Description

The Clouser Minnow was designed by master fly tier Bob Clouser. It catches fish just about everywhere. I have caught trout, bass, panfish, carp, sea bass, redfish and mackerel on this fly pattern. I even caught a big bull frog on a Clouser Minnow, but that is a different story for another day. It is an easy fly to learn to tie and one you will have fun filling up your fly box. Clousers can be tied on saltwater hooks or a standard streamer hook. They can be tied with lead or brass dumbell eyes or with bead chain eyes depending how fast or slow you want them to sink. You can also tie the wing out of many different materials. I tied this one with bucktail but you can use synthetic wing materials, fox fur, flashabou, raccoon, marabou and about any other material that will move well when it is in the water.

Materials

Hook: Tiemco 811S, Size 4/0 - 8 or 9395, Size 2 - 12

Thread: Ultra Thread 140 Denier on larger sizes and 70 Denier on smaller sizes, color to match the wing

Body: Tinsel, Sparkle Braid or some type of flash (optional)

Wing: White bucktail to form the belly and chartruese bucktail for the wing or back. Krystal flash or Flashabou can be added into the wing to make it look like baitfish scales. Many color combinations can be tied to match baitfish in the area you will be fishing.

Step 1

Place the hook in the vise and start your tying thread near the hook eye.

Step 2

Attach the dumbell eyes by figure eight wrapping over them to secure them on the hook shank. The eyes should be tied in about 2 to 3 hook eye lengths behind the eye. It is a good idea to apply a drop of head cement to your thread wraps to help keep the eyes from rotating around the hook on the finished fly.

Step 3

Showing a close up of the figure eight wraps to secure the eyes to the hook.

Step 4

Tie in the body material right behind the eyes if you are going to wrap a body. Once the body material is tied in wrap over the material back to the hook point then advance your thread forward so it is directly behind the dumbell eyes.

Step 5

Begin wrapping the body material forward towards your tying thread. For this fly I used silver holographic flashabou.

Step 6

Once the body is formed, tie off the body material and trim the excess with your scissors.

Step 7

Tie in a few strands of Krystal flash directly behind the wing. I like to trim them so they extend beyond the hook bend. You can experimnet with different lengths and colors of Krystal flash in the wing.

Step 8

Select a small amount of white bucktail to form the belly of your Clouser Minnow. I like to even the tips as best as I can by hand without using a hair stacker. Having the tips slightly uneven gives the fly a more tapered look when completed. I like to measure the bucktail about 2 - 3 times the overall length of the hook.

Step 9

Tie the bucktail in directly behind the dumbell eyes making sure it stays on the top of the hook shank.

Step 10

Advance your thread forward so it is directly in front of the eyes. Then pull the butt ends of the bucktail forward through the middle of the dumbell eyes and tied off with your thread immediately in front of the eyes.

Step 11

Trim off the excess bucktail and wrap over the cut ends with your tying thread.

Step 12

Turn the fly upside down in the vise and apply some head cement to the thread wraps that hold the bucktail in place for more durability.

Step 13

Select a clump of chartruese bucktail that is about one and half time larger than the white bucktail to form the wing or the back of our minnow. This should be tied the same length as the white bucktail to form a nice shape overall body shape for our minnow.

Step 14

Next, tie in the chartruese bucktail right behind the dumbell eyes with several wraps of thread and then advance your thread forward so it is right in front of the eyes.

Step 15

Pull the chartruese bucktail forward between the eyes and tie off in front of the eyes with several wraps of thread.

Step 16

Trim off the excess chartruese bucktail with your scissors. Make sure to try and keep the hook eye free of any bucktail hair fibers.

Step 17

Wrap over the cut ends of the bucktail and form a smooth, even head. Do a whip finsih and trim off your tying thread.

Step 18

Good job! You have just completed a Clouser Minnow.