A bit of history.... Many years ago when Bob Clouser came up with his famous pattern for smallmouth bass - most that tied one or used it learned that it would work worldwide on such a big variety of fish that it became an instant classic... In the world of new patterns though (particularly "royalty patterns" where a specific tyer gets his name attached - and will draw royalties from a company generating that pattern for shops everywhere... forever as long as it sells) you're not on the board without a good magazine article to spread the word. That first article about that pattern that I read was by Lefty Kreh (yeah, that guy...) so long ago that most have never seen or read it... As an up and coming commercial tyer in the early 80's you can bet I read it start to finish several times... and began filling orders for variations (my own of course) - as well as others for shops whenever they wanted them.
In that first article Lefty wrote that that "damned fly" caught every species he used it for - and also mentioned that unlike the original pattern - he preferred the "clouser" tied up with the wing on just the point side of the hook -and that's how I've been tying them, mostly, for years and years...
You'll find lots of differences of opinion (being polite here...) about classic patterns and whether or not you should stick to the original pattern, give credit to the developer, etc. Here's how I've dealt with that over the years. If I'm doing an exact copy of someone else's pattern - I'll mention their name along with the exact name of the pattern. If I'm doing a variation of it I'll note that it's "my version of so and so's pattern". If, as has happened with both the clouser (note the little "c") or the gurgler it's become so common that it's more of a tying style than a particular pattern - that's how I'll refer to it - thus the entry above.
To give you a better idea of how the clouser has evolved over many years - here's a pic or two of ones that sold very well in every fly shop I ever tied for - and none of them were tied the way the original was...
My own "bonefish clouser" on a #4 hook... did this in various colors for nearly every shop I ever tied for - as small as a #6 up to a #2... Note the outrigger style weedguard - something I came up with almost from the first for fishing in grass covered areas - very effective.
two dozen ready to ship, half on #4's the right side #6's -note the size differences in wing and eyes....
The Whitewater clouser, size 2/0 - note the wire weedguard - a great bug for pounding mangrove jungle shorelines as well as any kind of structure in the backcounry - once again - not exactly your typical clouser... Scaled down versions of this pattern are what we've been using in freshwater canals for peacocks and other exotics - in a great variety of colors..
the "Peacock clouser" - this is one of the very few times I've come closer to Bob Clouser's original pattern - I filled orders for the Ft Lauderdale Fly shop for some years - this was their pattern - not mine..
a variation on the last pattern - this one with a synthetic wing- once again a shop pattern - not mine, but fairly popular so I filled orders for both versions
a few night time clousers, size 1/0, once again tied up the way Lefty preferred - the wings on this simple pattern? polar bear of course...
I haven't tied flies commercially now in a few years but for quite a while it was my go to every night and weekend - whenever an angler, guide, or shop placed an order. If I ever am forced to give up guiding I'll come back to tying (if I'm still able...).
Hope this helps all the folks that tie their own flies - nothing like catching a fish with a fly you're tied yourself...
