Today we are going to tie the Clouser minnow arguably one of the most popular and versatile streamer patterns ever made Originally created back in the 80's by Bob Clouser, a legendary fly tier, instructor and fisherman We will start by wrapping our thread halfway to the bend of the hook Prepare your hook for tying in a dumbbell eye Select the dumbbell size
Smaller dumbbells will allow the fly to sink slower, larger eyes will sink faster The choice is up to you Tie in your dumbbell For more detailed information on tying in dumbbells properly, click the video link above Now cut and prepare your buck-tail (for more information on preparing bucktail, click the video link above) The thickness of your buck tail will depend on how bushy or thin you want your fly I am using about a half of a pencil thickness To tie in your bucktail easily, make two loose wraps, then tighten the thread
Make sure the bucktail is sitting on top of the hook, and not covering the eye of the hook Make a few wraps to lock the bucktail in place Now pull your bucktail tight, and wrap behind the dumbbells and to about half way to the bend of the hook We will now be tying on the other side, so flip your fly over in the vice Measure another chunk of bucktail, and prepare it for tying in When tying in, make sure the bucktail is sitting on top of the hook Now we will tie in a bit of flash
I am going to use a chartreuse krystal flash I tie in the flash at the center of the bunch Then pull the other side over, and lock it into place Now we will tie in the back color bucktail after preparing it In this case I am using chartreuse It is important to prepare this clump properly or you will not get a nice tapered head on your fly Refer to my "preparing bucktail" video link at the top if you do not already know how to do this
We will want to build a nice tapered head on the fly, and cover all the bucktail tightly Now we can whip finish the fly While not 100% necessary, to finish this fly, I like to add a bit of Epoxy In this case I am using UV curing epoxy because its much easier than the mixing stuff Make sure that the threads are covered completely before curing You can also add a drop of super glue, or paint on some head cement But I find epoxy looks nicer, and is more durable
This fly is one of those flies that is almost always in my box They are great for fishing most saltwater, and fresh water fish It really is one of the most versatile streamer patterns ever created If you like this sorta thing, subscribe to my channel And leave your questions in the comment section below Now get off your butt and go catch some fish!
Source: Youtube