The Clouser Minnow - my favourite fly!

This fly was developed by Bob Clouser and, I believe, the first Clousers were actually tied for small mouth bass in fresh water. 

I cannot say enough great things about this fly. It is a must to tie and have in your box. It will catch fish in any body of water, anywhere in the world and is one of the simplest flies to tie.

For you guys who fish Cape York, you will need to tie these flies in size #2 and 1/0 - white is the best colour.

What makes this fly work so well are the lead eyes tied at the front of the fly which make the fly dip its head at the end of the strip. Another interesting thing about this fly is that you can troll it and it gets a shimmy-up because of the water going past the eyes. It is absolutely deadly on tailor.

Material: 

Tying Instructions:

Step 1

Dumbell eyes are to be tied in 1 ½ hook eye lengths behind the eye of the hook.

Figure eight the eyes to the hook shank 5 to 6 times and finish with 4 over/under wraps.

Reference the hook size to eye size table for correct eye size.

Step 2

Tie in a sparse bunch of bucktail in front of the eyes so it extends past the bend of the hook to produce a fly of the correct length as listed in the fly length table.

Tie in behind eyes a distance equal to 2 hook eyes in length, then advance thread to in front of the eyes.

Turn the hook upside down in vice so that the hook point rides up.

Step 3

Tie in Krystalflash about 5 to 6 strands doubled over slightly longer then the Bucktail.

Step 4

Tie in a sparse bunch of bucktail in front of the dumbbell eyes so it extends past the bend of the hook to produce a fly of the correct length as listed in the fly length table.

Step 5

Form a small neat smooth tapered head of tying thread in front of the eyes.

Whip finish and trim the thread.

Apply head cement.

Overall Fly Lengths Table: (from hook eye to end of the tail)

The first length number listed is an absolute minimum acceptable length and the second number listed is the maximum length allowed.

Hook Size 6:    1 7/8 to 2 inches        4.75 – 5.00cm
Hook Size 4:    2 1/8 to 2 ¼ inches        5.40 – 5.70cm
Hook Size 2:    2 5/8 to 2 ¾ inches        6.70 – 7.00cm
Hook Size 1/0:    3 1/8 to 3 ¼ inches    7.90 – 8.25cm

Hook Size to Dumbell Eye Size Table

Hook Size 6: - Extra small
Hook Size 4: - Small
Hook Size 2 – 1/0: - Medium