Good smallmouth flies for a beginner

[carolinafisherman 0]

With clouser minnows, what is the correlation between hook size and the size of the lead eyes? Like what type/size of hook should I use, and accordingly what type/size of dumbbell eyes?

 

Thanks and Tight lines

-CF

[David Legg 0]

If you use wire, get a pair of cutters. Wire will ruin scissors.

 

 

That depends on the scissors. If you use arrowhead scissors, such as Dr. Slick microtip scissors, they have an integrated wire cutter near the hinge... just open the jaws all the way, and you find a small curved notch in the scissors.

[tidewaterfly 0]

There are no set rules for determining what size lead eyes will fit a hook of a particular size. Generally for hook sizes 4 and larger, any of the lead eyes will work, and will depend on how deep you need to fish & how fast you want it to descend. Don't over look bead chain (brass or stainless) in different sizes either, if you fish in shallow water. For hooks smaller than size 4, many of the sizes of lead eyes will work, but you may want to look into barbell eyes made with brass, or even aluminum. Tungsten eyes are also available, but are rather expensive compared to other materials.

 

I use different types of hooks for Clouser Minnows, preferring longer shank straight eye streamer hooks with a round bend for much of my tying. I tie the eyes a little farther back on the shank, about 1/3 of the shank or slightly further from the hook eye, which balances them a little better. I also tie on straight shank plastic worm hooks too, which have more gap than streamer fly hooks. Many folks use Sproat bend hooks such as Mustad 3366's, which are an inexpensive hook.

 

I tie for both warmwater & saltwater species, so I also use saltwater type hooks, primarily O'Shaughnessy types. If you're tying for bass or panfish, and can find fairly strong Aberdeen hooks, they work very well for Clousers, and are usually less expensive than fly hooks. Mustad Ultra Point Aberdeens are good.

 

The hook type you decide on using will really depend on personal choice & what species you're targeting.

 

David, thanks for that info, I wasn't aware they made scissors like that! I have several pairs of Dr Slicks, but none have that feature.

[Old Hat 0]

Hi CF, I have one for you. I teach this one to all my 4-H members. It is an easy crawdad pattern. It is like a woolley bugger with claws. Tie in a couple rubber antennae with a rubber leg material so that it hangs out the back of the hook. Tie a small "ball" of chenille at the bend of the hook, this will be the "head of the crawdad. Take two small rabbit or squirrel strips of hair and tie them in on either side of the hook so that the leather part is facing in. Tie these in tight against the back of the head so that the head will keep them pushed out and separated. Finish the rest of the fly like you would a woolley bugger with coordinated colors or you can take another strip of the hair that you used for the claws and wrap it around the hook for the body. I posted a crawdad recently in the warm water forum and this is just an easier version of that fly. You can take a look at it for proportion purposes. Here is the link.

 

crawdad

[BigDaddyHub 0]

If you use wire, get a pair of cutters. Wire will ruin scissors.

 

 

That depends on the scissors. If you use arrowhead scissors, such as Dr. Slick microtip scissors, they have an integrated wire cutter near the hinge... just open the jaws all the way, and you find a small curved notch in the scissors.

 

 

 

For heavy wire use (cutting bead chains and heavier wire gauges) I use a very inexpensive wire cutter I bought in the hardware dept at Wally for $1.97. Sometimes I get real fancy and use the $4 pair of wire cutter/crimpers bought at the same place.

 

Carl, love the craw-bugger. When I was first struggling to learn to tie (self taught unfortunately..what a struggle that was!), I learned that buggers, although not always the most exciting fly to tie as a beginner, yielded more smallmouths consistently, when fished and presented just in the right way at the right time, than any other fly. I never hit a smallie stream without a box of tried and true buggers in all sizes. Black, white, brown, yellow and brown, and orange and brown are my top picks for my local waters. Now, like every industrious young tier, I gradually expanded my smallie fly base and learned to tie/ fish a whole universe of flies, but when the days get tough, I go to a bugger.

[Carl Z 0]

Did anyone mention Clouser's minnows yet :-)

(oh, and read Bob Clouser's book too)

 

The Clouser minnow is basically a weighted bucktail streamer. Learn how to tie bucktail streamers.

 

For a simple pattern, I have been tying with chenille.

http://www.flyfishohio.com/Wonder-ful%20Chenille%20Worms.htm

I really like the flyfishohio site for smallmouth info.

 

Black Wooley buggers are great, but also try some of the stone fly imitations. The Montana Stone is cheap to tie.

 

I also recommend just buying balsa poppers instead of tying them yourself.

 

If you are going to fish for bass, you need to learn to spin deer hair.

 

And learn to tie the Gartside Gurgler.

 

These flies will give you a lot to work with, and are fairly easy to tie and you won't have to go out and buy a ton of expensive materials.

 

Eventually you should take a class to learn to tie trout flies. Not because you will be using traditional dries, but because the techniques are transferable to smallmouth flies.

 

Carl

[BigDaddyHub 0]

Buy balsa poppers? Oh, my chest hurts...But that's a debate for another thread..The Clouser Minnow is a great pattern, but can be tricky for a beginner, but definately a bronzeback getter! (I think my left arm just went numb)

[oracle 0]

O it breaks my heart to hear suck dastardly words as just buy balsa poppers lol.O hub say isn't so.Im feeling faint!. True they can be a little trick but are well worth trying at least a couple of times.They may turn out pretty but they will catch fish.

[BigDaddyHub 0]

Oracle,

 

I can't talk long, have to put the oxygen mask back on soon and the pain in my arm is worsening everytime I read that....HA!