Tying Tutorial for the Midnight Reaper VERSION 2.0 Night Fishing Fly

by Paul Laemmlen December 21, 2024

Yellowstone Cutthroat caught on a Midnight Reaper - Henry’s Lake, ID, Oct 2024

After having success with Midnight Reaper streamers on lakes in September and October this Fall, see: https://lakestreamstudio.com/blogs/news/full-moon-circus-september-2024, I have made one small improvement that makes the fly easier to fish in shallow water, where we target most of the big trout.

The previous version of this fly was tied using 1/16 oz jig hooks. Although it caught lots of fish, this heavier version was difficult to fish over weed beds and shallow bays because of its fast sink rate. By tying various weights of cone heads to un-weighted jig hooks, we can now swim the Reaper slowly over these aquatic zones without it sinking too fast.

The cone heads used on this version of the Reaper are slotted, and notch nicely into the jig hook. These slotted cones come in multiple weights – the smallest being less than half the weight of the pre-weighted 1/16 oz jig hooks. This offers many more options for fishing varied depths and retrieval speeds. Another benefit of using cone heads is that the fly has a more realistic baitfish profile.

An even lighter weight option for the Reaper is to tie it un-weighted. This version will not have as pronounced a jigging action as the weight-forward conehead versions, but can be fished in the shallowest water.

Weights of hook sizes with cones & rattles attached:

KEITECH #2/0 90° 1/16 oz pre-weighted jig hook - ……………………… .08 oz
GAMAKATSU # 2/0 90° 1/16 oz pre-weighted jig hook - ……………….. .07 oz
GAMAKATSU #2/0 90° unweighted jig hook with large cone - ………… .06 oz
GAMAKATSU #2/0 90° unweighted jig hook with medium cone - ……… .05 oz
GAMAKATSU #2/0 90° unweighted jig hook with small cone - …………. .036 oz
AHREX #1/0 TP610 Trout Predator hook (NO CONE WITH RATTLE) - . .027 oz

Below is a re-print of a portion of my August 30, 2024 blog article: https://lakestreamstudio.com/blogs/news/project-fly-tutorial-the-midnight-reaper-a-night-fishing-fly, explaining the design philosophy of this night fishing streamer, along with tying instructions for the improved 2.0 Midnight Reaper versions:

“First of all, most trout fishermen don’t fish in the dark, so this is not the type of fly typically found in fly shop bins or even online. This fly has never seen the light of day on any body of water – not that it can’t be fished during the day, it’s just that I’ve only fished it at night! This fly is big, black, ugly, noisy and looks like an unkempt Woolly Bugger on steroids.

Before going into the recipe for this 3 ½” fly, I think I owe the reader a brief explanation of why I selected some of the unique materials used to create it. The Midnight Reaper uses a jig-style hook with a weighted head. Most all of the materials used on the fly are black – because dark-colored flies are more easily seen by fish against a dark sky. The tail uses marabou and the body is dubbed using extra-long, blended fibers normally used on large saltwater streamers.

Since this fly is fished at night, the way it looks matters less than the way it sounds. Fish have neuromast receptors on their lateral line and on their bodies that sense frequency, vibration and movement to help them locate prey, therefore a bulky, noisy, water-pushing fly is in order when fishing in the dark.

A few sound-producing features are available to the creative fly-tyer that help trout find your fly in the dark. A trick used by Pike and Bass fishermen is to incorporate rattles into fly design. This is a secret weapon for the non-purist night fisherman seeking trout. That tiny rattle may not sound loud to human ears, but to fish it’s like ringing the dinner bell.

Another noise-producing feature of this fly is its legs. I have replaced the silicone legs on the original Midnight Reaper with metal bead chain legs. With the slightest underwater movement, these metal micro-chains collide together, creating noise commotion that brings in curious nocturnal fish, like the one caught by my brother Eric, below”.

Double-digit Rainbow fooled by the Midnight Reaper fly

-------------- MIDNIGHT REAPER 2.0 Material List ----------------

Hook: GAMAKATSU #2/0 or #2 90° heavy wire jig hook
Head: WHOLESALE FLY COMPANY - S, M or L Slotted Tungsten cone head
Pin: 21-gauge stainless steel head pin
Thread: VEEVUS GSP 100D, Black
Tail: FULLING MILL Premium Marabou Blood Quills, Black
Tail flash: HEDRON Flashabou - Pearl
Rattle: SPIRIT RIVER 3mm, 2 steel bearing glass rattle
Body: MONTANA FLY COMPANY Arizona Simi Seal MEGA Dub, Firecracker
Body: STEVE FARRAR SF blend, FBL 45, Black
Body: HEDRON Flashabou - Pearl
Legs: 1.2mm Steel Ball chain, Black

INSTRUCTIONS

Insert pin into cone, place in vise with cone pointing down. Add a drop or two of thick UV resin into open end of cone. (Be sure to leave the slot in the cone open). While holding the cone centered on pin, cure the resin with UV torch. (Shown below: Small, Medium and Large Slotted Tungsten Cone Heads attached to pins using UV resin.)
Cut pin and slide the slot in cone over hook eye stem and lash to hook shank.
With hook point down, lash rattle onto hook shank.
Coat rattle and lashed down pin with UV thick resin, cure with UV torch.
Tie in a bushy Marabou tail about 1 ½ the length of the hook, add 3-4 strands of Flashabou on each side of the tail.
Cut two pairs of 2” long bead chain for size 2 hook, (three pairs of 2 ¾” long bead chain for size #2/0 hook).
With hook point facing up, place pairs of bead chain evenly over hook shank as shown. When in position, apply a drop of UV thick resin and cure with UV torch to anchor them in place before lashing them down with figure-eight wraps. (Shown below: Photo 01: two pairs of bead chain legs positioned on a size #2 hook. Photo 02: three pairs of bead chain legs positioned on a size #2/0 hook showing figure-eight wraps.)
Create a 6-inch dubbing loop using a base of MFC Mega dub, then lay 1 ½” to 2” lengths of SF Blend over dubbing, follow with a sprinkling of 1 ½” to 2” lengths of Flashabou. Grab these fibers with dubbing tweezers and place them in a double-thread dubbing loop.
Twist into a rope, brush out the fibers and wrap onto hook shank, going around and between bead chains, constantly preening the fibers back. Take care not to trap the legs. Finish wrapping tight to the conehead and whip finish.
Finished black and brown Midnight Reapers, tied on a #2 jig hook:
Finished black Midnight Reaper, tied on a #2/0 jig hook:

-------------- MIDNIGHT REAPER (NON-WEIGHTED VERSION) ----------------

Material List:

Hook: AHREX #1/0 TP610 TROUT PREDATOR streamer hook
Thread: VEEVUS GSP 100D, Black
Tail: FULLING MILL Premium Marabou Blood Quills, Black
Tail flash: HEDRON Flashabou - Pearl
Rattle: SPIRIT RIVER 3mm, 2 steel bearing glass rattle
Body MONTANA FLY COMPANY Arizona Simi Seal MEGA Dub, Firecracker
Body: STEVE FARRAR SF blend, FBL 45, Black
Body: HEDRON Flashabou – Pearl
Collar/Head: SNAKE RIVER FLY KILOWATT streamer fiber, black & green / black & blue 50/50 blend
Legs: 1.2mm Steel Ball chain, Black

INSTRUCTIONS

With hook point facing up in vise, tie in the rattle.
Coat rattle with thick UV resin.
Tie in a bushy Marabou tail with 3 to 4 strands of Flashabou on each side.
With hook point facing down, place two pairs of 2” long bead chain over hook shank. Apply a drop of thick UV resin and cure it to lock them in place. Lash the two pairs of bead chain down with figure-eight thread wraps.
Create a 5-inch dubbing loop using a base of MFC Mega dub, then lay 1 ½” to 2” lengths of SF Blend over dubbing, follow with a sprinkling of 1 ½” to 2” lengths of Flashabou. Grab these fibers with dubbing tweezers and place them in a double-thread dubbing loop.
Twist into a rope, brush out the fibers and wrap onto hook shank, going around and between bead chains, constantly preening the fibers back. Take care not to trap the legs. Tie off the dubbing loop between the bead chain legs and the hook eye.
Start another short dubbing loop to create a head/collar. Finish the fly by using the same materials used in step 5, but adding SRF KILOWATT extra-long, coarse fibers. Twist into a dubbing rope and wind toward the hook eye, constantly preening the fibers back.
Whip finish and brush out the fly.

Finished non-weighted Midnight Reaper, ready to fish

Moonlight Rainbow