Some Recent Ties - Clousers and Muskie Stuff

[Fishidiot]

Working on Clouser Minnows for the Sports Show CVTU booth and some big stuff for toothy critters.

 

[phillyfly]

Great looking ties and im guessing they look even better wet. What type/size hooks are your big boys tied on?

 

[Fishidiot]

Thanks.
They're articulated flies using two Eagle Claw, 3/0 plastic worm hooks.

 

[jayL]

Nice job Dave. I can imagine they'd be killers out here.

 

[Fishidiot]

Jay,
No doubt. Large trout in big rivers will crush streamers of this size (6 inches) and smallmouth bass will show 'em even more love. These flies are on the small side for muskies. Smaller trout will even sometimes hit these huge streamers but aren't likely to stick the hook. I don't think monster streamers for trout have ever really caught on back East to the extent they have out West. There are guys who throw stuff like this on the Big D and other spots but they're the exception to the rule. Nevertheless, the old cliche about "big fly - big fish" does hold true. I always have at least a couple streamers in the 4-6" range in my trout streamer box. A fun experiment for your next Bighorn float: try to see how big a fly you can actually get trout to strike. Tie up some flies in the 6-12" range and see what happens. Should be interesting.

I'm like you: love the big streamers.

 

[jayL]

Dave, I have thrown a few 6 inchers on the horn with success. Been working on some truly giant ones lately, and am excited to try them. Don and I have been discussing a monster streamer run or two on the lower yellowstone. I just need to figure out how I want to articulate something that large, or if I just want to hope that they eat the head.

 

[pete41]

I spent years experimenting with streamer sizes on the Yellowstone and Missouri-conclusion
No appreciable increase in size of trout caught by going from size 2 to 1/0 but was a decrease in numbers.
Believe me-I wanted to go bigger in hopes I would catch 10 pounders and up.
This was over a quarter century by someone probably as experienced a streamer fisherman as anyone,guides included and was done both night and day..
However this was just one persons input-others may differ .TETO

 

[jayL]

I've had a look in the fly boxes of some moderately famous western outfitters.

The colossal streamers are in. Trust me. Long floats and few fish, but the ones that are caught are impressive. Perhaps things have changed, or perhaps there's a good bit of observer's bias.

Even if it were all smoke and mirrors, it's still something I would enjoy greatly, thus is worthy.

 

[pete41]

I understand and its fun to do your own research but I am betting after 15 years or so you will decide it doesn't make a difference-lol
but-you never know-catch that tenner-I owe you a steak dinner.

 

[wgmiller]

Dave - do you find it useful to tie the red "gill plate" on those Clousers? I've tied some with, some without. If I had to guess, I'd say the fish doesn't see that level of detail, but am curious as to your thoughts.

 

[jayL]

I'd trust dave's opinion way before mine, but I like to add a bit of red around the gill area to a lot of my streamers.

Can't hurt, and the reasoning is good enough for me.

 

[Fishidiot]

WG,
The Clousers in the pic above were tied for the Sports Show CVTU booth and are thus very basic and meant to represent the standard pattern that folks would associate with the classic shape and materials of the "Clouser Minnow."

Personally, when I tie Clousers for myself they're considerably more elaborate and usually incorporate marabou or synthetics rather than the traditional deer hair.

Whether additional red would make the fly more effective, I don't know. There's a school of thought (or was a few years ago) among conventional gear bass guys that a splash of red in lures caught more fish. I think this concept was driven by the statements of one or more of the big Bassmaster Classic winners(?). In any event, the red fad went so far that treble hooks in red became a staple on many conventional plugs and lures. I'm a staunch advocate of following some of the cues/techniques used by spin guys in order to be a better bass fly fishermen. However, I'm not so sure the red hook fad is (or was) anything more than a fad.
But you know the old saying about fishing a lure that you have confidence in.

 

[Fishidiot]

Here's a couple more muskie flies.