Clouser Minnow

Originator: Bob Clouser
Tyer: Warren Prior

Description: The clouser minnow is categorized as a streamer and is fished sub surface. It is a popular and widely used pattern for both freshwater and saltwater game fish and is generally listed as one of the top patterns to have in any fly box, especially for saltwater fishing as well as tigerfish.

Step 1:

Attach thread of your chosen colour (red is always a good choice) to the hook shank roughly a third of the way down. After building up a small base tie in a set of dumbbell eyes on top of the hook. This will force your fly to swim upside down. It's a good idea to add a drop of superglue at this point to stop the eyes from rotating around the hook. Then wind your cotton down to the bend of the hook to prepare for tying in the body material.

Step 2:

Tie in your selected body material and wind you cotton back up the hook and over the eyes. In this instance I chose flash but you could use any thin material, including just cotton.

Step 3:

Wind the body material up the hook and over the dumbbell eyes. Tie it off as usual.

Step 4:

Flip your fly over in the vice (remember, it will be swimming upside down) and tie in a small amount of bucktail up against the eye. Generally white is the favoured colour here since most baitfish are white underneath. However at the very least it should be lighter than the bucktail which will be tied in on top of it.

Step 5:

Next tie a few strands of flash in on top of the bucktail. This will help form the lateral line of the baitfish and will also give the fly a shimmer in the water.

Step 6:

Finally tie in the same amount of bucktail of another colour. This can either be matched to the cotton colour or a different colour all together. In this instance I went will all orange, however a common combination is blue over white with red cotton (simulating either blood or the gills).

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