Favorite hook for clouser type patterns?

[Ben J]

Hey everyone, I need to tie up some clousers and similar minnow type patterns and am just curious what everyone's favorite hook is. Appreciate any feedback!

[FISHEYE]

Depends on what I am using it for. For example, very different hooks for king salmon vs. tarpon.

[Darian]

I don't favor a single style/type of hook for Clousers. I have tied some on "J" hooks and some on 30/60 degree bend jig hooks; some on short shank and some on longer shanked hooks. I tend to use Daiichi, Gamakatsu, Mustad, and Owner brands. A lot of my fishing is either in brackish or salt water. It all depends on where and what I'm fishing for that determines my choice.

That's probably not much help to you but, to me, without knowing what or where you intend to use them, a more detailed answer is guesswork.

[DLJeff]

Many tiers make the mistake of putting the eyes too far forward on their clousers. Take a close look at one of Bob Clouser's flies and check the proportions and location of the eyes. That said, a short shank hook makes it difficult to get the eyes far enough back to get the action Bob intended.

The only other thing I'll add is no matter what hook you use, make sure it is sharp. Many hooks right out of the box feel sharp but truly are not. Compare a Gamakatsu to any other hook and you'll see the difference.

[Ben J]

My intended use for the flies would be for wipers and white bass, maybe the occasional walleye. I tied some on mustad 3399s but they don't feel like the sharpest hooks out there. Besides the standard buck tail, I tied a few with some soft arctic fox and Pearl angel hair that look pretty damn fishy. Anybody else ever use fox for their minnows? Thanks for the feedback everyone!

[Darian]

So,.... You're interested in smaller sized Clousers. How about a size 4 or 6 Gamakatsu, SS15?? Slightly long shank but nickel plated.

As to Fox Fur, I've used Artic Fox in several patterns. Easy to tie in, has great motion and flows very well. You can tie it in as a tail (zonker or just the fur), wing or wrapped as a body. Great stuff but a bit expensive. I should add that Fox Fur is durable.

[Bryan Morgan]

I use Red Fox in a lot of my small Clouser patterns. It's a great material for dredging the bottom of lakes for those big Brownies.

[jbird]

Ive tied them on just about any hook. I do prefer a straight eye and as Doug pointed out, it has to be long enough to place the eyes correctly. I haven't noticed a difference in productivity from one hook to the next. Its more important how you layer your materials and not over dressing it. keep it sparse and it will move better. Also important to match the eye size to the hook. Too heavy and it will kill the action. Too light and it will funk up the action and orientation. Arctic fox is a very nice material! I also really like using calf tail on my smaller clousers. The kinky nature of it is better than bucktail IMO. Of coarse the ultimate clouser has a calftail belly and a dyed polar bear wing

[Larry S]

Buddy of mine uses the Daiichi X452 for Clousers in the surf; sizes 4 and 6.
Best,
Larry S

[David Lee]

Eagle Claw EC-413 Jig hook . #2-#4/0 , though I have had the larger sizes (3/0) open on Fish before .

D.~