How to Tie the Yellow Meanie

Producer: Tim Flagler

Paul Beel of Frankenfly fame came up with this little monster he calls the Yellow Meanie. As you can probably see, there’s a lot going on here in terms of colors and textures, all of which seem to contribute to the fly’s effectiveness. Paul tied it to mimic the tippecanoe darter, a baitfish common to many of the rivers and streams he regularly fishes. Retrieved with strips and pauses, which allow the fly to wiggle, the Yellow Meanie has been an extremely productive smallmouth pattern for Paul over the last couple of years.

The foundation of the fly is a rather aggressive size 2 Partridge Attitude Extra hook, part of their Predator series. Begin by getting the hook firmly secured in the jaws of your tying vise.

For thread, olive UTC 140 Denier is a good choice. Get the thread started on the hook shank behind the eye and, after taking a dozen or so touching wraps rearward, snip off the excess tag. Then position your thread about an eye-length-and-a-half from the back edge of the hook eye.

Small, yellow and black lead presentation eyes are used to add weight and to give the fly a jiggy motion. Lay the eyes diagonally on top of the hook shank and take cross wraps of tying thread to get them lightly anchored. Continue taking cross wraps to further secure the eyes and get them perpendicular to the shank. Follow the cross wraps with yoke wraps, which go over top of the eyes and underneath the hook shank, on either side of the fly. Finally, take circular flat wraps below the eyes but above the hook shank to pull all the previous wraps in tight. End with your tying thread at the back edge of the dumbbell eyes.

You want the length of the fly to be about 2 1/4” from the front edge of the hook eye to the tip of the tail. I like to make a mental note of where on my tying vise the tip of the tail should be.

Although Paul suggests Cree hackle feathers for the tail, I don’t really feel like taking out a second mortgage at the moment so I’m going to go with ginger grizzly instead. This particular saddle is beautifully marked with some feathers that are absolutely perfect for the job. Here, I’ve selected two relatively short feathers with a really nice shape to them. Holding the feathers together, strip off much of the lower, webby and fuzzy stuff. Then measure so the tips of the feathers extend to that point you mentally marked on your tying vise.
Relocate your tying thread back to the start of the hook bend. Here, I need to use every bit of the feather’s length. Get hold of one of the feathers with its cupped side facing away from you and begin securing it to the far side of the hook shank. Pulling it forward, under the wraps, just a little bit will help in the effort. Repeat the tie-in procedure with the other feather on the near side of the hook, making sure they’re the same length and that their tips extend back to that marked point. Once you’re happy with their length and orientation, take tight wraps of tying thread up the hook shank to bind the feathers’ stems down, all the way to the back edge of the dumbbell eyes. Then, reach in with the tips of your tying scissors and snip the excess off close.

The body of the fly is kind of a wild mix of different dubbing materials, three different Frankendubs and one Arizona Mega Simi Seal. The large majority of the dubbing will be the Mega-sized Simi Seal in a color called Canadian Olive. Smaller but equal amounts of green, orange and yellow Frankendub will then be added to the Simi Seal. To produce one or two flies, pull an ample amount of the Simi Seal from the packet and blend it with the smaller amounts of Frankendub. You can do this by hand or put it in a coffee grinder to speed the process. Once mixed together, the dubbings do a remarkable job of imitating the colors and translucency of a living tippecanoe darter.

Pull a good-sized slip of the dubbing free from the clump, roughly aligning the fibers in the process. Locate the midpoint of the pulled-out fibers and secure it to the far side of the hook, behind the eyes. Pull the forward-pointing portion rearward and secure that to the far side as well. Repeat the same procedure on the near side of the hook to create the body of the fly. Check your work to make sure that, together, both clumps pretty much encircle the hook. The fly should now look something like this.

To add a little sparkle to the pattern, snip four strands of root beer Krystal flash free from the hank and find the midpoint of the strands. Lay the midpoint against the near side of the hook and take thread wraps to secure it. Then pull the forward-pointing portion back and over to the far side of the hook before securing it there. Take a few more wraps of tying thread to make sure the flash is bound down well on either side of the fly. Trim the flash off so it’s just a little bit shorter than the fly’s tail feathers. Flip the fly over in your tying vise, this is how it will ride when fished.

For the wing of the fly, you can use olive Mega Simi Seal or a small clump of olive Arctic Fox, as I’m doing here. With the Arctic Fox, pull out the majority of the shorter underfur from the butt ends. Measure to form a wing that extends about as far back as the Krystal flash. Secure the butt ends of the material to the hook shank, behind the eyes, and preen it back equally to either side of the hook. You can then reach in with your tying scissors and carefully snip the butt ends off close.

Pick up an ample clump of the remaining dubbing and pull it apart a couple of times to align the fibers. Snip off square one end of the fibers, then spread the clump out a bit. Get hold of the dubbing with a chip clip or something similar, and trim the extending fibers off so you’re left with a 1/2” wide segment in the clip. Set the clip aside within easy reach. Pull down on your bobbin and create a short 2” long dubbing loop with your tying thread, then relocate your thread to just behind the hook eye. Placing your middle finger in the loop will allow you to easily open and close it with your thumb and index finger. Insert the dubbing into the loop about halfway, then release the clip and make minor adjustments if necessary.

Pick up a dubbing whirl and insert it into the bottom of the loop then give it a good clockwise spin, as if you’re looking down on it. This will cord up the dubbing into a fuzzy little rope. Use your dubbing needle to pick out the dubbing even more. I like to use plunger-style hackle pliers to get hold of the dubbing loop above the whirl then snip the whirl free. This just makes wrapping much easier, particularly when you have a big old camera between you and the fly. Take a wrap or two with the dubbing noodle, first behind the eyes then diagonal wraps above and below them, ending hopefully with bare thread behind the hook eye. Anchor it there with tight wraps of tying thread and snip the excess off close. Pick up your whip finish tool and use it to do a 5 or 6 turn whip finish, seat the knot well and snip or cut your tying thread free.

Using a dubbing needle or a toothbrush, brush all the dubbing rearward, kind of teasing it out from the head area in the process. A drop of head cement applied to the thread wraps behind the hook eye will ensure they don’t come unraveled.

And that’s the Yellow Meanie. You’ve got to love the look of the mixed dubbing on this fly. Really nice pattern Paul.