Michigan Flies

Flies / Streamer

Clouser Minnow (and Flashtail Clouser)

A

Current Works strips a Flashtail Clouser on sink tips for fresh Betsie and Manistee salmon, and chartreuse/white and pink Clousers are coho standards. In white and gray it doubles as a smelt or alewife imitation for St. Marys Atlantics in late June and July. Fish it with fast strips in the lowest holding water above the lake.

#1–6Chartreuse/whitePink/whiteAll pinkGray/whiteFlashtail
What the pattern looks like
Reference photos of the Clouser Minnow (and Flashtail Clouser) tied by others, shared by their photographers. Not our flies; our own product photos replace these as they are shot.

Photo © Quinn for Fly Deal Flies, used with permission · Clouser White Chartreuse

Season
Months this pattern is in play across Michigan, derived from what it imitates.
  1. Jan
  2. Feb
  3. Mar
  4. Apr
  5. May
  6. Jun
  7. Jul
  8. Aug
  9. Sep
  10. Oct
  11. Nov
  12. Dec
Imitates

Forage

  • Alewife
  • Emerald shiner
  • Rainbow smelt
  • Spottail shiner
Fish it for
Coho salmonChinook salmonSteelheadAtlantic salmonBrown trout

Setups

  • Streamers
  • Swinging flies (spey / switch)
How it's tied
A
Clouser Deep Minnow (and Blanton's Flashtail Clouser). The bucktail baitfish that rides hook-point up and jigs on the strip; chartreuse over white for smallmouth and steelhead, pink and white for salmon. Our own write-up of the standard tie, checked against the sources below. Recipe by Phil Monahan, Orvis News (2022).

Materials

Hook
Mustad 34007 or TMC 811S, sizes 1 to 6 (Clouser ties 1/0 to 8); Ahrex SA210 Bob Clouser Signature is the current signature hook
Thread
White Danville Flat Waxed Nylon or Monocord 3/0 (6/0 on small sizes); a second colour to match the back is optional
Eyes
Painted lead dumbbell eyes sized to the hook, red with black pupil; bead chain for shallow flatsSet about three hook-eye lengths back from the eye
Belly
White bucktail, sparse, two to two-and-a-half shank lengths
Flash
Gold or pearl Krystal Flash, 4 to 8 strands doubled, a touch longer than the hair
Back
Chartreuse bucktail (pink, gray or all pink for the other colours), same length as the belly
Head
Tying thread coated with UV resin or epoxy, as Clouser finishes his
Flashtailoptional
Flashtail variant only: 10 to 15 strands of pearl, silver or Mirage Flashabou tied at the bend, extending at least 1/2 in beyond the bucktail

Steps

  1. 1.Start the thread a third of the way back from the eye and build a short, slightly raised thread bump where the eyes will sit.
  2. 2.Set the dumbbell eyes on top of the shank about three hook-eye lengths back and lock them with alternating figure-eight wraps, then a few tight posting wraps under the eyes between the shank and the barbell. Add a drop of cement.
  3. 3.Flashtail version only: before the eyes, tie a small bundle of Flashabou at the bend so it trails well past where the bucktail tips will end.
  4. 4.Cut a sparse pencil of white bucktail, pull out the short fibres and even the tips lightly by hand, not in a stacker.
  5. 5.Tie the white bucktail in on top of the shank in front of the eyes with firm wraps, then pull the butts back over the eyes and bind them down behind the eyes so the hair lies flat against the shank and cannot rotate.
  6. 6.Run the thread forward in touching turns to build a smooth underbody, then whip finish or carry on with the same thread.
  7. 7.Turn the hook over in the vise so the point is up. This side is now the back of the fly.
  8. 8.Double the Krystal Flash strands around the thread and tie them in just ahead of the eyes so they lie along the white hair and reach a little past it.
  9. 9.Tie in the chartreuse bucktail on top of the flash, tips even with the belly, using two loose gathering wraps and then tight ones so the hair stays on top and does not flare.
  10. 10.Trim the butts on a taper, cover them with a neat cone-shaped head and, if you like, add a band of chartreuse thread at the nose.
  11. 11.Whip finish and coat the head and the wraps around the eyes with UV resin or epoxy so the materials are locked.
  12. 12.Check the profile: the fly should be tall and thin, hair sparse enough to see through when wet, with the point riding up.

From the tier

  • Bob Clouser's emphasis is construction: when the hair is not locked the materials twist around the shank, so he binds the belly both in front of and behind the eyes and finishes the head hard. Lefty Kreh caught more than sixty species on it.
  • Deneki's Alaska guides swing it or strip it steadily with the odd pause, letting the eyes drop the fly between strips; pink over white is their coho colour, chartreuse over white the everyday one.
  • Dan Blanton added the long Flashabou tail; Ted Kraimer's Michigan Flashtail is tied on a jig hook with a Polar Dub body, sheep-hair belly and silver fox wing, fished on a floating line with a 9 ft leader in the shallows or a sink tip in heavier current so it hops like a fleeing minnow.

Video: Bob Clouser on How to Tie the Clouser Minnow Steps summarize Clouser's Orvis video recipe as written up by Charlie's Fly Box and Deneki, with the Flashtail addition from Current Works and The Smallmouth Fly Box. Unconfirmed: Bob Popovics is not credited with the Flashtail in any source found; the sources credit Dan Blanton. No Fly Fish Food Flashtail Clouser tutorial page could be located. Also checked against Charlie's Fly Box (2022), Clouser Minnow, Martin Joergensen, Global FlyFisher (2011), Clouser Deep Minnow, Kyle Shea, Deneki Outdoors (2016), The Clouser Minnow - An Oldie but Goodie, Ted Kraimer, Current Works Guide Service, Flashtail Clouser Minnow Pattern Recipe and The Smallmouth Fly Box (2012), The Deep Clouser Minnow - Revisited.

Materials to buy
Everything one Clouser Minnow (and Flashtail Clouser) takes, each item once: 7 items, plus 1 optional. Quantities are for a single fly. We do not sell components yet; when we do, these will link to them.

Hook and hardware

  • Saltwater hook1

    size 1 to 6 · Mustad 34007 or TMC 811S

    Hook

  • Painted dumbbell eyes1 pair

    red with black pupil, sized to hook

    Eyes

Feathers and fur

  • Bucktaila pinch

    white

    Belly

  • Bucktaila pinch

    chartreuse (or pink, gray)

    Back

Synthetics, flash and legs

  • Krystal Flash4 to 8 strands

    gold or pearl

    Flash

  • Flashabouoptional10 to 15 strands

    pearl, silver or Mirage

    Flashtail

Thread and finish

  • Flat Waxed Nylon thread1 spool

    white, 3/0 · Danville

    Thread

  • UV resin or epoxy1

    Head

Sources