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February in the south (Texas) marks the beginning of the whitebass-sandbass spawning run and this is the fly of choice for many flyfishers. At the heart of every clouser is a very simple tie great for beginners and more seasoned fly tyers to stock up on this effective fish catching fly. The clouser can be tweaked to better suit most any fishing conditions by adjusting the size, weight, color and flash to match the hatch or to stand out from the herd. This fly works for most any predator fish that preys on baitfish.

Craft Fur Clousers aren't like deer hair closures. Sure they look similar, and tied in similarly as well. However, I find that there are a few things that make the craft fur closure more difficult to tie than the original buck tail clousers. I go over some of the techniques that make it easy though, and once. you learn these, they actually become quicker and easier than their natural cousin. One thing about craft fur is that it flows very nicely in the water. That makes this the perfect material for small closures. I have tied them down to size 16 even, and you still get a little movement even. Thats the thing, I find bucktail closures work much better than craft fur clousers when tied larger. Usually size 2 and up. You could even get away with a size 4 in bucktail, but I feel its important to get that movement, so smaller than that, I always reach for craft fur.

Posted a fly tying demo and added details in an online article - "Fly Tying - Bent Back Clouser Variant". Worked well on a local pond for us! May be of interest to others!

There are so many variations of the clouser minnow, its hard to keep track of them all. One of my favorites though is this sparkle clouser. Especially when I have fish that are super aggressive, looking for shiny and fast moving lures. Being tied with all flashabou, this will shimmer and shine in the water, attracting fish from far away. It also moves quite quickly and sinks very quickly as well. Its a great little fly which I have used to catch smallmouth and largemouth bass, barracuda, crappie, redfish, sea trout, striper, and even trout. They were tied with different sized hooks though for each of those species. Also, there are other fish this fly would catch well, just I haven't actually fished for them with it yet. Hook: Gamakatsu SS15 - Size 2 Thread: Danvilles 210 Flat Waxed - Blue Weight: Lead Dumbbell Eyes - Medium Body: H20 Pearl Baitfish Adhesive - Super Glue UV Resin: Solarez "bone dry" UV curing resin

Many people have already asked me to tie a fly with my beard hair, so here it is! I cut some hair from my beard, then tied a clouser minnow with it. I even went out and tested it on the water and I caught a few smallmouth bass with it! Pretty funny actually, catching fish with my beard. Hook: Gamakatsu SS15 - Size 2 Weight: Brass Dumbbell Eyes - 5MM Eye Adhesive - Super Glue Thread: Ultra thread 140 - Brown Fiber: My Beard! UV Resin: Solarez "Bone Dry"

Howdy, I got bit hard by the fly tying bug a couple of weeks ago and am now suffering from full-body paralysis ... I can NOT get up from the table! In the space of two weeks I upgraded my original $29 made-in-India vise from BassPro to an Apex and dropped way more money than I should have at the local fly shop (which happens to be cheaper on everything than the big box!). Probably 60 or 70 flies in, it's already getting easier (i.e., I break thread less, have figured-out how to use a bobbin threader -- you'd think that would be obvious, huh? -- figured-out I can't actually bend a forged hook, etc.). I have yet to fish a single fly I've tied, the river in the backyard notwithstanding. Field tests this week in South Texas (I alternate weeks between central Texas and Corpus Christi, where I drive a tugboat -- not an ideal fly fishing platform, but I do see a lot of fish). This forum and YouTube have been great teachers. Mistakes below are my own. Cheers!

Although it seems we've had a reprieve from the drought this year in California, I started fishing for bass 2 months ago, ignoring moving water and concentrating on still. I haven't been out as much as I would like but plan on going again tomorrow (it's been almost a month!). I started tying trout flies with my new vise over the fall and winter, but bass flies are so much more fun (and easier). I've been bringing a buddy new to fly fishing and he's loving the foothill lake we've been concentrating on this spring. Here are some of the flies I've been trying out for largemouth bass. Let me know what you think. Here's a shot of the lake we've been fishing. That's the buddy in the distance And though targeting LMB, i stumbled across this crappie fishing a grey and white clouser. and now for a few of the bass bugs i've tied today. (cutting the blue floor tile by hand is NOT the way to go eric fresno, ca.

The Clouser minnow was originally created back in the mid 80's by Bob Clouser, a legendary fly tier, instructor and fisherman. Soon after the flies creation, fly fisherman around the world started realizing the flies versatility and potential to catch just about any species of fish that eat bait fish. It has the ability to catch many saltwater fish species, as well as freshwater species. I take this fly to every saltwater outing I go on, and also to every lake fly trip for bass, trout, and even pike. If tied on a small hook, you can even crappie fish with it. The fly is rather easy to tie, and can be quite durable, which means you can catch more fish without the fly shredding. You can use other materials than just buck tail, however buck tail is the original way it was tied. Synthetic fibers however can be very effective. I even know someone who ties this with craft fur, and it moves incredibly in the water. Hook: Mustad 3407 size 6-3/0 (I am using 1/0 for the video). You could also use any strong and long shank hook. I commonly use a Gamakatsu SS15 as well. Weight/Eye: Dumbbell Eyes in any size you want. The larger the eye, the faster it sinks, and the smaller the eye, the slower it will sink. I am using a 7/32" size (or 5.5MM), which is rather large. I like mine to sink fast. Body: Bucktail in chartreuse and white. Thread: Danville 210 waxed. Epoxy: Solarez "thin hard" uv curing epoxy. Music: "Happiness" & "Sunny" - Bensound.com https://youtu.be/XfcRwJ-RwlU

I had a lot of fun doing the last Clouser swap so here we go again! I am looking for 12 people to join this swap. International members are welcome! Everyone will tie 12 Clouser style flies. You will have 6 weeks to tie them, so due date of Aug 4th. We had a great variety of flies in the previous swap. Swap is Full SM - JasonV 1 - stabgnid 2 - add147 - Received 3 - rich mc - Received 7/20 4 - Stilljerkin - Received 5 - fshng2 - Received 7/22 6 - vicrider - Received 7/13 7 - Saltybum - Received 7/3 8 - JollyRed - Received 7/20 9 - flyfishingdom Received 8/2? 10 - joseph russell 11 - troutguy Received 7/30 12 - Buzfly Once again thank you everyone for the fast replies! Pm me when you are ready for an address.

I just got my order for clouser supplies so I figured it would be a good time for a swap. Any size, any color. As long as it is considered a clouser it is fair game. I am hoping for 12 to join this swap. I will do a due date of June 15th so that will give you over 6 weeks to finish and send them. International swappers are fine! Swap is Full SM-JasonV 1- add147 - Received 6/9 2- mikefurg94 - No Contact 3- professori - Received 5/11 4- eastern fly - Received 5/26 5- Kudu - Received 6/8 6- Jolly Red - Received 5/11 7- Fish For Life - Received 5/12 8- stabgnid - Received 6/6 9- herrickkyle@gmailcom - 10- easternsierraflies - No Contact 11- troutguy - Received 6/13 12- joseph russell - Received 6/16 Thanks for the fast responses! Everyone ties 12 flies please. Please use toe tags and pm me when you are ready for an address.

I can't remember the exact name of this fly; some type of marabou clouser. I went back up north to SW Wisconsin to trout fish grant county. This was right after all that hail and rain hit the area. Nearby streams had great clarity, but I had permission to fish a private stretch on Castle Rock Creek. The stream had 2-3 inch clarity. I cast this fly downstream in medium-fast waters and caught 15 Browns in 7 hours of fishing. I don't have a picture of the fly on my vise, but this was the image of it that I used for my tie. I tried the BWO hatch, nymphs and scuds with no luck. Give this one a shot sometime if you find yourself fishing stained waters, it might be the ticket for you as well.

Are all Clousers meant to be tied with the the hook facing up or does it depend on where you tie in the weighted eyes? Does tying the eyes on the top make the fly swim upside down or tied on the bottom of the shank swim conventionally? This is my first post. Great site!