Clouser Deep Minnow

[goose54cdd]

@goose54cdd, Here is a snapshot. Let me know if it is readable. Feb 2001 Fly Fishing Guide.

Wow! That was fast. It works fine for me. Thank You. Do they still put out the Fly Fishing Guide?

 

[falcon]

No, the Guide is long gone. They were free at fly shops and sporting goods stores. I lucked out finding the issue right away.

 

[goose54cdd]

I used to pick it up myself, but I haven't noticed anymore that's why I wondered.

 

[dc410]

It’s interesting to see the changes in the variety of the deep minnow patterns featured in the 1989 article in Fly Fisherman magazine (2 years after Bob Clouser designed the pattern) and 12 years later in the 2001 issue of the Mid Atlantic Fly Fishing Guide publication that falcon shared with us. Some of the patterns are the same, some are just tweaked a bit and others are new ones.

Here are the original four patterns featured in the 1989 article along with an advertisement that was also displayed on one of the pages that the article appeared on in Fly Fisherman magazine.

 

[dc410]

Here’s another one of Clouser’s original four deep minnow patterns. This one is his Golden Shiner.

Hook - size 4 Gamakatsu B10S hook
Thread - 12/0 white Semperfli Nanosilk
Belly - White Bucktail
Lateral Line - gold krystal flash
Top Wing - Tan Bucktail

 

[goose54cdd]

Here’s another one of Clouser’s original four deep minnow patterns. This one is his Golden Shiner.

Hook - size 4 Gamakatsu B10S hook
Thread - 12/0 white Semperfli Nanosilk
Belly - White Bucktail
Lateral Line - gold krystal flash
Top Wing - Tan Bucktail

View attachment 1641239201

Thanks for posting all of this. I've always enjoyed fishing Clousers.

 

[dc410]

The last of Clouser’s four original deep minnow patterns. The Sculpin.

Hook: size 4 Gamakatsu B10S hook
Thread : 12/0 Orange Semperfli Nanosilk
Belly - Orange Bucktail
Lateral Line - Gold Krystal Flash
Too Wing - Rusty brown Bucktail

 

[dc410]

All of Clouser’s original Deep Minnow patterns that he marketed for fishing for Smallmouth Bass in the Susquehanna River back in 1989.

Top to Bottom:

Silver Shiner
Golden Shiner
Chartruese/White
Sculpin

 

[goose54cdd]

All of Clouser’s original Deep Minnow patterns that he marketed for fishing for Smallmouth Bass in the Susquehanna River back in 1989.

Top to Bottom:

Silver Shiner
Golden Shiner
Chartruese/White
Sculpin


View attachment 1641239224

Nice job!

 

[Tiogadog]

I typically tie mine with a bit more bucktail than most. These will be used in Florida in a few weeks. They were also tied with bucktail I processed and dyed myself..

 

[SmittyTheSquatch]

Thanks for all of the patterns everyone shared. Some inspiration going forward. Being back in PA, I've been exploring clousers more than I have in all of my fishing and tying. I am really seeing the advantages of them here in PA waters.

Here is one I tied up last week and had some luck throwing it as I was walking down to the run I wanted to nymph yesterday. Fly tyers Congo Hair for the green and black with some white bucktail. Going to try some of those other options soon.

 

[troutbert]

Clouser Minnows work very well on mountain freestone streams. They sink quickly which helps on small streams where the pools are often small. It helps if the streamer sinks quickly to get down to the fish before the current sweeps the fly out of the pool.

When the pool is only 3 feet long, it's a different situation than on big water like Pine Creek where the pool is 300 feet long.

 

[SmittyTheSquatch]

I was fishing a shallower section of Penn's the other week with streamers and I kept getting hung up on rocks on the bottom as I was stripping it in until I switched to a clouser style fly with the hook point up. Bouncing it across everything really makes a difference.

Really looking forward to starting to chase smallies with them in the spring.

 

[dc410]

Here’s a Deep Minnow pattern that’ll go in the Striper box, tied on a 1/0 Mustad saltwater hook. Overall length is 3 1/2 inches.

Hook - 1/0 Mustad C 70S D
Eyes - Medium Pearl Dumbbell Eyes
Thread - 12/0 White Semperfli Nanosilk
Belly - White Bucktail
Flash - Pearl Krystal flash and Pearl Flashabou
Middle Wing - Yellow Bucktail
Top wing - Olive Bucktail
Topper - 3 strands of Peacock Herl

 

[dc410]

I’m going a different direction with this version of the Clouser Minnow. This is Clouser’s Foxxee Redd Minnow. It is definitely one of my top five subsurface carp patterns. It is designed for a very subtle presentation and lots of movement even in slack water. If you can get this fly in front of a feeding carp that doesn’t know you’re there, there is a very high probability that they will eat it. I think many times the carp take it as a small crayfish and I generally use it more later into the summer (July-September). I don’t use any kind of head cement, glue or uv cure products on any of my carp flies because the carp have a reallly good sense of smell and generally are pretty dang smart!

Hook - size 8 Daiichi 1530
Thread - 12/0 Orange Semperfli Nanosilk
Eyes - medium black bead chain eyes
Belly - cream colored red fox tail fur
Flash - 4 strands - red Krystal flash, 2 strands - gold Krystal Flash
Top wing - darker reddish colored red fox tail fur

 

[falcon]

Great fly. Good for carp, SM Bass trout and Bonefish