The All-Catching Clouser Minnow

    Today, I decided to write about my favorite sub-surface fly, the Clouser Minnow. Developed by Bob Clouser and Lefty Kreh, it was originally intended for catching smallmouth bass but it has since been adapted to almost every fly fishing environment. In fact, I've  heard that Lefty Kreh caught 58 species of fish on a Clouser and I don't doubt this for a second because I've successfully used and tied several variations of it myself.... and I'm no Lefty Kreh.

    So why a Clouser Minnow instead of a Wooly Bugger? Make no mistake, the famous Wooly Bugger is a "catch-all" fly, too, but it has limitations due to the fact that it moves through the water with its hook facing down and, thereby, being prone to snag. The Clouser, on the other hand, moves with its hook facing up due to the fact that the weighted eyes are fastened on the side opposite from the hook gap.This opens up a new realm of possibilities, allowing you to work it across the bottom or even over sticks and other various cover without snagging. That's the main reason why the Clouser is my favorite sinking fly. I also like how many eye material options are available, everything from fast sinking lead eyes to slow sinking dog tag chain eyes.

    For this article, I decided to tie one red & white Clouser Minnow, go to one pond, and see how many fish I could catch in one hour. It was the middle of day at a friend's pond in Tennessee towards the end of June. Needless to say, it was hot. The fish were hanging out in deeper water rather than feeding on top like in the early morning and late evening, so it was a perfect time to tie on a Clouser. In June, crawfish are an active food source for bass and bigger bream so I chose red. What was the result? See for yourself.

    I caught at least a dozen fish on that one red & white Clouser Minnow in under an hour. Not bad, considering it was during the mid-day time block when fish are more lethargic. Among my catch were a few bass, bluegills, chinquapins, pumpkinseeds, and other sunfish. Since I knew I was going to be targeting bream and smaller bass, I was using a 4wt Redington Classic Trout and an inexpensive Cabelas Wind River 3/4 wt reel. It handled the job just fine. Actually, I really like the Redington CT for its lazy, medium action and light weight. It's a perfect bream rod, especially at its low price point. The Wind River reel is a bit of a lunker(about 5oz!) but I got it on sale for $19.99, so I'm not going to complain about it. It features a large arbor, a fairly smooth drag, all-metal construction, and it doesn't look bad, either. All in all, I doubt that there are any better ones for under $30.

    Well, that's it for this piece. Long story short, the Clouser Minnow(a.k.a.Deep Minnow) is one badass fly that can be used to catch almost anything with fins. 

Taylor Nauta

The Southern Fly Guy

Balsa Poppers

    Another way to save serious money while tying your own bass & bream poppers is to whittle them out of balsa wood. You can buy a bag of it for cheap at any arts & crafts store and it's light as a feather, making it perfect for bream/bass poppers. 

     Take into consideration that this wood is VERY soft and, thus, it breaks and dents easily. I like to coat my finished poppers with epoxy to give them strength and water resistance. 

    Now, you try it! Show me what you come up with.

Taylor Nauta

The Southern Fly Guy

    

Wine Cork Bass Poppers

    Ok, so I've never been much of a DIY guy...... until I realized how much I was spending on flies. There's not much that'll annoy you like losing a five dollar popper to a high tree limb in your back cast or hearing that "snap" and retrieving a fly-less leader because you executed your forward cast too soon and thereby broke your tippet. If you're somebody who fishes a lot, it can add up fast. So, when I finally had enough of giving hard earned my money to fly shops for overpriced, Vietnamese-made flies, I decided to start tying my own.

    Tying your own flies can save you a lot of money, that's a given. But it can save you even more money if you use your resources to obtain potential fly-tying materials from sources that are not necessarily designated as such. One of my favorite materials for tying bass poppers is your regular, age-old, wine-stopping cork.  You can buy an assortment containing twenty, or so, of various sizes for only $5 at a typical arts & crafts store. Get yourself some of these corks along with a handful of number 0, 2, and 6 hooks, some maribou, deer hair, flash, silly legs, thread, permanent markers, and clear-coat nail polish from your local walmart and you'll have your basic popper tying bases covered. Of course you need a vice, bobbin, bodkin, etc, but that goes without saying. The point is, it doesn't take much to start making your own poppers that will catch bass just as effectively as the ones you've been paying $5 a piece for.

    Just cut a little trench in one side of the cork that the hook shank can fit in at full length, glue the hook in place(make sure you wrap the straight portion of the hook shank with thread first so the glue will have more to adhere to), add your tail & legs, color it up with your sharpie markers, apply some clear coat, and voila!... You have yourself a finished bass popper that probably cost sonewhere around $0.25. Not too shabby!

    Remember, the less you spend on flies the more you'll have to spend on that  new rod and reel in a different line weight or tip action you don't have yet. You're welcome, 

Taylor Nauta

The Southern Fly Guy