The Murdich Minnow is not a novelty fly pattern. It avails itself of no new age synthetic materials, requires no fancy hooks, and can be cast on any rod you have in the quiver. Originally tied as a striper fly, this critter will catch anything from crappie to lake trout, though it is particularly deadly on bass, trout and Esox.
The Murdich, like another all-round all-star, the wooly bugger, is a platform you should experiment with. The version I describe below, tied on a wide-gapped TMC 8089, excels as a bass fly in sizes 2 and 4, and as trout food in size 6. In smaller sizes, downsize your Estaz from Grande to standard, or just trim your Estaz to the proportions that feel right to you.
For Esox variants, I opt for longer bucktail tied from the base of the tail, wider gauge Flashabou, and a head not of wrapped Estaz but rather EP Crustaceous Brush. This all goes on a much bigger and stouter hook, like a Gamakatsu Spinnerbait hook all the way up to size 6/0. On these large flies I also like to add a keel in the form of a few weighted wire wraps on the bend of the hook, which helps the fly track. While white is great for pike, when tying for muskies I go with either brown and orange or black and red for both tailing and body material.
There’s no wrong way to fish a Murdich (provided you tie it on with a loop knot). Hit one with a bit of Loon’s Henry’s Sinket and fish it with a tapered leader and floating line to bass in your local pond—twitch it just below the surface, fish it slower than slow, and hang on. For river smallmouth, throw it with an intermediate line to fish slow, and a type III sinker to fish a little faster, depending on water temps, water depth and general fish activity. For trout, a type VI sinking line will allow you to cast this thing a mile, skip it under overhangs, and retrieve it in sharp staccato swoons to entice beasts out of their holding lies. And for toothy critters, a type III sinking line has just enough downward tension to keep it from breaching the surface on the strip.
Whichever way you fish it, remember that getting the most action out of the Murdich takes both hands. Your line hand is responsible for making it dart and swoon with erratic strips and pauses, while your rod hand is responsible for making the tail tremble (use your twitchy forearm muscles to quiver the rod tip).
