Correct Way to Tie Clousers?

[coinman66 0]

My clousers always seem to flair up to much towards the tail end. In Bob Clousers book, his flies seem to be the same width from head to tail. What am I doing wrong?

[Gene L 0]

Try this video:

[rotaryflytyingdotcom 0]

Coinman66,

When you watch that video (great video by the way I'd have loved to have been in Jacksonville that night) watch close at around 2:40 when he ties on the clump of deerhair. He ties it plenty tight and when he takes his hands away - no flare at all.

 

Check out the picture on page 12 of his book and note the PRIME section of the deer tail. Make sure that's the section you're getting your hair from. The hair on the base of most deer tails tends to flare and isn't good Clouser material. There is so much flare in some of the base hair that I use it to spin small Muddler Heads.

[tidewaterfly 0]

Coinman, as Rotary has said, keeping that flaring to a minimum is about how you select your hair. To add to what he said, try to use a finer textured bucktail too. Usually the coarser hair, meaning thicker hair fibers will tend to flare more also, so try to get bucktail with fine hair, especially if you're tying small size flies & cut it from the tail in the upper half to third closer to the tip. This is generally speaking for where on the tail, as tails are all different. Certainly if you find tails that have hair that doesn't flare easily closer to the base, then by all means use it. I save the hair that flares easily & use it for tying big bucktail jigs for Striper fishing where I want the appearance of bulk, which the flaring helps provide. I also like to use the darker hair from the back side of a tail, as it's usually finer & won't flare easily. Good for patterns where you want a dark back.

 

You might also consider other types of hair when tying small size Clousers, like Fox or Coyote tail. Bucktail is not the only hair that makes a good Clouser.

[coinman66 0]

Thanks all. Should I be looking for a bucktail from a specific region? Northern or southern bucktail? And also maybe I'm cranking down to much causing the flairing? Gonna watch video real close.

[coinman66 0]

Getting better!

[Crackaig 0]

As for region for buck tail the warmer the climate the less it will flair. Not something I get any control of here in Scotland, but was explained to me by Chris Helm on one of his visits to Chatsworth.

Cheers,

C.

[rotaryflytyingdotcom 0]

Coinman66,

The flaring isn't as much a function of the thread tension as it is the type of hair. Hollow hair flares when you tighten thread because you crush the sidewalls of the hollow hair - think of a drinking straw and how if you pinch it between your thumb and forefinger it kinks. Same with hollow hair.

 

Now picture having a length of solid plastic the same thickness and length of your drinking straw and pinch it between your thumb and forefinger - nothing happens to the solid plastic rod.

 

The closer the hair is to the core body of a deer the more hollow it is apt to be. Hair on the legs, hocks and tails of the animal are generally not hollow while the shoulder, back, side and belly hairs (because of the need to insulate the bodies vital organs) are generally hollow. Hair from the lower leg portion of a deer would make a good clouser if it were long enough since it isn't hollow and doesn't flare. Hair from the upper leg portion of a deer wouldn't make a good clouser because in the area where the leg joins the body the hair tends to be hollow and flare (and still too short).

 

A deer tail is a demonstration of the same effect - hollow hair at the base of the tail near the body - not so hollow hair out towards the tip of the tail because the insulation quality of hollow hair isn't need by the animal.

 

Crackaig brings to light a good point about any natural hair. If you find a shop where they put bulk pieces of deer body hair or deer tails in a bin (instead of packaged in a zip-lock bag) take the time to sort through and physically touch a bunch of different patches of deer hair and tails. You'll find it much like people hair - some coarse, some fine, some curly, some straight, some lighter, some darker................it goes on and on but generally you can figure on a deer tail you'll find the hair at the base hollow and as you move towards the tip the hair will become solid.

[phg 0]

Buck tails I get from hunters, here in the South, have much finer hair than the "prime northern bucktail" I get online. Both have their purposes. You can control flairing some by your choice of thread, the tension you apply, and how much hair you use. Bob ties that fly fairly sparse.

 

As has been pointed out, too, you can use other materials. One I have experimented with, a bit, is knitting worsted (yarn.) Once tied down, comb it out. They look pretty good, and the colors are legion!

[Saltybum 0]

I tie a few for saltwater with some of the synthetics out there as well. Experiment with different materials or as they say...think outside the box.

[agn54 0]

Crackaig is absolutely correct. I get a lot of tails from Florida Whitetail deer from my in-laws who hunt and even the hair at the base of the tail flares very little. In this warm climate, they don't need much insulation like their northern cousins do. I would imagine the tails on Key Deer have absolutely no flare. What you get in shops are Northern buck tail although you can occasionally find southern buck tail for sale. I believe Chris Helm used to sell it. On the store bought stuff, for a lot of the tails really only the third towards the tip is good for clousers as the hair on many of them starts to get hollow at that point so there can be a lot of waste depending on what you need the hair for. Like others said, find a shop and sift through all of the tails to find the ones with the softest hair

[utyer 0]

Watch Bob tie in that video, the placement of the eyes is important. To far forward, and the fly will nosed dive. You want it to stay level in the water. Finer deer hair, and softer wraps at the very end of the tail. I always coat my wraps over the tail before adding the wing.

[agn54 0]

Eye placement really depend on what you want to go for. I usually tie mine with the eyes about 1/4 inch behind the hook eye. This is because where I fish on the flats, baitfish and crustaceans often dive head first for cover in the grass or to feed off of the grass tops, so the nose diving action is very effective. I even tie some with the eyes right behind the eye when I intend to fast strip them for mackerel or bluefish. This way they have weight but zip through the water straight, pausing very briefly allows them to dip and flutter.

[coinman66 0]

Nice info from all. Thanks!