Resin Fry (Epoxy Minnow)

Brown trout love an epoxy minnow fly

I looked out the window with dismay on my day off. With no guiding in the book it was a day for me, and the wind and rain were drilling against the window.

But the weather doesn't always play ball for clients, so I decided to pack the 7 wt, Airflo sniper intermediate line and my box of streamers to go find some fish in adverse conditions.

The UV resin fly certainly selected larger fish

When I got the bank, I saw a fair few fish rising to hawthorns, and I was a bit disappointed I hadn't taken a floating line. I stuck to my plan though, and threw a range of woolly buggers and streamers to no avail.

I then tried an epoxy minnow (well, a UV resin minnow) I had tied last year and never tried, and instantly got hit. I proceeded to then get 7 fish in the next hour or so, with a bigger stamp of fish than I usually get on the dry flies.

Rainbow metallic tinsel

So with a great success, below is how to tie my resin fry.

The thread I use to make the body was in a pack of brilliant tinsels I got in a haberdashery in Orkney on a holiday there last year. It is a thin metallic rainbow tinsel, and each spool had about 100 m, for 3 pounds it was a steal! the threads form my saltwater clouser and streamer bodies. Who knows what I will do when they run out.

Forming the body of the epoxy minnow

Anyhow, I tie on some fairly thick pale thread onto a size 12 wet fly hook, tie in a chunky white marabou tail and tie off the thread and cut it. Only a little normal tying thread is needed for this.

Then tie in the tinsel. I transfer a few metres off the cardboard spool to an old bobbin so I can put it on a bobber holder. Start forming a body, it doesn't have to be perfect though, that can be done with the resin.

Tie off the tinsel somewhere on the body after forming a tight head shape, and press on a couple of eyes. I used red and yellow ones for the ones I used, because the silver didn't really stand out so much against the body, If using darker tinsel, the silver would look good though.

Start applying very thin layers of hard, tack-free UV resin, making sure they have been under the torch for 30 seconds before the next layer. Keep rotating the vice when the resin is wet to make sure it spreads equally. Keep building the body up until you are happy with a fry shape, and there is no edges to the eyes, and job done!

Finished UV resin fry/ Epoxy minnow fly