Field testing the PWT Clouser on Flathead

A dedicated session targeting Flathead on the fly seems like it’s been far too long between drinks, so they say. Where once, this would have been a weekly event, other species seemingly have taken their share of the limelight in our sessions on the water. With a back-to-basics approach to life right now, the boat was launched (after a week of maintenance) in to our backyard waterway. A 1.8m morning high tide was selected with good flows over the flats edges, pushing water in through the weed beds and sand gullies at the drop off. This is the area that the bait would be concentrated when the tide has turned to commence the run-out phase, in the somewhat safety of the deeper water and with weed banks pretty close by to hide in.

In itself, the Clouser, made famous by Bob Clouser, is a wonderfully simple fly that has accounted for too many species to list from around the world. If you are an Estuary fly angler, you should have a few Clouser Minnows in your kit tied up in a bunch of natural and bright colours.

The flies we chose to fish in this session featured Wiggle Tails attached with a wire and Double Tail prototype – inspired from the good ol’ days when Mr Twister was the biggest soft plastic brand in the country.

The 6 weight outfits were rigged with an intermediate tipped fly line with a 12lb 9-foot tapered leader. Adjusted by trimming 2ft of the tapered leader off and replacing with 16lb Fluorocarbon tippet section to improve the abrasion resistance nearest the fly.  I use a Surgeons Knot for this connection with 3 turns. It’s a quick knot to tie and rarely lets me down.

Like all aspects of flyfishing, direct contact with the fly is paramount. As the water cools with the change of season, the Flattie ‘bite’ can be more subtle. The smash and grab approach from the Spring and Summer water temps can quickly dissipate to an ‘eat and hold’, where they become more lethargic.  Throughout Winter, throwing some larger profiled flies in search of a Flattie that should just be sunning itself on the edge of a shallow flat, might just undo a trophy specimen.

A feed for the table was accounted for along with a 580mm specimen, and an upgrade to a 630mm model came soon after. Both of these fish were promptly photographed and released back into the system with powerful surges out of the hands.

Chris Beech, regular columnist for FlyLife magazine features the PWT Clouser in detail with a step by step tying process. See the link below.

PWT Clouser – FlyLife