History of the Clouser Minnow

Lefty Kreh once said, “If I had to choose only one fly to fish, for any species, anywhere in the world, it would be the Clouser Minnow.” In 1994 he wrote that he had caught 63 species of fish on the Clouser. This is a pattern that was developed in the mid 1980’s by Bob Clouser, a fishing guide, fly tier and tackle shop owner in Middletown, PA. The pattern is a simple bucktail streamer, with dumbell lead eyes tied about a third of the way down the shaft. They are mounted on what is normally considered the top of the hook, however the weight of the eyes cause the fly to swim hook point up. This reduces the chances of the fly getting caught in weeds and other debris. Using a stripping retrieve creates a realistic up and down darting movement.

In my opinion one of the keys to tying this fly is to be sparse in the use of the bucktail. Often on the bench people will tie with more copious amounts of material. Adding too much bucktail affects the action and the sink rate of the fly.

I have caught many species of fish on this fly. Most recently we were successful in using large versions of this fly tied in purple and black and red and black patterns to catch Tiger Fish on the Zambezi River in Zambia. No matter where I go or what I am fishing for I always have a few Clouser’s in my fly box.