Alt. - Deep Clousers

[AtticaFish]

Got to thinking that the hematite bead heads i have been making by using mono to hold the bead tight under the hook shank might make some decent Deep Clousers. Instead of putting the bead on near the hook eye (jig style) i tied them on about a third of the way back the shank to leave room up front to tie on the upper wing. I put some tinsel and cactus chenille on the belly side of the hook of a few. Hoping to fish these in a deep clear reservoir this weekend and hook up with a few smallmouth.

Mustad #4 nymph

Daichi #6 long XL nymph

#10 Daichi XL nymph

I also made some with the bead further up. These are craft fur tails and poly yarn for the throat behind the bead....

#8 Mustad nymph

#12 Mustad nymph - this is more geared towards bluegills - didn't turn out the best.

 

[quivira kid]

Not too shabby! I like 'em... If you're going for the Clouser minnow look, my preference is for the eye to be even further back. But that's just my opinion. Those will fish great!

I fish a #6 in pink over white with beadchain eyes for early season crappie quite a bit. LOVE that pattern!

 

[jjsjigs]

I like to use the Mustad kink shank popper hooks for my Clousers. That way I get the eyes on the kink bend in the same spot each and every time I tie.

 

[SaltyBuckster]

Pretty cool looking stuff there Russ.

 

[CrappieHappy]

nice jigs russ... I think QK , and JJ need to do a tutorial for jig guys like me that might want to venture over and try some of them there clousers....

 

[StumpHunter]

Nice flies. That one on the #10 hook with yellow has that eat-me look!!

 

[AtticaFish]

Thanks for the comments.

QK - I do like my bead chain clousers with the eye about halfway down the shank also. You every fish lead eye Deep Clousers? I have some local deep water (25-35 FOW) super clear reservoirs i fish that you have to get down deep to catch anything.

CH - Clousers have always 'looked' odd to me, but they sure catch fish! It is a must have pattern and actually very simple to tie. Just so you know, these few are a pretty far stretch from the traditional pattern.

My 1st picture on the #4 hook has a large enough hema-bead that it is castable with spinning gear.

 

[Jig Man]

I'm thinking they would work good in stained water also... And I happen to know someone that could test um for ya...

 

[quivira kid]

Russ, I have a few Clouser minnow variations in my "big stuff" box. Size small lead eyes is what I put on a lot of them... Mostly red, just cause I think it looks cool. My favorite combo this spring was a variation a friend of mine ties. He uses marabou for the tail, tinsel chenille body, and then bucktail upper wing. I tied a white tail, pearl body, pink wing and yellow tail, gold body, green wing. The yellow/gold/green SLAMMED the white bass for me! These were tied on a Mustad 3366 size 1, and did a fantastic job.
I'll see if I can't get a picture or two up some time.

Clouser minnows don't look like much, but they do catch the fish!

I highly highly highly recommend his "Clouser's Flies" book. It is an excellent read, and explains not only the "how's" of his patterns, but the "why's". He explains techniques for better tying and materials handling. Well worth the money! I know it's made me a better tyer for sure. All that, and his patterns just rock.

 

[jjsjigs]

Slowly.. Slowly... I think us flyflingers/tyers are getting some of the "hardware" guys to switch over to the dark side.... he, he, he... wait until they get addicted to the "fly" side of things!!!

 

[quivira kid]

jjs- shhhhhhhh!

 

[jjsjigs]

Oops... sorry! LOL!