Mini Clousers

[SteveW]

Good afternoon,
Interested in tying up a few smaller clousers for bluegill. Planning on using the tmc 200R hook in size 12 and 14. I am having difficulty deciding on what winging material. have thought about superhair and a few others. Anybody got any suggestions?

thanks
steve

[Jack Hise]

Steve;
Super Hair works for regular size Clousers so it should be great on smaller ones. You might also want to search the archives for "Crappie Candy".

[FishnDave]

I've recently seen squirrel and calf tail used.
Craft Fur comes in a LOT of colors, and has excellent movement in the water, and is easy to tie down. Its what I use on most of my Clousers smaller than size 8...but it also works well on larger sizes.

[bowfin47]

Dave's right... try kip tail i.e. calf tail

[dudley]

Bob Clouser's own "foxy" series uses foxtail

[Bluegill222]

I've been having real good luck with squirrel and calftail on clousers down to size 14. I've also been playing with fox, coyote, and, on very small clousers, rabbit. I've seen some cool looking ones done with craft fur but haven't done any myself. I've found Super Hair to be a little difficult to tie in securely on smaller clousers without creating way too much bulk at the eye of the hook.

[john52948]

i would stay away from craft fur, it tends to mat up. something like enrico fibers would probably work well, or crinkeld nylon. the trick with the nylon is how you trim it. dont cut it straight, at the end of the fly. cut it at an angle, giveing a taper to the fly.

good luck

[AtticaFish]

Looks like this question has many options and it mostly goes by personal preferece.

I have just started tying them down to smaller sizes in recent months so you'll have to take my answer with a grain of salt. So far i have tried them with the soft under-fur from buck tail, kip/calf tail and craftfur. 1st choice would be craftfur - easiest to deal with for me at this size and the action is excellent. 2nd choice would be kip - it seems to hold a panfish profile pretty well but also seem to be much more slippery and harder (for me) to lock down the upper/wing section.

[Bamboozle]

the trick with the nylon is how you trim it. dont cut it straight, at the end of the fly. cut it at an angle, giveing a taper to the fly.

I use thinning sheers when I cut synthetic hair. It gives the fibers a raggy, uneven "natural" appearance. The best results I've got are from inexpensive coarse thinning sheers, not the fine fly tying versions. I got mine at Wal-Mart.

[SteveW]

Thanks for the responses. Seems I need to run to the fly shop and pick up some different material and see which one works best for my tying skills.


thanks
steve