Clouser

B ob Clouser’s Deep Minnow evolved on the Susquehanna, a wide and clear river in a green Pennsylvania valley. The river bottom is a bedrock rubble of trenches and shady ledges: haunts of the feisty smallmouth bass. A secondary litter, of cowcake chunks of shale, shelters crayfish and hellgrammites. It is unforgiving of flies tied in conventional fashion.

Clouser found the snare and blunt rate unacceptable. His quick-fix was more practical than aesthetic: a split-shot clamped to the underside of the hook. This arrangement inverted the hook point. A wing of bucktail was then attached to the opposite side of the shank and angled upwards so as to shield the hook point. The finished fly traversed bottom hazards so well it was superior to those with weed guards or other add-on arrangements.

At this stage it never occurred to a bloke given to selling himself short, that he’d laid the foundations for a fly pattern destined to prove itself on the world’s rivers, lakes and seas.

The next stage was a happy accident. In 1985 Tom Schmuecker of Wapsi, the tying materials super-source, added small lead dumbbells to his inventory. Clouser saw the potential. Because they sat entirely on one side of the shank, the dumbbells were a neater and more balanced alternative that did a better job in maintaining an upwards point on the working fly. A dipping, darting and undulating action was a serendipitous consequence of the weight at the head of the fly. Things were in place for completion of the Clouser as it is today.

THE MAKINGS

Firstly, it needs to be stressed that bucktail is the material of choice. Some tiers use artificial fibres which produce an inferior product.

A sparse wing of white bucktail forms a base layer that has translucency when wet, suggestive of a minnow belly. This is attached to the outside of the shank, ahead, over and behind the dumbbell.Then, on the immediate opposite side of the shank, several strands of Krystal Flash. This material is stiffer than others and thus resistant to fouling around the hook. Be sparing when it comes to flash material. Scrooge rather than splurge — not enough is better than too much. Besides adding an all-over appeal, the flash positioned amidships on either side is reminiscent of a lateral line.

The top dressing is a contrasting wing of bucktail, sparse but longer than the belly section. Natural colours — white, grey, olive and tan — give the Clouser a more natural complexion. Chartreuse is the exception – as Lefty Kreh says, “If it ain’t chartreuse, it ain’t no use.”

The fly debuted Downunder in the late 1980s via Lefty. The species tally was astronomical. It seemed as if every fish to see it ate it.

Other patterns from the Clouser stable include Clouser’s Swimming Nymph, an outstanding trout fly and a go-to pattern for carp. Clouser’s Crayfish has been rewarding on lake-living golden perch. Were it not for the overshadowing success of the Clouser Deep Minnow, those patterns would be standalone flies down here in the South Seas.

A Lefty/Clouser collaboration produced the versatile and effective Half ’n Half — half Clouser’s Deep Minnow, half Lefty’s Deceiver.

THE MAN

Clouser is a bear of a bloke, with a quiet nature and dry wit when he wants to say something. The strongmen of the world haven’t the abs of gym-junkie body builders — rather, big hands and a pot gut. Clouser got his by lumping sides of beef.

Before deciding to try guiding, for which he had all the essential fish-finding, people and teaching skills, he was plagued by doubts. He confided to close friends that he wasn’t sure if people would pay to be taken fishing. His dance card soon proved how wrong he was.

Fly rod in hand, Bob demonstrates an extraordinary economy of movement. A full line configured in an arrowhead loop that’d pass through a screen door, yet no casting calisthenics. Then again, the same can be said of his close associates Bob Popovics, Ed Jaworowski and Lefty Kreh. Their low arm actions and their use of the big muscles of the lower body combine to produce unparalleled energy efficiency.

RIGGING AND FISHING

Today’s array of dumbbell weights and sizes provides tiers and fishers considerable scope. Waters shin-deep to deep blue, baitfish to big fish. Having said that, I’m of the opinion there is no need to exceed hook size 2/0 with proportionate dumbbell eyes — other patterns will better handle situations calling for more weight. As a general principle, it is best to have the ‘sink’ in the fly line rather than the fly.

Floating lines are appropriate for waters to waist-deep, especially over tangled bottom and tides where a mend or two might be handy. Leaders can be adjusted to the situation but as a general rule never beyond a rod length. Intermediate lines will handle the other situations. Dredging scenarios are better addressed with a fly offering some buoyancy. Weighted flies tend to ask for trouble.

THE SEDUCTIVE ART OF STRIPPING

If that heading sounds suggestive, you’re right. It’s not always how the fly is tied, or how it gets to the water — great anglers aren’t necessarily the best casters. What really counts is what happens next. Too many fly fishers reduce their chances with a lackadaisical retrieve — a ‘go to whoa’ strip made at the same pace. The Clouser is at its best when given an inflection now widely known as the Susquehanna Strip. It’s a simple yet deadly enhancement. The wrist is cocked at the commencement of the strip. Then whatever the strip’s length and cadence, it terminates with a sudden uncocking.

EVOLUTION

The uptake of defining saltwater fly patterns like Lefty’s Deceiver and Blanton’s Whistler has seen them evolve from a specific fly to a style of tying. Along the way superficial changes occur, sometimes with no reference to the original — the overrated Pink Thing was nothing more than a tarted-up Whistler.

It was inevitable that the Clouser would travel the same path. Abbreviated bonefish versions called other things, and the purple (Australian) Bass Vampire are indicative of the trend. But all things considered, the name seems to have morphed more than the makings.

Commercially-tied Clousers are now a standard offering world-wide. However, I suspect Bob’s greatest satisfaction isn’t just that a fly he intended to catch fish instead of rock has become a household word in fly fishing. It comes from the acknowledgement irretrievably embedded in its name.