I will be tying up the Clouser Minnow for the first time for a fly swap I entered. I want to tie it in either a size 8 or 10. If you have tied this fly, can you give me a hook mfg and a model number that I should use?
Thanks!
I am no pro fly tyer, but I use a Daiichi 1750 for the Clouser.
Skip
I believe the original hook used for the Clouser Minnow was a Mustad 3906. Tied for Smallmouth. I’d also use the 3906 for trout. For Saltwater you can go with the Mustad 3407 or 34007 same hook type just different coating. For Warmwater and trout I prefer the Mustad 3366. Very similar to the 3407 but bronzed finish for freshwater.
Tom
Hey Tyronefly,
You can use any 3X or 4X long hook that you have. I generally try to use ring eyes but when I’ve been short of hooks even turn down eyes (TDE) will work just fine. The Mustad 3366 works well and is very cheap. There is also so little difference between a size #8 and size #10, I wouldn’t worry. Size #10 would be my choice for trout, brim or crappie. Take care! 8T 
Tyrone,
I tie a lot of them.
3366 or 3407 Mustad. Slightly different bends, but the 3407 is a plated hook that holds up well for saltwater. The 3366 is bronzed and is fine for freshwater use.
Neither of these hooks is expensive. If you can’t find them locally, Jann’s Netcraft sells them.
Buddy
I was recommended the 3366 by Bob’s son Bobby.
Seems to me any 3-4x streamer hook will work fine in those sizes. When I asked Bob Clouser the same question last year, he said he likes the Mustad R74 with is a 2x heavy 4x long hook. I personally have been using the Tiemco TMC5263.
Luck.
Thanks all for your suggestions. Mustad are a hard to find locally. Seems most shops won’t carry them and those that do have a limited selection. Looks like if I want Mustad I need to buy online or use Tiemco which is the choice of most shops around here.
Of course the shops prefer to carry Tiemco. The profit margin is probably 3 to 4 times what it would be for the Mustad 3366. That hook is probably less than $5 per 100 and, before anyone says it, it is not a ‘cheap’ hook.
Deezel
Which, Deezel, seems “odd”, since the majority of Mustad, now, are now made “off shore”, as are the Tiemco, of course!?? (NOT, “off shore”, Norway direction either).
The 3366 is traditional for smallies. That is what the fly was designed for. Strictly for trout, you may want a longer shank.
Also the comment about availability of Mustad hooks is correct. Some shopkeepers are only interested in what’s in your wallet. After all, they are businessmen not philanthropists.
The fly shops carry what the tying public wants. Business basics 101. Several shop owners put it like this:
If fly tyers came into the shops and told them they wanted to tie on Mustad hooks, the fly shops would stock them. The 'mark up, as a percentage, is the same. They want to sell things, not have them sit around on the shelves. If Mustad would sell, the shops would sell Mustad.
What they are basically saying is if your local shop only carries the Tiemco brand, and you’ve not asked for something different, then it’s really your fault…
If you really want a better hook selection, start telling the shop owners that you want to see a selection of Mustad hooks on the shelves. Say it every time you go in, and make it a point NOT to buy hooks there until they start carrying the hooks you want. If they say something about quality differences, just tell them that such things aren’t up to them, that YOU will decide that, and just want to be able to buy the hooks you want. Explain that you are trying to suppoort them, but THEY are forcing you to go to mail order or a discount chain to get what you want. If enough folks do this, you’ll see a change.
If you just settle for what is there, then it really is your fault.
Buddy
Tyronefly, I have sent you a PM. John
I like using thinner wire short hooks. I’ve tryed all kinds of mfg. and this is what I like.
Small sizes Mustad, larger size 4 and up Gammies. Clousers size 10 and 1.
I also use the Gammies for shad patterns.
Buddy;
What you say, of course, is true and is basic “Marketing #101”.
However, in Tigard, Ore., is a fly shop called “River City”, owned and ran by one of the best and most honest men in and out of our obsession. (Tigard is a bedroom community of greater Portland)
Don carries Mustad, Gamakatsu, Orvis, Daiichii and his own, shop brand of hooks.
One of Don’s BIGGEST things in running his fly shop is… customer satisfaction. Period. I’ve know Don for many years and he’s the kind of shop owner that if you bought a rod from him, that didn’t carry a warranty and then took it out of its tube and broke it over your knee IN FRONT OF HIM… he’d give you either your money back, or a new rod, no questions asked.
Don gets a lot of requests for Teimco hooks. He can’t get them. Why?
Well, because also in Tigard, about 11 miles away, is “Randall Kauffman’s Streamborn” fly shop. So, quite simply…(quote);… “Since Randy carries them, and he doesn’t want us to sell to you Don, we can’t and we won’t, sell them to you, sorry!” (end quote).
I was standing there, the day the Teimco rep, told Don these words and again saw it in a letter from the rep agency, after Don, contacted the agency directly. Of course, the “letter” was far more “politically written” than the rep’s words were spoken.
The meaning, was the same and Don still does not really carry any Teimco hooks. He has “some”, because he’s also purchased several fly shops that have closed, but that’s the only reason he has what little inventory in them he possesses.
Saint Paul,
This is truly an odd industry. The ‘reps’, manufaturers, and sales people all have odd ideas about things like who gets to sell what, how much they have to buy, etc… Things like that are what makes many fly shops go under, since they can’t adhere to the basic ‘marketing 101’ principles that will ensure profitability.
Both the fly shops here in Tucson carry mostly Tiemco. I won’t use Tiemco hooks. I buy most of my hooks online, and both fly shops owners know this.
Buddy
I’m too cheap to buy Tiemco hooks. I’m sure that they are excellent hooks but I just can’t bring myself to pay two or three times the price that I pay for Mustads. I buy almost all of my hooks online from H & H and Netcraft. 8T
8T,
You aren’t missing anything. I’m not too cheap to buy good hooks, but I don’t like Tiemco. The hooks are brittle and I’ve broken too many of them to trust them on fish.
I do like getting good hooks for a good price, though. For me, that means Mustads or, now, the Togen hooks. Both do what I ask them to (not a lot of experience with the Togen hooks yet, but so far so good). I also like the Eagle Claw fly hooks, but they are hard for me to get without going through Cabela’s…no ‘deals’ there…
Buddy
I like the mustads, and they are pretty reasonably priced. When I bought a Clouser Nymph kit from Bob Sr he provided the R74 with the kit, so maybe that’s his thinking for the minnows as well. A good hook to be sure, but the cheaper Mustads work just as well, and I lose plenty anyway!
i just use plain shank hooks. they’re cheap, plentiful, and work pretty well.
just my 2 cents