Bodkin / Patterns

Brent's Cicada

Terrestrial · Dry Fly · Trout · Advanced · 1 version

Tyer Recipe

  • Hook Bass stinger, wide gape, 4
  • Thread 3/0 or gel-spun equivalent

Materials

  • Monofilament, 40 lb (eye stalks) Green (or clear) monofilament lb (1 short piece)
  • Glass beads (eyes) Blue bead (2)
  • Coarse deer hair (body) Dark olive coarse deer hair (3 pencil-thick bunches)
  • Baitfish emulator flash Bright green angel hair (blended into the deer hair)
  • Krystal Flash (underwing) Pearl flashabou (few strands per side)
  • Deer belly hair (wing) Natural deer hair (1 long bunch)
  • Deer hair tips (overwing) Natural, long (1 small bunch)
  • Body fur / poly yarn (indicator) Orange poly yarn (small tuft)

How to tie it

  1. Tie a short piece of 40 lb mono across the shank at the front with X-wraps, whip finish, and cut the thread.
  2. Thread a blue glass bead onto each mono stub and melt the tips with a lighter so the mono balls back into the beads, forming the eyes; let them cool, then add a dab of cement so they don't roll.
  3. Leave the rear shank bare (undressed) so the hair can spin.
  4. Blend pinches of coarse dark olive deer hair with bright green baitfish emulator in your fingers, take a pencil-thick bunch, spin it on the bare shank with two loose turns then tension, and pack it back hard.
  5. Spin and pack two more blended bunches the same way, working forward, smaller bunches spin cleaner than big greedy ones, until the shank is filled to behind the eyes; whip finish and cut the thread.
  6. Trim the body to a cicada shape with hair scissors: narrow at the rear, flat on the belly, chunky through the middle. Trim gradually, checking photos of naturals.
  7. Restart the thread behind the eyes and tie a few strands of pearl Krystal Flash along each side, extending about one and a half body-lengths past the bend, to imitate the clear wings held outright.
  8. Tie in a long bunch of deer belly hair flat over the top as the wing, trim and bind the butts.
  9. Add a small bunch of long deer hair tips as an overwing, then tie a tuft of orange body fur on top as a sight indicator.
  10. Build a clean head, whip finish, and cement.

Tying videos

← All fly patterns