Just whipped up some small Clousers. Now when I say small I don’t mean micro; these are size 1#. But by saltwater standards that is on the smaller side, unless you’re thinking bonefish ammunition. Heck here in the Northeast, 1/0 and 2/0 Clousers do the yeoman’s work. Probably whip up some of those critters next.
So why did I do size 1#? Well right at the moment there aren’t gobs of giant bass around. At least in Long Island Sound and its surrounding waters. So this is primarily a schoolie fishery and smaller flies and small rods are the best medicine. And if you hit yourself in the head a size 1# doesn’t hurt near halve as bad as a bigger one. Ha!
For these flies I’m using a Mustad C70SD Big Game hook. If perchance a monster munches on one, these hooks will hold. (Not sure these hooks are still available. Hell I wonder from year to year whether Mustad will make it.) I opted for no tail. The body is Bill’s Bodi Braid with a thin coat of clear UV acrylic. Medium dumbbell eye. Yes I could have used a smaller dumbbell, but the power of the Clouser lies in two factors. The ability to get down and the ability to “jig”on the retrieve. The medium dumbbell will do both better. Sea green bucktail wing. Flash on top, in this case pearl Mirage. Whole deal is about 2.5″ long. Very simple and yet very effective. And easy to deliver on a 7-weight fly rod. Hope you’re well. Keep Calm and Carry on.
