The Muddler Minnow is a popular and versatile artificial fly of the streamer type used in fly fishing and fly tying.
Typical Muddler Minnow pattern
Muddler minnow fly
A Muddler Minnow fishing fly tied by Don Gapen, the originator of the pattern
An artificial fly or fly lure is a type of fishing lure, usually used in the sport of fly fishing. In general, artificial flies are an imitation of aquatic insects that are natural food of the target fish species the fly fishers try to catch. Artificial flies are constructed by fly tying, in which furs, feathers, thread or any of very many other materials are tied onto a fish hook.
Classic 19th-century artificial fly – The Triumph
First known illustration of a fishing fly from 4th. edition (1652) of John Dennys's The Secrets of Angling, first published in 1613, probably the earliest poetical English treatise on Angling.,
Frontispiece from Bowlker's Art of Angling (1854) showing a variety of artificial flies
Illustration of a large Pike fly (1865)