sideways wiggling sequin/tube clouser minnow very effective for adult salmon

[Roger Stephens]

For the last month or so, fishing for adult salmon has kept getting better and better on Puget Sound. Within the last two weeks, fishing has been good for adult coho and "jack" chinook(2-5 lbs). I have been getting them on a tube Clouser Minnow(olive/white) and decided to "change it up" a little by putting a 10mm pearl sequin(fabric or craft stores) angled to the side in front of the tube pattern. The thought was to have the tube Clouser Minnow wiggle/gyrate sideways. I call it S.T.(sequin tube)Clouser Minnow.

Last Friday I "christened" the S.T. Clouser Minnow and was pleased how well the pattern moved in the water and how well adult salmon along with some nice sized sea-run cutthroat liked it. The action which the sequin gave the pattern when retrieved was a erratic side-to-side movement and appeared to ocassionally spin.

I hooked and landed quite a few adult coho. I kept a 4 lb. coho with it's stomach containing 3-4" sand lance and 4-5" herring. A second 6 lb. coho was kept and it's stomach appeared to be full of 1/16-1/8" reddish amphipods. What a surprise! However, last winter there were large schools of resident coho feeding on amphipods in almost the same area. The fish were caught at locations 6-7 miles apart.

The final salmon hookup of the day was a 9-10 lb chinook which got the better of me and my equipment. Intially it "dogged" it towards the bottom. I put some pressure on it and it got "excited" and came up and jumped on the surface as it started making a long "screaming" run. Well, I had the reel drag set too loose so when the chinook "let up" the reel over-ran the line and a loop of line somehow was thrown around the reel handle. It immediately broke off "game over". It was fast excitment while it lasted!

The key to get the S.T. Clouser Minnow to gyrate side-to-side is to have a very fast retrieve. Coho usually like that type of retrieve. Good current also helps to give the pattern more movement. There were three retrieves that worked: (1) 4-6" continous quick snaps of your wrist(like shaking down an "old time" mercury thermometer but it is a little hard on your wrist if you do it for very long), (2) continous rapid 12-18" strips, (3) combination of the first two.

The up and down "jigging" action of a "traditional" Clouser Minnow helps to make it a very effective pattern. It appears to be even more effective when there is also side-to-side motion which the S.T. Clouser Minnow imparts. Some of the adult coho really "ate" the S.T. Clouser Minnow as strikes were frequently hard aggressive ones. The S.T. Clouser Minnow is easy to tie. After tying the pattern clip off the excess tube at a 45 degree angle to the side just in front of head of the fly. To use the the S.T. Clouser Minnow thread two 10mm pearl sequins(fabric and craft stores) onto the leader and then tie the tube fly onto the leader. Pretty simple!

In the past, I have lost a lot of salmon and sea-run cutthroat while using a "traditional" Clouser Minnow. I now only use tube Clouser Minnows and don't lose nearly as many fish. In the past there have been debates about "traditional" Clouser Minnows vs. tube Clouser Minnows and ease of fish coming unhooked. From my experience, I am convinced that tube Clouser Minnows are much better at keeping fish hooked up. But then so much of fishing success is based on what you have confidence in.

Roger

[Matt Burke]

Sounds great Roger. Always interested in a new tie. Is there a photo?

[Roger Stephens]

Matt:

I don't have any pictures of the S.T. Clouser Minnow. A picture probably wouldn't be that useful as it would look like a tube Clouser Minnow with 1/8 to 1/4" of tubing sticking out in front of the head of the pattern with a 10mm pearl sequin angled off to the side. However, I sent you a PM which may be more helpful.

Roger

[salt dog]

Great ideas Roger, thanks for the report.

[Double-D]

Great report Roger, it's always exciting to open up new doors to success. I purchased a tube tying kit a while back but have yet to sit down and tie a tube fly. I would be interested to see how your S.T. is tied.

[Smalma]

The use of a sequin is an old steelhead guide trick to introduce a "wobble" to the fly. They just thread the leader through the hole in the sequin and let the current keep it up against the hook eye. First saw it used in the early 1980s - it was one of the those "hush/hush don't tell anyone things". It was pretty effective on pressured fish - falls in the "show them something new camp". Not sure that it would be legal in fly only water by other wise a good trick to have in one's bag while chasing anadromous fish.

Roger - Thanks for sharing !

Curt

[snbrundage]

Thank you Roger for this yet another informative post!

When did you first use a sequin on your S.S. Candlefish pattern? I am curious because I used sequins to float deerhair flies higher and wakeier for Steelhead. That would have been in the late seventies or early eighties. I would bend straight the up-eyed light wire hooks and attach the sequin concave side forward and glue tilted down. I often ran into Bob Aid and Alec Jakson on the river and they knew I was using dries so they told me about the sequins. I didn't know them very well except that they were a little older and smarter about Steelhead than I was, and no doubt putting me on a lot. I tried it and the next time I saw them I ran to tell about how well the sequin worked. They never flinched.

Anyway, I am curious about how long this has been going on.

Steve

[Roger Stephens]

Steve:

I started using a pearl sequin(8mm) angled up on the S.S. Candlefish 8 years ago. It is in Les Johnson's latest Coastal Sea-run Cutthroat book. I showed it to a local fly shop owner a while ago and he said steelheaders had been using sequins for many years like you and Curt said.

As of late, I have been using a tube floating sand lance(F.T. Sand Lance) pattern that can be used with or without pearl sequins(5mm or 8mm depending on amount of surface disturbance desired). This pattern is probably going to be in Les's revised Fly Fishing for Pacific Salmon book. It is a lot easier to tie and a better looking pattern than the S.S. Candlefish. I cut the front of the tube at a 45 degree angle so that when a sequin is used it will point upwards to help keep the pattern skating/popping on the surface. I am going to try cutting the tube at a 45 degree angle to the side to see how much side-to-sides wiggle can be imparted to the F.T. Sand Lance pattern.

Roger

[Surf_Candy]

sounds great Roger - I plan to try it out ASAP. I am wondering about any issues casting it - does the fly cause you leader to twist up?

Surf

[Roger Stephens]

Surf Candy;

The pattern casts the same as a traditional Clouser Minnow and have not had any problems with the leader twisting.

Roger

[Surf_Candy]

heading to the bench! I had a heck of a time with a crease fly pattern casting like a maple leaf....it sounded like a humming bird going by.

thanks!

[Roger Stephens]

Surf Candy:

If you or anyone else ties up and uses concept/version of S.T. Clouser Minnow, let me know good, bad, or ugly about how it worked. I would appreciate it.

I went out today to see if sea-run cutthroat liked the S.T. Clouser Minnow and had a wonderful day fishing for them. I landed quit a few large sea-run cutthroat along with a few smaller ones plus a couple pound "jack" chinook as an unexpected bonus. Only a few fish were LDR'ed. Sea-run cutthroat were scattered except at one location where the action was good for 1/2 to 3/4 hour until the tidal current quit at that spot. They were chasing after 3-4" sand lance.

I played around with some different retrieves using the S.T. Clouser Minnow pattern to see which ones gave the most side-to-side motion. Pausing 1/2 to 1 second at the most between each retrieve usually gave the greatest motion.

Les Johnson is going to be putting the S.T. Clouser Minnow in the Flies Section of revised Fly Fishing for Pacific Salmon book. There will be a picture, recipe for the pattern, and tier's notes in the book.

Roger