FOTW

[sjh]

Rich Lewis' discussion on the deep minnow got me thinking about making up some of these streamers. Since my streamer hooks aren't notched I was trying to figure out how to determine just where on the shank the eyes should be fastened. Does anyone know how to determine this?
Thanks...

[Broadwing]

There are different ways of looking at this, I usually start by making two humps of thread. The first one about two eyes width back from the hook eye, and the next closely behind that. There is room for variation here and if you tie the hook close to the eye you get more of a jigging action from the clouser. If you tie the barbell eye further back, you affect an action that is less up and down and more linear. I'm sure there are many different opinions on this, but this is just my limited experience.
-Erik

[MOturkE]

Tie them in wherever you think they'll be most effective, it's your fly.

Don't be afraid to experiment, tie up some close to the eye of the hook and some farther back, try them out and let us know how they do.


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There's almost nothin' wrong with the first lie, it's the weight of all the others holdin' it up that gets ya'! - Tim

[This message has been edited by MOturkE (edited 08 March 2006).]

[Buddy Sanders]

SJH,

That's the beauty of the Clouser 'style' minnow.

You can play with the eyes, both in composition AND location to get different actions from the fly.

Here's the 'basics':

Eyes close to the eye of the hook gives a more 'vertical' action to the fly. When you stop pulling on it, it will 'nose dive'. This effect is more or less 'vertical' depending on the material (weight) of the eyes, AND the diameter of your tippet. Altering the weight of the eyes, using a heavier or lighter tippet, AND/OR changing the density of the lures materials will also effect the SPEED at which it falls.

If you place the eyes farther back, you get less of a vertical attitude on the bait when you stop it. It will glide more and drop with the materials in a more horizontal plane. That's about what you'll get if you place then on a kink shank hook, as done in this weeks FOTW. This placement will give you a slower sink rate, all else being equal, than you'd get with the eyes farther forward.

Placing the eyes well back, almost to the bend of the hook, gives you an even more horizontal motion after stopping the pull. It also will go 'sideways' or 'off line' more due to the resistance from having more material in front of the weight. You can enhance this action, if you want to, by tying on a longer shank hook and moving the eyes well back. This can give you a 'walk the dog' action in the water similar to what the spinning rig folks get with a soft jerkbait (provided you work it the same way-with the rod tip).

All of these actions are enhanced by using heavier eyes, and made more subtle by using ligher ones.

Experiment with the placement and the materials used for your eyes until you find the actions that works best for you. There is no right/wrong here.

By the way, one 'tip' that will make your clouser minnows much more efective, regardless of how you tie them: Always attach them to your tippet with a loop knot. This allows the fly to move freely, and lets you take advantage of all the action the fly is capable of.

Good Luck!

Buddy

ps; The Closuer minnow is THE warm water fly fishermans answer to the plastic worm.BS.

[Gary Miller]

According to Bob Clouser, you should measure the entire length of the hook (front of eye to back of bend) and build up a small bump of thread at a spot one-third back from the front of the hookeye. X-wrap/Figure Eight the eyes just in front of and against that bump of thread.

Better yet, let Bob show you [url=http://flyfisherman.com/northeast/bobclouserqa/:d5161]here[/url:d5161].

- Gary

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"Catch 'em all ~ Put 'em back!"

[This message has been edited by Gary Miller (edited 09 March 2006).]

[Broadwing]

Buddy said it better than I could have ever hoped. I do agree with everyone about playing with the placement. Have fun experimenting!

[flymaker2]

Nice to see the conversation on this FOTW. Has anyone tried the popper hook yet? Really is a no brainer and the hook is placed at 1/3 hook shank just like Bob Clouser likes em'...thanks to Mustad's hook design and their high manufacturing standards.

One more thing: The Popper Hooks have a wide gap-which allows a full tie without loosing hooking ability. Hope someone tries these hooks, as they make neat looking high performance Clousers.

Rich

[This message has been edited by flymaker2 (edited 09 March 2006).]

[sjh]

Folks,
Thanks for your comments.

[flymaker2]

Gary Miller-

I am having trouble downloading Part 1. Anyone else able to view it?

All the other files no problem.

Rich

[This message has been edited by flymaker2 (edited 09 March 2006).]

[Gary Miller]

Part one works fine here. Perhaps you could right click and save the file to your hard drive before viewing. If not, drop me a note and I'll e-mail it to you.

- Gary

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"Catch 'em all ~ Put 'em back!"