Troy
Miller’s Shaddie Clouser
Hook:
Gamakatsu SL11-3H hook, size 6 or
preferably 8,
Thread: White
Eyes: Black Lead, Heavy
Tail: Neer Hair, White
Wing: Neer Hair, White; Wing ‘n
Flash, Ice Blue or
Put
hook in the vise the normal way (point down, shank up).
Wrap
on lead eyes with figure 8’s. They give the fly some real action when fished
with a floating line, almost like jigging.
Tie
in a 2” long clump of Neer Hair to the top side just in front of the lead
eyes. Bind it just in front and just behind the eyes, and then follow it
down the length of the shank until you get to the bend. Wrap back forward
to the lead eyes, and throw a half-hitch.
Take
the hook out of the vise and invert it, Clouser style.
Tie
on another clump of white Neer Hair, just behind the lead eyes (into the gape of
the hook). Come with the thread in front of the lead eyes, and tie in a
modest clump of ice blue or pearl Wing ‘n Flash. That should kind’a
stand up, since the eyes are lifting it. Finally, take a clump of either
light smoke gray or chartreuse Neer Hair and tie it on top. Each
successive clump should be slightly longer than the first. Whip finish the
head and epoxy or Sally Hansen.
An alternative method is to not worry about the lengths of the clumps while tying them in, and just cutting the minnow shape at the very end, just before you take the fly out of the vise. When I’m tying 50 of them, that’s what I do. Nothing complicated at all, but this combination of materials, colors, and shape are EXACTLY what those tasty little buggers want to eat. Took me about 4 years of experimenting to get to this point with them. Word of caution – don’t dress them too heavy. They seem to like the sparse ones better than the bushy ones.