Bodkin / Patterns

Flying Beetle

Terrestrial · Trout · Intermediate · 1 version

Reference Recipe

  • Hook Standard dry-fly hook, 12-16
  • Thread Black 8/0

Materials

  • Body Black ostrich herl (2mm foam strip, gap-width wide)
  • Underbody Peacock ice dub (2-3 herls)
  • Wings Natural dun wing bud (2 hen hackle tips or CDC)
  • Legs Black ostrich herl (3 fibers per side, Krystal Flash or rubber)
  • Indicator Orange permanent marker (small foam dot)

How to tie it

  1. Mount the hook and start thread behind the eye, laying a thread base back to the bend.
  2. Bind a gap-width strip of black foam at the bend, tip pointing back over the bend.
  3. Tie in peacock herl and wrap forward to the 70% mark for a shiny underbody, then tie off.
  4. Pull the foam forward over the herl to form the shell back and bind at the 70% mark, leaving a stub for the head.
  5. Split two hen tips or CDC wings to lie flat and swept back over the body, imitating an open elytra.
  6. Figure-8 three black leg fibers per side so they splay out at the waist.
  7. Add a tiny orange foam dot on top for visibility, then whip finish behind the eye and snip the foam head short.

Tying videos

← All fly patterns