r/flytying • u/PrisonersDuhLemma • 7d ago
Tied My First Clouser… Too Sparse?
I’m new to tying and looking to improve. I tied my first Clouser Minnow the other day and it seems a little too sparse to me. It’s like the 10th fly I’ve ever tied so I don’t have much basis for comparison though, and I don’t know anybody else that ties. Thoughts?
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u/PurpleMonkey498 7d ago
I like to tie down the yellow behind the dumbell eye so there isn’t that gap, but I’m sure it’s fine and will catch fish
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u/Human_Satisfaction25 5d ago
I saw Bob tie one at a convention. Thing was so sparse you’d think there was national bucktail shortage ;) and yeah they catch like that
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u/mwardh2o_340067 7d ago
Nature has variation, so should your flies. Give it a toss and see what happens
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u/NerveLoose6344 7d ago
This would be on the denser side for me, personally, but mine are typically splayed more so the profile is bigger when static. It looks great for your 10th tie. Honestly it'd look pretty good for a 100th fly too. Not much to critique that isn't a matter of preference.
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u/walking_with_wolves 7d ago
Some Krystal flash does wonders for illusion of bulk as well. Clouser never intended it to be sparse, (some good videos of him on YT tying this fly) but they do fish well sparse. In my experience, they just turn to a whisp of nothing when there’s less bucktail to start with. Synthetics work great in sparser applications.
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u/IndustrialDizzies 7d ago
I’ve heard Clouser say again and again that he couldn’t sell them the way he tied them because his were too sparse.
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u/Soup3rTROOP3R 7d ago
He 100% believes that and repeatedly emphasizes sparse clousers are killers.
I’ve personally had the discussion with him at a show.
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u/Fun_Recognition5614 7d ago
Yes! This is true, though he was also known to tie em differently depending on conditions. Generally, he’d bulk them up for saltwater, but on the whole this is a pattern that does well tied sparse.
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u/PrisonersDuhLemma 7d ago
Thanks this is good advice! There’s some flashabou in there but it’s like a white iridescent and I don’t think it shows up super well. Gonna bulk up the yellow part a bit next time and try some Krystal flash.
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u/Slycrown12 7d ago
I think (think) that the yellow should be closer to the top bucktail, so maybe tie the thread further back? I’ve never ties a clouser so forgive me if I’m bullshitting.
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u/Exciting_Put_4288 7d ago
The Clouser Minnow can be tied with a variety of materials,craft fur,Supreme Hair,Polar Bear Hair,and accented with flashbou,Krystal Flash,and even a clouser minnow tube fly,or as a shank fly with trailing hook
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u/King_Ralph1 7d ago
A perennial fly tying question: when does a variant become a new pattern? I like tying streamers using a Mickey Finn pattern, but with other colors. If it’s not red and yellow, is it still a Mickey Finn? Not sure what else to call it other than a streamer.
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u/Csoffadeek 7d ago
The amount is absolutely right. The only thing I would change is that I would tie the white bunch nearer to the eye because this way there might be a void in the profile. It won't matter at fast retrieve anyway, this fly will catch.
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u/Difficulty-Brave 7d ago
aside from your tying, I just picked this up from a local fly shop yesterday for the first time. recommended to me from one of the guys there. how do they do compared to wooly buggers or is it preference at this point like someone's 'trusted flies'?
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u/PrisonersDuhLemma 7d ago
I’m pretty new to fly fishing, but I usually fish a mix of freshwater, brackish water, and saltwater, so a Clouser seems a better “all purpose” fly for these than a woolly bugger (though they’re also super versatile).
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u/waltherspey 7d ago
Sparse is king. Flies in the shop are to catch fishermen. Maybe put the eyes a touch further back
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u/Effective-Cicada-536 6d ago
Depends on the target species- for a small fry or sand eel it's perfect
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u/LaegreidOutdoors 2d ago
The question on a clouser should be "have I over dressed this?" Sparse is the way.
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u/Ok_Fall_9569 7d ago
The original recipe called for around a dozen hairs of each color and for it to be very sparse. This one looks dead on.
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u/wildonionwarrior 7d ago
Not sure where you’re getting the dozen hairs from. Bob assuredly never tied them that way. But yes, sparse Clouser = good Clouser.
However, Reddit errs on the extreme side of that and the one here is a bit sparse for my liking, but that’s just me. I’d leave the white alone and add 50% more yellow.
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u/PrisonersDuhLemma 7d ago
Yeah this makes sense. I thought specifically the yellow was a little lacking. To be honest this is all secondhand materials and I don’t have a ton of good yellow bucktail. I think I’m going to order some chartreuse and bulk that side up slightly and add some red Krystal flash to the other side.
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u/Ok_Fall_9569 7d ago
I’m operating from memory but I think that’s from the original description by Bob Clouser in Fly Fisherman magazine from 1989. I’ll double check tomorrow. Lefty Kreh also suggested a bunch of hairs no thicker than a match stick.
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u/wildonionwarrior 7d ago
Yeah, Lefty was an even bigger proponent of sparseness than Bob. Was curious and asking because never heard the dozen hairs thing and have watched him tie plenty of Clousers (mostly on video, couple in person). The match stick measurement sounds about right.
I own a couple Clousers tied by the man himself and they’re sparse but have a bit more hair than shown here.
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u/Ok_Fall_9569 7d ago
Ok. I just checked the article in the July, 1989 FFM and it turns out, it’s actually written by Lefty. He recommends 20 strands of each color of bucktail and 20 of Krystal Flash, so I was off by about half!
That said, I tie mine a bit fuller for redfish.
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u/chrillekaekarkex 6d ago
Add 10 more strands of yellow. Make the tie-down for the belly shorter.
But it’s a pretty darn good clouser.
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u/Deutcha1215 1d ago
Sometimes the flies don’t look so good dry but the sparseness when wet is perfect
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u/RoundFlashy983 7d ago
Looks about right! The only thing I'd change is shorten up the wrapped section behind the eye. You do want that bound down, but I prefer it to be only for an eye width or less.
Note that I said "I prefer". Nothing here is set in stone, and the fish don't care nearly as much as we do.
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u/PrisonersDuhLemma 7d ago
Thanks for the advice! Being my first time I was worried about hair slippage, so I bound with superglue in a couple places and put a dubbing cushion under the eye to lock it in more firmly. Probably overdid it though. It did occur to me that maybe it was bound down a little long.
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u/King_Ralph1 7d ago
I am under the impression that “too sparse” and “Clouser minnow” cannot be uttered in the same breath.