| Notes: | From Warren - To tie the Foam Beetle, first prepare several
several body pieces that will form the black shell of the beetle. You will see my example in the picture
below. The dimentions are approximately 3/16" x 3/4", although you will need to adjust this for larger or
smaller flies.
To begin, start your thread on the hook, and then tie in the pointy end of the foam body, so the body sticks
back out over the rear of the hook. Next, tie in 3 or 4 peacock herls. I wrap the thread around the herl to
make a "rope", and then wrap the herl and thread together up the hook shank. The thread helps to protect the
fragile herl from the trout's teeth. Tie off the herl about 3/4 of the way up the hook shank. Next, fold the
foam body up over the herl, and tie it down with a few wraps of the thread still at the 3/4 position. At this
point, I tie in a small piece of white poly yarn, the same stuff used for posts on parachute dry flies. This
makes the beetle more visible in shadowed parts of the stream. Then wrap a neat head behind the eye of the hook
underneath the foam "head", and tie off your thread. Lastly, snip the white yarn so it forms a "spot" on the back
of the beetle, and shape the foam "head" of the fly by snipping the corners off the foam over the hook eye.
You will see in the links below that there are a variety of other ways to tie beetles, and in a variety of colors.
For example, this past summer there were a few weeks when a small green beetle was quite effective on some streams.
Some people tie legs onto their beetles, but I have not determined that they add to the productivity of the fly,
so I typically don't add them. The white "spot" is optional, or you could make it a different color to aid
visibility. I've also seen some people use slivers of bright colored foam to create the "spot."
Link 1
Link 2
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Link 4
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