How to Tie The Standard Clouser Minnow Fly Pattern

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

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 Painted Lead Eyes (color: Red; can be tied in any color you like)
• Tail: Bucktail (color: White; can be tied in any color you like)
• Wing: Bucktail (color: Chartreuse; can be tied in any color you like)
• Flash: Krystal Flash (color: Fluorescent Chartreuse)

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The Clouser Minnow is one of the most effective streamers ever designed. The Clouser was initially created by Bob Clouser for catching smallmouth bass on the Susquehanna River in the year 1987, but since then, it's become a staple for pretty much every species of fish that eats other fish. The Clouser has a deadly jigging action and rides hook point up, and you can use it to imitate a wide range of baitfish. Whether you're stripping it on a flat for striped bass, tossing it into the surf for snook, casting it into the weeds for large pike, or taking it back to its roots and fishing it for bronzebacks, you can rely on this pattern for just about anything--Lefty's caught over 85 different species on this fly alone. One that every angler should keep in the box and know how to tie, it's almost impossible to go wrong with the Clouser Minnow.

Video Transcript

Hey everyone, Levi here with Trident Fly Fishing and today we're going to be tying a Clouser Minnow. This is a classic, ubiquitous pattern that catches a whole bunch of fish. Bob Clouser developed it years ago to catch smallmouth bass on the Susquehanna River, but it's branched out from there to catch anything from large pelagic fish offshore to trout in a river. It's a darn good fly, one that you should definitely know how to tie, and one that you should keep in your box - especially you saltwater guys - all year long.

We're going to get started with a Tiemco 811S hook, size 1/0, but you can tie this thing smaller, larger, whatever you want to do. Let's get to about 25% beyond the hook eye, and we're going to build a little bump of thread here for those eyes to be seated on. That way they won't move and they'll lock in nicely. You can see we've got that bump in there, and we're going to run some thread forward of that. For thread I am using UNI-Mono, .004 in diameter, but you can use a nylon or whatever other thread you want to use - I just prefer the monofilament.

Let's get those eyes seated right up against that ball we created, and lock them in with some figure-8 wraps. Go over and back a number of times, and then we'll hit it with some helicopter wraps to really lock them in place. Now's a good time, if you have some super glue or some sort of adhesive, to go ahead and get that on there and lock those eyes in if you want a little extra durability.

With that done, we're going to run our thread all the way to the bend of the hook so that we have something for our bucktail to bind to. Bring it on forward, and bring our thread to the right behind the hook eye. Now we're going to move into some white bucktail. This is a fly that rides hook point up, so we want the lighter color to be on the bottom, depending on what you're imitating. Let's get in there, grab a nice full bunch - probably about a pencil's width - and get any of the short fibers out while you're at it if you want to be frugal. Snip those off, and clean out anything that's too short or doesn't contribute to our overall profile. Stack those with your hands real quick and measure them up. We want them to be about the length of a hook shank, and that looks good to me.

One or two loose wraps, and then you can get in there and crank it down. Once you're satisfied with that, snake your thread underneath those eyes and lock it down just behind there. This is going to be the belly of your fly because this rides hook point up. Lock that in all the way along the shank, and you can hit this with some adhesive if you like to reinforce those thread wraps - especially if you're going to take this on a beach or drag it along the sand somewhere.

Alright, that's our belly. Now we're going to invert the vise - having a rotary vise definitely helps here so you don't have to take your hook out. Clean that up a little bit, and move on into some chartreuse Krystal Flash. I like a little bit of flash in a Clouser, and I do like Krystal Flash a lot. I just like the way that scale-like effect looks like the lateral line. Distribute that right on top of the hook, and you can get in there with some thumb pressure to get it all nice and even. Then we're going to fold those excess strands back - it's going to provide a nice little lateral line as well as some flash to your fly. Flash is definitely optional, so if you don't want it in there, it's not going to hurt anything by omitting it.

All the materials we're using today can be found at TridentFlyFishing.com, as well as a whole bunch of others. We've got everything you need, and orders over $49 ship for free.

Now we're going to come in with a chartreuse wing, and we want a similar sized bunch to what we were working with for the belly. Get in there and clip it at the base. Chartreuse over white is a classic Clouser color, but this is a fly where there are really no rules about what colors you can and can't use. It's a real good pattern for saltwater baitfish like sand eels, silversides - on the smaller side it's going to match bay anchovies, probably juvenile herring, that sort of thing. It's a pretty versatile pattern, and one that I carry in the box from the start of my saltwater fishing all the way through the end of fall.

I want to measure this wing to be just about the length of that white bucktail. Once I've got it measured, hold it with your left hand and lock it in. Let's trim that one more time just to get a nice flush look to it. Clip that in with a couple of loose wraps, then distribute it and lock it in right up to those eyes. Pull that up and then pull it rearward. Now we can really get in there and build a nice little head. I want to get a nice even head here and make sure these fibers are all folded down nicely - which they are. Then we are going to hit it with a whip finish. That is a Clouser Minnow. I want to thank you guys for watching, and I'll see you next time.