Clouser Minnow
Also called Clouser, Clouser minnow fly
A weighted baitfish streamer with lead or brass eyes that make it ride hook-point-up. It’s used in fresh or salt water to imitate small fish and move quickly through current.
- Group
- Streamer patterns
- Category
- Flies & fly types
- Level
- Beginner
- Water
- Fresh & salt
Last updated
What Clouser Minnow means
Lead (or brass) dumbbell eyes are the whole idea. They add weight and flip the fly so the hook rides up. Most Clousers have a sparse bucktail wing, often two colors, tied so the fly has a slim baitfish profile.
It’s commonly thrown on a floating or sink-tip line and retrieved with short strips and pauses. In rivers it gets down fast and tracks well across current. In salt water it’s a staple for flats and inlets because it casts cleanly and sinks without needing a bulky head.
Color and weight do most of the tuning. White is a baseline. Chartreuse/white, olive/white, and tan/white cover a lot of bait. Eye size controls sink rate and how “jiggy” the fly feels.
Why it matters on the water
The hook-up ride reduces snagging compared to many streamers. That lets an angler work it along rocks, shell, and grass edges where baitfish and predators spend time, instead of avoiding those zones.
Knowing the Clouser is really “weight plus a slim wing” makes selection simple. If the fly isn’t getting down or is getting down too much, change eye weight before changing everything else. If fish are following but not eating, go sparser and smaller rather than adding flash and bulk.
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Read next
- Lefty's DeceiverA classic baitfish streamer tied with a bucktail tail and a long, tapered wing. It’s a standard saltwater pattern for imitating mullet, anchovies, and other small forage fish.
- Muddler MinnowA Muddler Minnow is a deer-hair streamer with a clipped, spun head and a low-profile wing. It can suggest a sculpin, small baitfish, or even a large aquatic insect depending on size and color.
- Non-slip loop knotA tippet-to-fly knot that leaves a small open loop at the hook eye. The loop lets the fly swing and track more freely than a snug knot.
- Woolly BuggerA Woolly Bugger is a simple streamer with a marabou tail and a fuzzy chenille body, usually palmered with hackle. It’s fished to imitate small baitfish, leeches, or big nymphs.
More in Streamer patterns
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