Bodkin / Patterns

Hot Head Sow Bug

Nymph · Egg · Trout · Intermediate · 1 version

Classic Recipe

  • Hook Curved scud/grub hook, barbless (Fulling Mill 5027 or TMC 2457), #14-18
  • Thread Fluorescent orange 8/0-18/0

Materials

  • Bead (hot head) Fluorescent hot-pink or salmon slotted tungsten bead, 2.0-2.8mm (1)
  • Body Gray sowbug/muskrat dubbing (Psychedelic Dun or natural gray) (pinch)
  • Rib Fine gold wire or 4X mono (1 strand)
  • Grease top UV-cure resin (medium) over the back (as needed)

How to tie it

  1. Slide the fluorescent hot-pink tungsten bead onto the curved scud hook, small hole first, and seat it at the eye; start the thread behind it.
  2. Tie in the wire rib at the bend and leave it hanging to the rear.
  3. Dub a fat, flat gray body forward to just behind the bead. Keep the profile wide and low so it reads as a sow bug, not a scud.
  4. Rib the wire forward over the body in 4-5 evenly spaced turns to segment it and add durability, then tie off and helicopter to break.
  5. Whip finish behind the bead; pick out the sides/belly for legs, then run a thin bead of UV resin along the top and cure it to form a glossy, tough 'grease top' shell.
  6. For a tan version swap in tan dubbing; for pink, use pink dubbing.

Tying videos

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