First time tying (Clouser Minnow)

[MG Mason]

Hi everyone,

I'm newish to fly fishing and pretty much brand new to fly tying. A few weeks ago I went fishing with my neighbor on the American for Stripers and we used Clouser Minnows. I caught a small Largemouth bass but no stripers.

After fishing I went into the shop and Andy very nicely set me up with the materials to tie Clousers. Thanks Andy if you read this!

I was wondering if any experienced tiers might be willing to critique my first two clousers. Does the eye placement look right? Any other critique welcome too. Sorry if pic isn't very good.

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

Looks amazing.....

The Clouser minnow was a game changer for fly fishers.

Probably the number one steamer for many different fisheries.

[Darian]

The fly in your vice will fish. The fly on the pedestal looks as tho the wing is tied down too far. You can make/tie many variations of the Clouser Minnow. All of them effective at different times and places. Google Tying Clouser Minnow Flies and you'll get a bunch of tutorials that'll give you ideas about tying them.

[MG Mason]

Thanks for the feed back. I have tied about 15 more and am being very careful with the wrappings in the back. I look forward to trying them out.

Thanks again.

[JD]

Not a bad first effort at all. The top wing is not usually bound down quite that much. Pick up a copy of Bob Clouser's book if you want more detail, and perhaps this video might help: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k0gX83J1Kvg

[Scott V]

Don't worry about trying to tie perfect flies. Fish DO NOT CARE. I have tied up horrible looking clousers to prove that anything will catch fish, and guess what, they caught fish. Your fly looks just fine to me and will catch fish. Now get out and use it. Disco bay has a ton of stripers in it right now. I haven't found the big ones yet, but they will appear. And you can use a float tube if you don't have a boat or kayak.

[MG Mason]

Thanks for all the feedback and encouragement. I've always been intimidated when it comes to tying flies. Haven't gotten out yet to try them, but I have 20 tied up now. I'll be more careful with the top wing next time too.

[JasonB]

Like Scott said, don't worry too much about making them "perfect" by anyone else's standards. One of the really cool things about tying your own is that you add another element to your presentation, and, with time and experience, you will let that guide your choices on materials and proportions and how you tie them. Yours will do just fine I think, for now; you'll become your own worst critic soon enough, and want them to be more this or that. I think most of who tie tend to be much more critical of our flies than the fish themselves. Of course there are times where a subtle distinction can make a difference, but I think this too has a lot more to do with how we personally fish them than anything else. Above all, keep at it and have fun! :-)

One big tip, and half the fun for me, is to take a few out and give em a swim; carefully observe how the behave in the water. Some of my so-so looking flies in the vise really come alive in the water, and sometimes the other way around too. I've had some flies that I thought looked great as I was finishing the head on them, only to see that they did not swim right or look very lively, etc etc once I checked them out in the water. Obviously, the next test is to see how the fish respond to them too!

Do be very careful with all this however. Fly tying has been shown to be highly addictive, can lead to impulsive purchases of exotic materials, and can also be downright embarrassing having red, blue, pink, orange, or even purple fluffies show up in/on your person at the strangest times and places.
JB

[retirednavy]

When in doubt, GO SPARSE, my friend.

I use size 6 clousers in Santa Barbara for surf perch. Stupid deadly. They way they sink, I can inch them right up out of the beach side of a trough. The perch are just waiting for that kinda stuff.

There is an outstanding video online that describes the dimensions precisely. They tier is associated with Orvis. They use his tying videos. He has a super simple eye placement rule. Dumbell eyes too close to the hook eye is never good. It wrecks the head and the wing orientation and behavior.

Olive and white have also well for bonito (a for the locals). I will tie those with super hair or synthetic yak hair.