Tying Clousers
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famill00
Well-known member
Well, with bourbon in hand, I give you this list.
TMC200 Hook or similar, size 4 or 6 for me but whatever works for you
Red thread (6/0)
Lead barbell eyes ( I prefer red with black pupil) sized accordingly
One Bucktail White and a few more whatever other color you fancy
Some Flash (Krystal Flash or Flashabou), again whatever you fancy
I assume you have a vise and tools?
If not, you will need a vise, bobbin, and scissors at the very least....
-Forrest
TMC200 Hook or similar, size 4 or 6 for me but whatever works for you
Red thread (6/0)
Lead barbell eyes ( I prefer red with black pupil) sized accordingly
One Bucktail White and a few more whatever other color you fancy
Some Flash (Krystal Flash or Flashabou), again whatever you fancy
I assume you have a vise and tools?
If not, you will need a vise, bobbin, and scissors at the very least....
-Forrest
No tools. I need it all. But I only want to purchase enough to make clousers. This will be my base. I will build on this when Im ready to tie something else.
If there is any online resource for ordering the stuff, great. Ive got nothing near me in terms of fly shops.
If there is any online resource for ordering the stuff, great. Ive got nothing near me in terms of fly shops.
It's not the easiest pattern to start with, but the tools you'll buy to tie this would work for wooly buggers too.
Tools to tie Clousers:
Materials:
There are great places to order stuff online, here are two:
J Stockard Fly Fishing
Casters Fly Shop (free shipping!)
Of course Cabelas and Bass Pro carry the stuff and can ship it. There are many other places if you search online. I like casters, they have great selection and have free shipping.
Watch [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Ai3PjzDusM"]this video [/ame]and it will give you a sense of tying the clouser.
Good luck
Tools to tie Clousers:
- a vise
- a bobbin to hold thread
- bobbin threader
- all purpose scissors
- whip finish tool (or do it by hand)
Materials:
- As Famill00 said - 6/0 thread (I match the darker bucktail color), hook, bucktail in two colors, crystal flash, barbell eyes
- I also wrap the hook shank with gold or silver flat tinsel.
- I like using head cement to add durability.
There are great places to order stuff online, here are two:
J Stockard Fly Fishing
Casters Fly Shop (free shipping!)
Of course Cabelas and Bass Pro carry the stuff and can ship it. There are many other places if you search online. I like casters, they have great selection and have free shipping.
Watch [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Ai3PjzDusM"]this video [/ame]and it will give you a sense of tying the clouser.
Good luck
If you have a fly shop near you it's best to get the bucktail in person. Most of what I have ordered from a catalog has been pretty good. Key word being MOST. Try and get the longest thin haired bucktail you can get. I have a couple that the hair has thick bases that are kinda squiggly. They actually work better for spinning than clousers.
I use lead hourglass eyes, most of the time medium. I have fairly good sized fish here but this is a good all around size. I paint mine with ProTec powder paint. If you do just one end at a time and then hang them on a wire and bake them you can deform the eyes and not chip the paint, except the black pupil. I do that with Testers model paint and a tooth pick.
For thread I use white 140 ultra thread. I almost never use any other thread. You'll see the reason in a minute.
I used to use streamer hooks of one variety or another but have stopped doing that. I now use almost exclusively #2 Aberdeen hooks. I like a down eye hook for this and Aberdeen are a straight eye hook. I put the eye in the vice and bend it down. The tend to ride upright better that way. Where I fish most of the time it is seriously snaggy. By using these hooks, when I get snagged, if I can't get it off by casting past tha snag I can pull the hook out straight enough to get it loose and save most of the flies. By the way I have landed some seriously big fish on these flies so I am not worried about loosing fish over it.
For flash I have just about gone exclusively to Pearl Krinkle mirror flash. I like the look in the water better than either Krystal flash or Flashabou, and it seems to be tougher than Flashabou.On occassion I do mix white Glow in the dark flashabou in with the wihete belly hair. Orange on the fire tiger version I tie. If I do that I also paint the eyes with glow in the dark powder paint.
When I tie them I do a thread base all the way down the shank of the hook and cement it. I put the eye on by figure 8'ing the thread over the eyes, and make sure you don't crowd the eye of the hook. Then go under the eyes and over the shank a few turns tight to cinch down the eyes good. cement them in place. I tend to be tough on flies so these steps help make them last longer. Then I tie on the white hair. Then the Krinkle flash and I don't get overly carried away with that. 3 or 4 strands a side. I then turn it hook point up in the vice. I cement the thread and eyes from this side. Then I put thetop color/colors on, and trim the hair at an angle so the thread rides up nice. After just a couple of turns close to the eyes, I put the head cement on and start tying it down. The thread becomes almost transparent when being turned on with the cement. I whip finish it and add more cement. This drives the cement into the base of the hairs. When I do the final coats I also tie the body hair down temporarily and cement in to hair past the head a bit so when it's dry and unwrapped the hair lays back better. The thread will look almost the color of the hair it's over. This is why almost always the white thread. Any slight flairing or wild hairs can usually be tamed by running hot water over it as hot as you can stand and while it's wet and laid back right put it in between two layers of towel and lay something on it till it's dry.
Some of them I mark up a bit with magic marker like the Fire Tiger ones. These are probably the most versitile fly ever invented. I don't think there is much you can't catch with a clouser.
Tools wise just a vice, bobbin, scissors, whip finnisher. Camera for the fish too.
Do you make it to Duluth much? There is a fly shop there.
I use lead hourglass eyes, most of the time medium. I have fairly good sized fish here but this is a good all around size. I paint mine with ProTec powder paint. If you do just one end at a time and then hang them on a wire and bake them you can deform the eyes and not chip the paint, except the black pupil. I do that with Testers model paint and a tooth pick.
For thread I use white 140 ultra thread. I almost never use any other thread. You'll see the reason in a minute.
I used to use streamer hooks of one variety or another but have stopped doing that. I now use almost exclusively #2 Aberdeen hooks. I like a down eye hook for this and Aberdeen are a straight eye hook. I put the eye in the vice and bend it down. The tend to ride upright better that way. Where I fish most of the time it is seriously snaggy. By using these hooks, when I get snagged, if I can't get it off by casting past tha snag I can pull the hook out straight enough to get it loose and save most of the flies. By the way I have landed some seriously big fish on these flies so I am not worried about loosing fish over it.
For flash I have just about gone exclusively to Pearl Krinkle mirror flash. I like the look in the water better than either Krystal flash or Flashabou, and it seems to be tougher than Flashabou.On occassion I do mix white Glow in the dark flashabou in with the wihete belly hair. Orange on the fire tiger version I tie. If I do that I also paint the eyes with glow in the dark powder paint.
When I tie them I do a thread base all the way down the shank of the hook and cement it. I put the eye on by figure 8'ing the thread over the eyes, and make sure you don't crowd the eye of the hook. Then go under the eyes and over the shank a few turns tight to cinch down the eyes good. cement them in place. I tend to be tough on flies so these steps help make them last longer. Then I tie on the white hair. Then the Krinkle flash and I don't get overly carried away with that. 3 or 4 strands a side. I then turn it hook point up in the vice. I cement the thread and eyes from this side. Then I put thetop color/colors on, and trim the hair at an angle so the thread rides up nice. After just a couple of turns close to the eyes, I put the head cement on and start tying it down. The thread becomes almost transparent when being turned on with the cement. I whip finish it and add more cement. This drives the cement into the base of the hairs. When I do the final coats I also tie the body hair down temporarily and cement in to hair past the head a bit so when it's dry and unwrapped the hair lays back better. The thread will look almost the color of the hair it's over. This is why almost always the white thread. Any slight flairing or wild hairs can usually be tamed by running hot water over it as hot as you can stand and while it's wet and laid back right put it in between two layers of towel and lay something on it till it's dry.
Some of them I mark up a bit with magic marker like the Fire Tiger ones. These are probably the most versitile fly ever invented. I don't think there is much you can't catch with a clouser.
Tools wise just a vice, bobbin, scissors, whip finnisher. Camera for the fish too.
Do you make it to Duluth much? There is a fly shop there.
Rip Tide
Well-known member
Like Diver Dan, I use the lead eyes and paint them. One trick about lead eyes that I learned from a tying session with Dan Blanton is to not wrap the eyes too tight. That's how they break! I wouldn't have guessed that . Blanton also uses jig hooks for his "flash-tail Clouser", popular for stripers on the west coast.
I tie my Clouser's sparser then Diver Dan does though. About half that thickness. They sink better that way.
Bob Clouser says that Lefty describes the proper size as being "the thickness of a 'barn burner' match"
I also tie mine with all the material on the underside of the hook. I've found that when the bucktail is tied on top (the future underside), it will wear out if the fly is dragged along the bottom in rocks or sand. An issue when fishing the surf
I most often tie mine on the Mustad 3407 plated hooks
I tie my Clouser's sparser then Diver Dan does though. About half that thickness. They sink better that way.
Bob Clouser says that Lefty describes the proper size as being "the thickness of a 'barn burner' match"
I also tie mine with all the material on the underside of the hook. I've found that when the bucktail is tied on top (the future underside), it will wear out if the fly is dragged along the bottom in rocks or sand. An issue when fishing the surf
I most often tie mine on the Mustad 3407 plated hooks
bigjim5589
Well-known member
The best resource you'll find for tying Clousers, is the book "Clousers Flies" by Bob Clouser. Loads of great tying information, including step by step from the man himself, plus a great reference book for his other patterns. If you look around, you may even be able to pick up a used copy in good shape.
I also tie with the lead barbell's, but additionally tie with brass, tungsten, and various size bead chain. Brass does not tend to break like lead, and does not sink as fast for it's size compared to lead, and although tungsten is very expensive, you can use a much smaller eye to get the same sink rate. Bead chain is fairly inexpensive, and works particularly well in very shallow water or on very small size flies. Bead chain is also readily available in most hardwares stores or plumbing supply stores. I especially like stainless bead chain.
I also use different sizes in all of these, sometimes tying larger Clousers with small size eyes. This still allows them to ride hook point up, but the resulting jigging action is less pronounced than with heavier eyes, they're usually easier to cast, and depending on how you tie them, often will give them a gliding action, more like traditional streamers, which can be very desirable at times. This is something I learned from Clousers book!
Hop it helps!
I also tie with the lead barbell's, but additionally tie with brass, tungsten, and various size bead chain. Brass does not tend to break like lead, and does not sink as fast for it's size compared to lead, and although tungsten is very expensive, you can use a much smaller eye to get the same sink rate. Bead chain is fairly inexpensive, and works particularly well in very shallow water or on very small size flies. Bead chain is also readily available in most hardwares stores or plumbing supply stores. I especially like stainless bead chain.
I also use different sizes in all of these, sometimes tying larger Clousers with small size eyes. This still allows them to ride hook point up, but the resulting jigging action is less pronounced than with heavier eyes, they're usually easier to cast, and depending on how you tie them, often will give them a gliding action, more like traditional streamers, which can be very desirable at times. This is something I learned from Clousers book!
Hop it helps!
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AA Vise AA Vise
Item: 6AAVISE Price: $11.95 Discount: 10%
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UNI 3/0 White Thread UNI 3/0 White Thread
Item: UNI3011 Price: $1.50 Discount: 10%
$4.05
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Mustad 34007 Size 4 50/pk Mustad 34007 Size 4 50/pk
Item: 340075H Price: $10.75 Discount: 10%
$9.68
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H&H Head Cement Clear H&H Head Cement Clear
Item: 93LACAA Price: $3.75 Discount: 10%
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Lead Eyes 24/pkg L Lead Eyes 24/pkg L
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$3.02
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Bucktail Whole Red Bucktail Whole Red
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Holographic Flashabou-Silver Holographic Flashabou-Silver
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AA Vise AA Vise
Item: 6AAVISE Price: $11.95 Discount: 10%
$10.76
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UNI 3/0 White Thread UNI 3/0 White Thread
Item: UNI3011 Price: $1.50 Discount: 10%
$4.05
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Mustad 34007 Size 4 50/pk Mustad 34007 Size 4 50/pk
Item: 340075H Price: $10.75 Discount: 10%
$9.68
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H&H Head Cement Clear H&H Head Cement Clear
Item: 93LACAA Price: $3.75 Discount: 10%
$3.38
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Lead Eyes 24/pkg L Lead Eyes 24/pkg L
Item: 1314015 Price: $3.35 Discount: 10%
$3.02
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Bucktail Whole Red Bucktail Whole Red
Item: 132BTDD Price: $5.50 Discount: 10%
$4.95
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Bucktail Whole Blue Bucktail Whole Blue
Item: 132BTFF Price: $5.50 Discount: 10%
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Bucktail Whole Chartreuse Bucktail Whole Chartreuse
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$4.95
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Holographic Flashabou-Silver Holographic Flashabou-Silver
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$3.60
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Bucktail Whole White Bucktail Whole White
Item: 132BTAA Price: $5.50 Discount: 10%
$4.95
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Standard Scissors 3 Standard Scissors 3"
Item: 21SCISS Price: $3.75 Discount: 10%
$3.38
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"O" Tool Whip Finisher
Item: HHOTWHP Price: $5.50 Discount: 10%
$4.95
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$3.38
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Rip Tide
Well-known member
Don't buy the cheapest vise
They don't hold hooks well and will only cause frustration
I'm all about cheap, ask anyone, but that's a mistake
here's a good review of vises
Fly Tying Vises In-Depth Review by Fly Fish Ohio!
One more thing. The lead eyes you chose are too large for the hooks
Try small first as they're easier to cast, medium if you cast weighted flies well.
They don't hold hooks well and will only cause frustration
I'm all about cheap, ask anyone
, but that's a mistakehere's a good review of vises
Fly Tying Vises In-Depth Review by Fly Fish Ohio!
One more thing. The lead eyes you chose are too large for the hooks
Try small first as they're easier to cast, medium if you cast weighted flies well.
bigjim5589
Well-known member
IMO, you'll be better off buying a good bobbin with ceramic inserts. Griffin makes a good one. It will cost you about $11-$12 but will out last that cheap bobbin.
Cheap bobbins usually wear inside the end of the tube, often a groove will wear there that will result in frayed or broken thread. I made this mistake many years ago, and worn out several bobbins before buying the better ones with ceramic inserts. Now that's all I use.
These instead?Don't buy the cheapest vise
They don't hold hooks well and will only cause frustration
I'm all about cheap, ask anyone
here's a good review of vises
Fly Tying Vises In-Depth Review by Fly Fish Ohio!
One more thing. The lead eyes you chose are too large for the hooks
Try small first as they're easier to cast, medium if you cast weighted flies well.
Lead Eyes-M-24/pkg
Dumbell shaped plain lead eyes. May be used as is or painted. Serves as fly eyes and as a weight. 7/32 diameter. .04 oz.
or
Lead Eyes-S-24/pgk
Dumbell shaped plain lead eyes. May be used as is or painted. Serves as fly eyes and as a weight. 6/32 diameter. .03 oz.
Rip Tide
Well-known member
Yeah, get both and try them out for size.
They're cheap enough
I haven't bought tying supplies from Hook&Hackle since the "new" owner Ron took over 4-5years ago.
I was a long time good customer of the old owner Bob, but I never bought "natural materials" like buck tails and strung hackle from him.... He sold junk.
Like I said.... I haven't dealt with the new owner, but I'd be careful.
I'd call and ask about the size and quality of the tails before I'd sent in my order.
They're cheap enough
I haven't bought tying supplies from Hook&Hackle since the "new" owner Ron took over 4-5years ago.
I was a long time good customer of the old owner Bob, but I never bought "natural materials" like buck tails and strung hackle from him.... He sold junk.
Like I said.... I haven't dealt with the new owner, but I'd be careful.
I'd call and ask about the size and quality of the tails before I'd sent in my order.
So where would you recommend I shop?
---------- Post added at 05:57 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:42 PM ----------
Im thinking of just getting something like this:
JS Fly Fishing: Rod Building, Fly Tying: J. Stockard Economy Fly Tying Vise & Tool Kit
Cabelas has something similar.
---------- Post added at 05:57 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:42 PM ----------
Im thinking of just getting something like this:
JS Fly Fishing: Rod Building, Fly Tying: J. Stockard Economy Fly Tying Vise & Tool Kit
Cabelas has something similar.
How about this at JS
SKU Product MFR Qty Price Subtotal
SM-730020-1105 Lead Dumbbell Eyes - plated (shiny) / small Hareline $1.65 $3.30
SM-730020-1106 Lead Dumbbell Eyes - plated (shiny) / medium Hareline $1.65 $3.30
HK-049366-G002 Classic 3366 Hook - size 2 Mustad $4.75 $4.75
HK-049366-G004 Classic 3366 Hook - size 4 Mustad $4.75 $4.75
TW-030030-WHIT 3/0 UNI-Thread Mono Waxed - white UNI Products $1.75 $3.50
NM-775015-CHAT Large Northern BuckTail - chartreuse Hareline $4.85 $9.70
NM-775015-FLBL Large Northern BuckTail - fluor. blue Hareline $4.85 $9.70
NM-775015-RRED Large Northern BuckTail - red Hareline $4.85 $9.70
NM-775015-WHIT Large Northern BuckTail - white Hareline $4.85 $9.70
OF-900098-0000 Hard as Hull Hareline $3.95 $3.95
OF-902100-0000 Economy Fly Tying Vise & Tool Kit J. Stockard $26.38 $26.38
SM-760060-SILV Krystal Flash - silver (solid) Hareline $3.45 $3.45
SM-760100-SILV Flashabou - silver Hedron $3.65 $3.65
NM-790200-GREN Ringneck Pheasant Tail Pair - green Hareline $2.25 $2.25
NM-790200-ORNG Ringneck Pheasant Tail Pair - orange Hareline $2.25 $2.25
Your Total is $100.33
SKU Product MFR Qty Price Subtotal
SM-730020-1105 Lead Dumbbell Eyes - plated (shiny) / small Hareline $1.65 $3.30
SM-730020-1106 Lead Dumbbell Eyes - plated (shiny) / medium Hareline $1.65 $3.30
HK-049366-G002 Classic 3366 Hook - size 2 Mustad $4.75 $4.75
HK-049366-G004 Classic 3366 Hook - size 4 Mustad $4.75 $4.75
TW-030030-WHIT 3/0 UNI-Thread Mono Waxed - white UNI Products $1.75 $3.50
NM-775015-CHAT Large Northern BuckTail - chartreuse Hareline $4.85 $9.70
NM-775015-FLBL Large Northern BuckTail - fluor. blue Hareline $4.85 $9.70
NM-775015-RRED Large Northern BuckTail - red Hareline $4.85 $9.70
NM-775015-WHIT Large Northern BuckTail - white Hareline $4.85 $9.70
OF-900098-0000 Hard as Hull Hareline $3.95 $3.95
OF-902100-0000 Economy Fly Tying Vise & Tool Kit J. Stockard $26.38 $26.38
SM-760060-SILV Krystal Flash - silver (solid) Hareline $3.45 $3.45
SM-760100-SILV Flashabou - silver Hedron $3.65 $3.65
NM-790200-GREN Ringneck Pheasant Tail Pair - green Hareline $2.25 $2.25
NM-790200-ORNG Ringneck Pheasant Tail Pair - orange Hareline $2.25 $2.25
Your Total is $100.33
Rip Tide
Well-known member
Don't misunderstand. I like Hook&Hackle. That's been my main catalog/on-line shop since the '70s. You'll get a fair deal and they're all about keeping prices down.
However, with the former owner, the cheapest wasn't always the best and I learned to pick my feathers and fur in person, or at least on the phone instead of just ordering and waiting to see what I ended up with.
You can call H&H and they'll honestly set you up with what you really need. Nothing more and nothing less. That's what they do there.
peregrines
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Vapor what kind of fish will you be chasing?
The clouser is a great fly and works on all kinds of gamefish in both salt water and fresh water.
If you are going to fish in saltwater, a hook like the Mustad 34007 which is a stainless steel hook, or the less expensive Mustad 3407DT (DT = Dura Tin coating) won't corrode as readily as a freshwater hook. I use both in SW and actually prefer the less expensive 3407DT to the more expensive stainless 34007.
The Mustad 3366 is a fine hook for clousers if you're chasing smallmouth or largemouth, but if you'll be chasing striped bass, bluefish or redfish and other stuff in saltwater, then you'll want to tie them on "saltwater" hooks-- and if you'll be doing a bit of both in salt and fresh, then you may as well tie them on saltwater hooks since they'll be good for both environments.
For tying clousers, at least to start, I'd suggest a stronger thread like Danville's Flat Waxed Nylon-- it has a higher breaking strength than 6/0 or 3/0 thread, and you can apply more tension to the dumbbell or beadchain eyes to lock them in place and prevent them from spinning around the hook. You can certainly use 6/0 or 3/0 thread, but you'll probably break it a lot more often until you have tied a bunch and developed a feel for working with the thinner thread. In addition to white I would also get a spool of chartreuse thread-- chartreuse or chartreuse over white bucktail tied with chartreuse thread are a pretty standard pattern for both saltwater and freshwater fish all over the world.
Many of us that tie saltwater stuff including clousers also use Sally Hansen's Hard As Nails (available in any drug store etc) in place of head cement.
Also be aware that casting heavily weighted stuff like clousers around can be a bit hazardous-- to both the back of the head and face-- but also to the rod. A clouser that dings the blank on a back cast can easily shatter a blank on the spot-- or result in a weak spot caused by a stress fracture in the graphite-- this may not be apparent until days or weeks later when the tip of your rod just flops over while casting.
One suggestion is to get a length of bead chain from a hardware store and cut the chain into pairs of beads with a pair of pliers and use them instead of dumbbell eyes-- they'll have less weight and slower sink rate, but they'll be easier to cast.
Since you're getting those materials for clousers I would also suggest you add a 1/4 oz pack of strung peacock herl (about $2) and a pack or two of pearlescent or silver flat braided metallic mylar sold as "diamond braid", "sparkle braid" etc (also about $2).
With the bucktail, flash, and thread you use for clousers you can tie a ton of bucktail streamers to imitate baitfish-- 4 or 6 strands of peacock herl makes a great topping over a bucktail wing and looks like the back of many baitfish. The silver or pearl flat mylar braid can be easily wound around the shank as a body.
The clouser is a great fly and works on all kinds of gamefish in both salt water and fresh water.
If you are going to fish in saltwater, a hook like the Mustad 34007 which is a stainless steel hook, or the less expensive Mustad 3407DT (DT = Dura Tin coating) won't corrode as readily as a freshwater hook. I use both in SW and actually prefer the less expensive 3407DT to the more expensive stainless 34007.
The Mustad 3366 is a fine hook for clousers if you're chasing smallmouth or largemouth, but if you'll be chasing striped bass, bluefish or redfish and other stuff in saltwater, then you'll want to tie them on "saltwater" hooks-- and if you'll be doing a bit of both in salt and fresh, then you may as well tie them on saltwater hooks since they'll be good for both environments.
For tying clousers, at least to start, I'd suggest a stronger thread like Danville's Flat Waxed Nylon-- it has a higher breaking strength than 6/0 or 3/0 thread, and you can apply more tension to the dumbbell or beadchain eyes to lock them in place and prevent them from spinning around the hook. You can certainly use 6/0 or 3/0 thread, but you'll probably break it a lot more often until you have tied a bunch and developed a feel for working with the thinner thread. In addition to white I would also get a spool of chartreuse thread-- chartreuse or chartreuse over white bucktail tied with chartreuse thread are a pretty standard pattern for both saltwater and freshwater fish all over the world.
Many of us that tie saltwater stuff including clousers also use Sally Hansen's Hard As Nails (available in any drug store etc) in place of head cement.
Also be aware that casting heavily weighted stuff like clousers around can be a bit hazardous-- to both the back of the head and face-- but also to the rod. A clouser that dings the blank on a back cast can easily shatter a blank on the spot-- or result in a weak spot caused by a stress fracture in the graphite-- this may not be apparent until days or weeks later when the tip of your rod just flops over while casting.
One suggestion is to get a length of bead chain from a hardware store and cut the chain into pairs of beads with a pair of pliers and use them instead of dumbbell eyes-- they'll have less weight and slower sink rate, but they'll be easier to cast.
Since you're getting those materials for clousers I would also suggest you add a 1/4 oz pack of strung peacock herl (about $2) and a pack or two of pearlescent or silver flat braided metallic mylar sold as "diamond braid", "sparkle braid" etc (also about $2).
With the bucktail, flash, and thread you use for clousers you can tie a ton of bucktail streamers to imitate baitfish-- 4 or 6 strands of peacock herl makes a great topping over a bucktail wing and looks like the back of many baitfish. The silver or pearl flat mylar braid can be easily wound around the shank as a body.
Last edited: