Meat Whistle – a tasty crayfish

The Meat Whistle is a John Barr creation. John is an avid fisherman who enjoys the aspect of jigging forbass under a low hanging tree. He desired to replicate the same type of fishing from a fly rod and came up with his Meat Whistle. It was heavily weighted in the front with a conehead attached to a 90 degree jig hook. Add some Marabou, a rabbit strip, and you have a similar jig and trailer setup. 

John started to develop this pattern in 2002 and, by 2005, had a pattern that would achieve the same sink rates and movements that he enjoyed with his bass lures. However, John also found that this pattern was not only successful with bass but was very effective in hooking large trout. While it was a great imitation of crayfish, the pattern also worked well imitating many baitfish. With the jig hook, the Meat Whistle can be stripped quickly or slowly jigged. The slow jigging method is often preferred for this pattern. The three colors that John found most effective were Olive, Rust, and Black.

There has been some modifications over the years. Often, Schlappen feathers are substituted for the Marabou collar and the rib wire is omitted. I prefer using GSP thread to construct the streamer, particularly in tying down the rabbit strip. I finish the GSP with a Whip Finish behind the cone and add a thread dam to the front of the cone with a 6/0 thread. Another popular modification is the Micro Meat Whistle tied onto a jighead hook size 4 and using pine squirrel strips, rather than the rabbit strips.

A 4 to 6 weight rod with a floating line like Rio’s Coldwater Clouser will turn over the fly well in most situations. John uses a 9′ tapered leader to 0X. Most of the takes occur when the pattern is sinking and there is no retrieve. If you have no takes on the drop, hop the fly a couple of times and let it sit. After the sit, shake the pattern and start a hopping retrieve. When the pattern sits, the eye of the hook will be towards the bottom and the Marabou and rabbit strip will undulate above it. This drives the bass nuts!

The jigging movement is often associated with crayfish but sculpin can also provide similar movement when traveling or spooked.