coinman66 0 Report post Posted July 27, 2013 How big do you make Clousers for Smallies? These are in 3" range. Thanks Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
tidewaterfly 0 Report post Posted July 27, 2013 Look good Coinman! For Smallies, I like flies in the 2" to 5" range generally, but have occasionally caught them on even larger while fishing for other species. Caught one about 6" one time in the Susquehanna here in MD, on an 8" pencil popper (baitcasting) while targeting Striped Bass. That was a surprise at the time! Aggressive little bugger! For Clousers tied with bucktail, IMO 3" to 4" is good for any place where they average 12" or larger. If I thought I needed them larger, I would go to a Half & Half. Small streams & smaller bass, 2"-3" seems like a good size to me, but I like the smaller sizes tied with a finer type hair, like fox or coyote. The smallest I recall tying a Clouser was a size 12, used for Bluegills & Crappies. These are in that 3" to 4" range, tied on size 1 Daiichi Worm hooks. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JSzymczyk 0 Report post Posted July 27, 2013 I tie them in any size. I have a few astounding bucktails from deer killed by friends and myself with beautiful hair 6 inches long. I've caught many smallmouths on Clouser Deep Minnows tied with that hair. I also tie them as small as 1-3/4 to 2 inches for smallies and have caught many on those too. Smallmouths, especially river smallmouths IMO, aren't usually too selective and it's crazy how little 6-inch bass will attack a lure as large as themselves. I think, the bottom line is you can't tie them TOO long. Might not be the best answer all the time, but there you go. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
coinman66 0 Report post Posted July 27, 2013 That's why I love Smallies Tidewaterfly! You never know what there gonna hit! I think your right JSzymczyk, its hard to go to big with smallie flies. I remember wading about 3 years ago smallie fishing and was using a small fly and hooked a 6" inch River Shiner. I was stripping him in when a 15" Smallie came out of nowhere and slammed him. The shiner would get away and then get caught again. This lasted for about 2 minutes with the smallie actually running between my legs! Finally the smallie let go and I got the shiner in and he was a trashed dead mess. Wow, what a predator fish! Will tie some a little bigger and smaller, but from what you guys say I think im in the ballpark for smallies. Thanks! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
tidewaterfly 0 Report post Posted July 27, 2013 Coinman, great story & perfect example of their nature. For whatever reason, I've read far too many things posted on fishing sites about Smallies, that they tend towards smaller size flies or lures, when compared to their LM bass cousins. That's not what I've experienced & discovered they will try to eat things as big or bigger than they are. LMB will certainly do the same & bigger ones can get an even larger meal in their mouths, but that doesn't mean that Smallies require small flies or lures. I've caught plenty in small streams on smaller sizes flies, even in trout streams when fishing for trout, but as we've discussed in other threads, matching the fly sizes to the waters size & the size of the bass most likely to be caught will give plenty of opportunities to catch even the bigger ones. If you want to target bigger fish, then I believe the best approach is go bigger with the flies & fish where there are bigger fish. The smaller fish will still eat the bigger flies. There are far too many stories about Smallmouths eating Muskie size flies & lures, for me to want to stick with size 10 flies! IMO, it requires the right frame of mind to go big, but once you do & have success, it's hard to go back to the small stuff! I know of one small stream here in MD, where a fellow caught a Smallie in one of the deepest holes that was over 3 lbs. In this stream an average fish is closer to 8". That fellow was using some decent size minnows, but the point is he was targeting larger fish. I've fished that hole many times & had caught several in there up to about 12", but never even thought a fish of that size might be lurking there. Most times when I fished there, I used flies that were rather small, like size 6 streamers, which for the stream size is still large. Goes to show, never assume anything, and never take anything for granted when it involves fishing for them. I would bet that bass might have spent it's entire life in that one deep hole! You just never know! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
coinman66 0 Report post Posted July 27, 2013 Thats cool! My buddy looks at me like im nuts when i use a 1/4 or bigger crankbait for smallies. Lol Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
