Beetle Bug

Simple and hopefully deadly

For some reason, and I have yet to find out why, I have never fished a beetle fly before. Whenever I think of terrestrial insects, I think of grasshoppers and ants. The only terrestrial I have ever tied are grasshopper patterns. Maybe it's the aesthetics of a beautifully tied hopper pattern, or simply when fishing in summer the only terrestrial insect I see are hoppers. Rarely do I see beetles in the water. I know that it happens, maybe I just need to get on all fours and look for beetles crawling? Well, after seeing a few patterns recently on the inter-webs, I decided it was time to shift my terrestrial paradigm. The beetle will be a bug I will try more often this upcoming year. Besides, I hear they work great, and am excited to tie up some different patterns.

Recently, I tied my first beetle pattern. It's nothing special, but I am confident it will do the trick. I did not have black foam so I used brown. There are brown beetles right? For the legs I mixed two Fly Tyers Dungeon dubbings together. If you know his dubbing, you know that most of it contains rubber legs. The body on this fly is made up entirely of dubbing and foam, and I hope the micro legs will make for a great underwater profile. I also added some big outer rubber legs, to make sure that it sits upright in the water. Come summer, I'll be tossing beetle patterns along the bank of a high alpine lake, and watching fish come up and snatch em. Awesome.

Hook: Size 12 Dry Fly Hook
Foam: Brown
Body: Fly Tyers Dungeon Wee Folk & MS Bugger Dubbing (blended)
Legs: Black Rubber Legs
Hotspot: Fly Tyers Dungeon P.I.P Hot Yellow