Clouser Minnows

[FlaFly 0]

I've argued for eons that any fly that simulates a named fly but not exactly like it should be called a "whatever" variant. That eliminates any argument. On the other hand if even Bob himself varies his "clousers", we're left wondering where to draw the line.

[flytire 0]

Lefty Kreh ties his with "no belly" and still calls it a clouser, hard to argue with him on the matter.

 

since lefty named the clouser minnow he can tie it anyway he wants

 

from the interweb

 

"The name Clouser Deep Minnow was coined by Lefty Kreh, a noted Fly Fishing writer in a 1989 article in Fly Fisherman."

 

i personally think the combination of the light colored belly, dark colored back and the dumbell eyes are more important than how the materials are placed on a hook

 

lefty does use white bucktail as the "belly" and chartreuse bucktail as the "back" as shown in his video above

[islander727 0]

 

since lefty named the clouser minnow he can tie it anyway he wants

 

He licked the back of it...yuck.

[Capt Bob LeMay 0]

I can actually remember that first article Lefty wrote about "that darned fly".... He specifically mentioned that unlike the original he preferred all of the wing on one side of the hook.... He also said that the "clouser" took fish in every venue (and almost every specie encountered). I took that as high praise for the pattern. When i was tying for shops I lost count of the dozens and dozens of "clousers" tied for shops from north of Boston all the way down to the Keys (and a few other directions as well). To this day, depending on the intended use I may tie them with fairly light wire hooks (or heavy, super strong, super sharp hooks meant for fish that have no counterpart in freshwater....). If we're intending to fish mackeral or other toothy critters....... just substitute a long shank hook (in stainless steel my standard is a Mustad 34007 -the longer shank version is a 34011 for comparison....).

 

 

A few years back I was asked for a variant to be used exclusively in blue water (offshore).... this is what I came up with for the old Ft. Lauderdale Fly Shop in a size 4/0..... We called it the Offshore Clouser.

 

[Gene L 0]

The video of Bob Clouser tying the fly was very helpful for me. I have tied semi-Clousers for a while, and the video gives a very detailed look at how a Clouser SHOULD be tied. Especially helpful on placement of the eyes and the method of tapering the bucktail.

 

That being said, I don't like to fish Clousers despite their proven effectiveness. I don't exactly know why, I think I find them hard to cast with my range of rods. I know, "Just tie smaller Clousers," and they'll catch a lot of trout and they slay bass and bream. They're quick to tie and sink well. Nothing to dis-recommend them. Maybe it's because I stick myself every time tying in the top of the hair. EVERY TIME.

[deerhairdan 0]

I prefer my Clouser minnows to be extremely sparse. I am not sure why...I just like the way it looks in the water vs a bigger bulky profile..