Thirty or forty years ago, some writers offered that if you had to carry but one fly it should be the Muddler Minnow. No doubt those were Brown Trout chasin’, streamer throwing anglers. In fact, the Muddler was reportedly a 1930’s Minnesotan creation for big Canadian Brookies (ok, for the foolhardy brookies). The pattern represents Sculpins and other small, bottom dwelling fish. It can even be tied with a bullet head (duck!) to keep its’ normally unweighted body down. To be honest, I have never done well with this traditional pattern. Why? I believe because I have not diligently fished the fly. I am not a streamer chucking FFer, yet the largest Rainbow trout I have ever brought to hand was on a Spruce Fly while fishing a non-private lake. I have not given the traditional pattern a fair shake.
Below is another variation of the Muddler that I tied (I tied my Muddlers some time ago and there they set) is the Black Muddler. This pattern adds more flash and movement (black marabou and peacock herls).
I am not that great at spinning deer or elk hair. I spin it, make a mess and hack away with scissors or razor blade and come up with a fairly blunt head, which is said to be a good thing to create water displacement and gain the attention of predatory fish. There are quite a few variations for the Muddler.