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Patterns

The Clouserish

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A fly that is very much like a Clouser Deep Minnow, but with a slight Thunder Creekish variation in the tying style.

By Martin Joergensen

This is not really an original fly... more like a variation... one of the hundreds (if not thousands) of derivatives of Bob Clouser's classic Clouser Deep Minnow without which this fly would probably never have seen the light of day.
And if that wasn't enough it also owes a bit to Keith Fulsher's brilliant Thunder Creek style. Theft left and right in other words... as with so many other fly patterns.

A bare hook point
I love the Clouser Deep Minnow, and have always admired its simple and yet ingenious construction. But often when I tie these flies the hair flares too much, and I get a wing, which is much more fan shaped than I like. I fiddled around with different solutions for a while, and finally stumbled over this method, which lets me control the flare of both sides of the fly better than on the original fly.
On the original the last section of the wing is tied in in front of the eyes, but on the opposite side of the hook shank. On my flies it usually flares and covers the hook point, which is brilliant on a fly that fishes on the bottom, since it very likely saves you a lot of snags.
But when I fish the Clouser it's rarely on the bottom, but fishes in the midwater. This means that I don't need the point covered... actually, I'd rather like it completely bare so that it hooks better. Especially when fishing for garfish with their hard bills, this will give a lot more hookups.

Thunder Creek style
I'm also a great liker of the Thunder Creek style of flies, but always have a small battle when reversing the hair to form the head.
One day when tying Clousers, I tried a different and slightly Thunder Creekish approach, tying in the darker wing first, then the light one that passes over the eyes - opposite what's usually done on Clousers.
And I wound up with a Thunder Creekish, Clouserish kind of fly, which looks a bit like both, but is essentially a slender Clouser Deep Minnow. I liked what I saw.
Sure, I know that many tiers can tie really slim Clousers where the hook point is uncovered, but the ones that come from my vice, tend not to. So to control the wings I have now adapted this method of tying Clousers, but realizing the heritage, I have dubbed the fly The Clouserish. Like the original, it's a method more than a pattern, and the color variations are indefinite. Use whatever colors bucktail you have, add some flash and use lighter eyes than the lead dumbbells used on the Clouser Deep Minnow, and you will have a nice, slim streamer and a potentially excellent baitfish imitation.

Clouserish

Type	Streamer
Originator	Martin Joergensen (owing a lot to Bob Clouser and Keith Fulsher)
Year of origin	2009
Difficulty	Easy
Target species	Garfish Sea trout (sea run) Smallmouth bass

Materials

Hook	Wet fly hook, I prefer Kamasan B175 sizes 6 and 4
Thread	Black 8/0
Flash	A few straws of smooth pearlescent mylar flash
Wing (back)	Dark bucktail
Eyes	Bead chain eyes, not too large
Wing (belly)	Light bucktail
Head	Tying thread, varnished

Tying instructions