Since I fish for striped bass about 100 days a year, I go through a lot of flies. Tying a fly with a lot of steps and materials can be a pain and is not necessarily any more effective than a simple pattern. One of the most effective patterns has proven to be Bob Clouser's pattern, the Clouser. Many patterns have spun off from this successful fly. My pattern is one of those spinoffs.
A funny story goes along with the fly. An angler from Granite Bay Fly Fishers, Paul Egan, was tying a similar fly although neither of us knew of the other's efforts. Paul and his wife Robin were fishing the delta and having a bang up day at Hog Slough off the Mokelumne. A boat load of conventional fishermen were close by as Paul and Robin pulled in striper after striper.
Finally one of the anglers yelled over, "What are you using?"
Robin, being quick witted, fired back, "We're using Eganators." tying the name of the fly to their last name.
Robin and Paul thought the whole thing so humorous that they posted the incident on a fly shop bulletin board that night. It so happened that I logged in and read the post.
The next day I happened to be fishing at the same location and the same group of anglers apparently had returned. Once they saw me fly fishing, one yelled over, "What are you using?"
I countered with, "A chartreuse over white clouser."
The angler asked loudly, "Do you have any Eganators? There was a couple here fly fishing yesterday and they pounded them with Eganators!".
A few weeks later one of my friends from Granite Bay was fishing with me and happened to have a few "Eganators" with him that he had tied after looking at Paul's fly. Surprisingly, the pattern I was using and the "Eganator" looked to be the same fly.
If you like the fly and find yourself fishing it and someone asks, you have a choice of three names. Of course, you could call it a Clouser since the basic pattern is similar. You could call it, "Jerry's Simple Clouser," after the instructions on this page or you could call it an, "Eganator."
Paul and Robin would like that.
From Cabela's
IK-319136 Eagle Claw 413 jig hook, 1/0 to 3/0 $7.95
From FeatherCraft
TZ003- DAVE'S FLEXAMENT $4.95
TH005-1 Danville Flat Waxed Nylon White $1.75 (2)
TL026-1-M Real Eyes Plus Gold/Chartreuse-iris Medium 7/32" 5.95 (2)
TU029-1 70 Denier Fish Hair Natural White $3.50
TU033-6 Flashabou Pearl $3.75
TD007-4-M Cactus Chenille Pearl Medium $2.95 (2)
TU013-21 Angel Hair Pearl/Green-Flash $2.95
TU029- 70 Denier Fish Hair Fl Day Glow Chartreuse $3.50
 | Tie on a dumbbell eye after wrapping the hook with a thread bed. Wrap tightly and saturate the tying thread with head cement to help stop the eyes from spinning on the hook shank.
|
 | Tie on a pencil lead or less thickness of white Fish Hair. |
 | Top the white Fish Hair with about 15 strands of pearl flashabou. |
 | Tie in some pearl ice chenille at the rear of the hook and wind forward to the eyes and secure. |
 | Tie on a full pencil lead thickness of white Fish Hair in front and back of the eyes as a beard.
|
 | Turn the fly over and tie in a pencil lead thickness of Angel Hair, tied in in front of the eyes. D0 NOT tie in back of eyes. |
 | Tie in about 15 strands of pearl flashabou in front of the eyes, DO NOT tie in back of eyes! |
 | Top the flashabou with a pencil lead's thickness of white Fish Hair, again tied in front of the eyes. |
 | Top the white Fish Hair with a thick pencil lead's thickness of chartreuse Fish Hair. Wrap the head of the fly tightly with thread and coat with head cement. |
 | The finished fly. This fly is light to cast and dives well enough on the pause, even though the dumb bell eyes are not that heavy. |
 | When wet the fly slims down to more of a baitfish silhouette. A series of snappy retrieves will cause the materials to pulse and the nose of the fly will dive |
Fish the fly with a short four foot twenty pound leader on a quick sinking line. Use a series of long quick strips followed by pauses. Regardless of whether you're stip is fast or slow, the strip should have some "pop" to it rather than just a steady pull. Be prepared for strikes any time during the strip but especially on the pause and when the fly turns from horizontal to vertical as it nears the boat.
It seems that sometimes the fish want a fly with a slightly different color, one that closely resembles the threadfin shad that inhabit the delta.
The tying instructions are exactly the same as the above with the exception that the chartreuse Fish Hair is replaced by gray Fish Hair, topped with ten strands of black fish hair.