February FOTM - The Bucktail Clouser

[Stephen Bradbury]

Ok guys I promised to kick off a club 'Fly of the Month' post this year. So I am going to start with probably the most effective/versatile fly there is, especially for (but not limited to) the northern half of Australia.
The February FOTM is the 'Bucktail Clouser'
Recipe -
Hook - 1/0 or 2/0 Gamakatsu SL12S or Mustad Big Game (my preferred hooks)
Thread - 210 Denier Flat waxed nylon
Dumbbell eyes - Large size chromed brass dumbbell eyes (with or without pupils)
Underwing - 1 x small bunch of white bucktail, approx 2 1/2 x the hook length (naturally tapered)
Flash - 4 - 8 strands of chosen flash material Krystal flash, Flashabou, Gliss & Glow, Sparkleflash etc. I prefer pearlescent and/or metalic flash (remember less is more)
Overwing - 1 x small bunch of white bucktail or a colour for contrast. Best colours (in my personal order) are usually white, tan, olive, yellow, grey, pink or orange.
As an addition you can also add a few strands of darker Krystal flash and/or some of the darker (browner) fibres from the back of the coloured bucktail to further contrast the top of the wing.

You will notice that this fly has the entire wing tied on top of the hook shank, where as the original pattern the 'Clouser Minnow' created by Bob Clouser was tied with the underwing bound under the hook shank. I tie my clousers this way because its easier & simple to tie, it promotes good movement in the wing and is less likely to foul in my opinion. This fly, depending on the colour/flash combination its tied in and retrieve usually represents a sick, injured or fleeing baitfish or a prawn.

Fish species you will catch with a bucktail clouser - Trevally (all species), Queenfish, Tuna (all species), Mackerel (all species), Salmon, Mulloway, Flathead, Flounder, Bream (Yellowfin, Pikey), Giant Herring, Snapper, Emperor (all species), Cod (all species), Coral trout, Mangrove Jack, Tuskfish (all species), Barramundi, Cobia, Barracuda, Jobfish, Sea Perch etc etc. You are also a fair chance to catch prize species like Permit, Sweetlips (Bastards) & Bonefish as well.

The Bucktail Clouser is without doubt the best prospecting fly that a fly fisher can tie on and will account (as listed) for 80 - 90% of the fish species we target. Do yourself a favour and put a dozen into your fly box now !

[Liam Surridge]

Well done Steve for getting this out
Nice step by step!

[Mike Andrew]

Hey Steve
What's with all the different colors
We all know you only need one color
No need to mention which one

[Stephen Bradbury]

Very true Mike, 'WHITE IS BEST' ! the coloured ones are there just to please the angler and make your fly box look pretty !

[Mike Andrew]

Ha ha , I was referring to the former Presidential
Color combination choice.

[Martin Kuhn]

O/W. !!!!
There! I said it