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Top Popper
Hook: Mustad 33906b kink shank, size 4.
Thread: Under body--cotton sewing thread. Tail--3/0 black.
Head: Cork popper body from Chesapeake Cork Products (held on with SuperGlue).
Color: Paint the head with three coats of Testors Cadmium Yellow enamel, make spots with black Magic Marker.
Tail: Chartreuse marabou topped with a half dozen strands of Krystal Flash.
Collar: Black saddle hackle.
This is easily the most effective topwater I fish. This pattern has caught smallmouths all over the
country. Fished with a fairly fast and active retrieve, it will call fish up from 20 feet of water.
And it's light enough that you can fish it on a 3-wt. outfit if you want. (Yes, I actually do have
a 10-foot 3-wt. rod, though I use it mostly for brookies and bluegills.)
Bee Popper
Hook: Mustad 3366, size 1/0.
Thread: Flat Waxed Nylon.
Weed guard: 20-pound-test Mason.
Tail: Yellow marabou topped with pearl Krystal Flash.
Body: Alternating bands of yellow and black deer hair, with the last clump being red deer hair.
Collar: Black saddle hackle.
I don't know what it is about yellow and black that makes smallmouths go so crazy. The Bee Popper
works great in open water, especially over submerged humps. You can fish it with an active
retrieve, or just pop it once or twice and let it sit. Just make sure you have a firm grip on the
rod at all times.
Hart Ghost Minnow
Hook: Mustad 3366 or equivalent, size 4.
Thread: Flat Waxed Nylon, chartreuse.
Head: Small brass bead.
Wing: White bucktail topped with a half-dozen strands of chartreuse Krystal Flash and two strands of black Krystal Flash, topped with chartreuse or olive bucktail.
Rich Hart of Granbury, Texas developed this fly. When he first handed me a copy, it was instantly
apparent that this pattern would be a winner. In the years since then, it has proven deadly not just
for smallmouths, but also for redfish, snook, jacks, sea trout, largemouths, ladyfish, stripers, and
just about every other piscivorous fish. Truly a classic pattern!
Clouser Minnow
Hook: Whatever you have handy. I use Mustad 3366, sizes 6 through 1/0.
Thread: Whatever you have handy. I use Flat Wax Nylon.
Eyes: Dumbbell, hourglass, etc. Painted or plain. Size to match hook and/or your own weighting needs.
Belly: White bucktail.
Wing: A few strands of flashy material (Flashabou, Krystal Flash, etc.) topped with chartreuse (or whatever color you like) bucktail.
If you're not carrying Clousers, you're just not serious about catching fish. Personally, I won't
even go to the grocery store without bringing a few Clousers along, much less head out for some
smallmouth fishing without them.
The recipe for the Clouser is a bit, uh, "loose" because that's the way Bob himself ties them. Years
ago, while working on an article, I called Bob to ask him about tying his eponymous fly. "What hook
do you use?" I asked. "I don't know," said Bob. "This box here is, uh, Tiemcos." He went on to
explain that he just grabbed whatever open box of hooks he had handy when he needed to tie some
of his flies.
There are very few flies invented in our lifetimes that will be used and discussed a century or two
from now. Bob Clouser's Minnow is one of them.
Woolly Bugger
Hook: Streamer hook, sizes 14 to 2/0.
Thread: Any strong thread (3/0, Flat Waxed Nylon, etc.).
Tail: Black marabou topped with a few strands of Krystal Flash.
Body: Black chenille or dubbing. (Weight in the form of lead wire is optional.)
Hackle: Black saddle hackle palmered (wound) up the hook shank and tied off at the hook eye.
When Russell Blessing of Pennsylvania invented the Woolly Bugger, he had no idea he was creating
history. Just as people will be fishing Clousers 200 years from now, they will still be tying and
fishing this fly.
We'll be adding and subtracting patterns to this page as time goes by, so tune in regularly to
see what's new!
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