow, orange, green and purple
Wing: A pair of mallard breast feathers tied flat to cover marabou fibers
* This is an excellent pattern for taking crappie in the fall. It is easy to tie and moves realistically when retrieved slowly and erratically through the water. Weighting behind the head helps the fly sink below the surface and move naturally through the water. I like to fish this fly along the edges of rocky flats or submerged rock piles, along weedy flats that drop sharply into deeper water, and near partially submerged brush piles, partially submerged timber and stump fields during the warmest parts of the day.