Clouser Minnow

Saltwater fly imitating baitfish, for bass, striped bass, bonefish, trout and pike. Beginner. Bob Clouser, 1987.

Painted dumbbell eyes a third of the way back, a sparse white bucktail belly over them, pearl flash, and a chartreuse bucktail back on the hook-point side.

Materials

Steps

  1. Attach thread Attach the thread at 67% of the way along the shank with a few turns and trim the tag end.
  2. Tie in: lead dumbbell eyes, painted red Tie the lead dumbbell eyes, painted red on top of the shank with figure-of-eight turns. On top, with crossing turns; post under them and glue.
  3. Wrap thread Wrap the thread to 88% of the way along the shank in touching turns. Between the hook eye and the dumbbell.
  4. Tie in: white bucktail Tie in a bunch of white bucktail so the tips reach well past the bend (6× the gape from the tie-in point), angled about 1° up from the shank. Keep it sparse, about as thick as a big toothpick. Pull it back between the eyes and bind it lightly behind them.
  5. Trim: white bucktail Trim the butts of the white bucktail flush.
  6. Tie in: krystal flash Tie in the krystal flash under the shank as a beard, reaching 6.3× the gape back. Turn the hook over; fold the strands round the thread, a little longer than the belly.
  7. Tie in: chartreuse bucktail Tie in a bunch of chartreuse bucktail under the shank as a beard, reaching 6× the gape back. Slightly more hair than the belly, the same length.
  8. Trim: chartreuse bucktail Trim the butts of the chartreuse bucktail flush. At an angle, to taper the head.
  9. Whip finish Form a small head, whip finish with 5 turns and cut the thread. A small, smooth head, coated with epoxy or resin.

History

Bob Clouser, a fly-shop owner and guide, made it in 1987 for smallmouth bass on the Susquehanna. Lefty Kreh named it in a 1989 Fly Fisherman article and later said he had caught more than eighty species on it; in 1994 he called it the most important underwater fly of the previous twenty years. The first ones were white and brown with gold flash, or white and grey with silver.

Fishing it

Strip it in with pauses: on each pull the heavy eyes lift it and it darts forward, and on each pause it dips again. It rides point up, which makes it hard to snag. Clouser made it to fish deep for river smallmouth; in salt water it is cast on the flats, in the surf and into rips, with eyes as heavy as the depth needs.

Sources