Smaller Jointed Minnows

Last Summer/Fall, I had tied up some of Ward Bean's "Jointed Minnow" fly-fishing patterns.  You can search for the tying instructions on his website here:
http://warmwaterflytyer.com/welcome.asp

I tied up some smaller Jointed Minnows this weekend. The ones I had tied previously, I used #2 streamer hooks. Those shad imitors looked great, and ended up 3.5"-4" long.


The ones I tied up this weekend used mainly #8 hooks front and back (back hooks cut off at the bend). I also tried #10 front and #12 for the rear hook. Regardless of hook sizes I used, overall length still came out to about 2", so for weight purposes on future ties I think I will stick with the #8 front, and maybe #10 for the rear hook. Also, I used the "small" size Wapsi Palmer Chenille on these small versions, instead of the "medium" used on the larger versions.

For size comparison, here's 2 of the smaller ones compared to the 4" version:

 

Then I tied up a couple in a chartreuse color. Here's one of them beneath the "pearl" colored ones:

 

UV light spectrum penetrates water better/further than other colors, so I wanted to see what the fish might see under water. Here's those same Jointed Minnows under UV light:

The Chartreuse really lights up!  How cool is that?? :)