How to Tie the Full-Dressed Clouser Minnow Fly Pattern

Learn how to tie the Full-Dressed Clouser Minnow fly pattern including step-by-step instructions, a video tutorial, pictures, and much more. Improve your fly tying skills here.

Taking a strong influence from the classic Clouser Minnow, this Full-Dressed version offers a little bit more realism and a whole lot more movement. Maintaining that classic minnow profile, you can use this fly to match things like silversides, juvenile herring, sandeels, or just use it as a general attractor, as its ostrich herl wing adds movement whether your fly is resting on the bottom or getting stripped back to you. A solid choice in both fresh and saltwater situations that can be tied in any color scheme you like, it's hard to go wrong with this version of a must-have streamer.

Materials:

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Hook: Tiemco 811S (size: 1/0; can be tied in sizes 10 through 5/0)
Thread: UNI-Mono (size: .004")
Eyes: Hareline Double Pupil Lead Eyes (color: Chartreuse/white/black; can be tied in any color you like)
Tail: Bucktail (color: White; can be tied in any color you like)
Underwing: Ostrich Herl (color: Chartreuse; can be tied in any color you like)
Wing: Bucktail (color: Light Olive under Dark Olive; can be tied in any color you like)

Video Transcript

Hey everyone, Levi here with Trident Fly Fishing and today we're going to be tying a full-dressed Clouser Minnow. This is sort of my take on a Clouser - it has a little extra action to it, it just looks a little more realistic in my opinion. Not to say that the standard Clouser isn't worth having, because it's an excellent, excellent fly and I've caught a bunch of fish on it, but this is just a little more involved than that fly. If you want to challenge yourself or put something different in your box, this is a great fly to do so with.

We're going to run some UNI-Mono on our hook. For our hook we're using a Tiemco 811S, size 1/0, but you can tie this fly smaller and definitely larger. Get yourself a base laid down and we're going to bring our thread about an eye's length behind that eye. We're going to move in here with some double pupil lead eyes. This is the color chartreuse - it will accent our overall fly quite well, but you can use any color that you like. Get that wrapped in with some figure-8 wraps on either side, and we'll hit it with some helicopter wraps as well to really bind that in. Then just to be additionally durable, go in there with some super glue and lock that in.

While our glue is drying, we're going to move into white bucktail. We want nicely long fibers for this 1/0 hook, but this is a fly that you can tie in almost any size. Peel yourself off a bit - you don't need a whole lot. In fact, I like this fly to kind of be on the sparse side of things, but to each their own in terms of that. Clip that right by the hide and we'll get rid of any short fibers that don't contribute to our profile. Make sure we have a nice natural taper here, which we do - we want this to flow into our tail. Clip those butt ends nice and flush. From there, we're going to tie it in right on top of that hook shank, just behind the eye, and advance your thread behind those eyes. Lock this in on the shank - it gives us a nice tail. I'm going to wind my thread up and back one more time just to really get that tightly on there. I'm going to clean out these stray fibers too, just because they're kind of bothering me.

We're going to move into some flat diamond braid for the body. This is sort of an enhancement on the regular Clouser. I like the way it looks, and it also just adds durability to the whole fly - kind of a win-win in my book. This is a real solid pattern for striped bass up here in Maine. Just like I always do, I'm going to hit that with a loose wrap and then just pull it with my left hand until I'm happy with its position, so I don't have to get too crazy with it. Lock that in and advance your thread just behind those eyes. We're going to build a nice clean body here with side-by-side wraps. This will add durability and also a nice flashy belly to your fly. All the materials that we're using today can be found at TridentFlyFishing.com, and orders over $49 do ship for free. Once you get that just behind the eyes, lock it in with a few securing wraps and clip off the excess.

Now I'm going to invert my hook. The rotary function on the vise is very helpful for that. Clean up those stray fibers before we move into some ostrich herl. This is chartreuse - it's going to accent our fly nicely, and this is sort of the main thing that's different between this fly and the standard Clouser. We're going to grab a nice bunch, probably 8 to 10 fibers, maybe more, and clip them off right at the base. We want these to extend beyond our white bucktail. The reason for this is it gives a really nice flutter whenever those lead eyes drop your fly, and I've found that that is incredibly effective - it just adds movement. This is one of those flies that, kind of unlike the standard Clouser, whenever you just let it sit there, it's going to have some motion to it and give the illusion of life. Get that tied in just behind the hook eye, and now you're going to snake that over the hook and really lock it in.

Now we'll move in here with some Polar Flash - this is a seafoam color, just going to accent everything nicely. Clip yourself off four strands or so. Secure it out on either side, hit it with a securing wrap, and then just fold it right over. That will give you solid flash right down the middle of your fly.

We're going to move into this pale olive bucktail. This is a fly that you can tie in any variety of colors - I just like this color selection because it imitates things like sand eels and silversides, which are quite prevalent up here in Maine. Get yourself a nice chunk. We're going to top it off with some darker olive, so don't get too crazy with the amount of fibers. Pull those out and clip them at the base. You can clear out any shorts, and we're going to measure that - we want it to be about as long as our white. Clip that flush just to make your life easier. Tie it in right on top. I can tell these butts are going to be problematic, so I'm going to trim them at a little bit of an angle and lock it all in. Sometimes that's easier if you take it out of the vise.

Now we're going to top this off with some dark olive bucktail. This is going to give a nice dark color to the back of this fly. Don't need a whole lot of fibers, but I just like the way that this accents the lighter contrasting olive. Measure that to be just a little shorter than that lighter olive, so that it adds taper to the fly. Get that tied in right on top of that pale olive and distribute it with your thumb if need be. Lock everything in and go ahead and whip finish it off. That is a full-dressed Clouser. I want to thank you guys for watching, and I will see you next time.