Foam Beetle

PennsCreek

PennsCreek

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Joined
Apr 2, 2007
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I have just started doing some simple tying and had a question. Since I mainly fish Clarks Creek at this time of year I am trying foam beetles and ants. I have been having problems keeping the foam on top of the hook after finishing the fly. The foam always is able to rotate around the hook. How do I go about correcting this problem? Also, how are rubber legs tied into the pattern? All the books and websites I have seen do not cover these topics.

Thanks.
 
Send a PM or email and I'll give you some links that might help you.
 
First thing that may help is to lay a thread base below where you tie in the foam, possibly increasing the friction between the foam and hook shank. Also, you might try varying the wrapping of thread, making a few turns around the foam and shank and then a couple behind the foam around the shank an a couple in front, or even crosswise.
 
Or you could just put a drop of head cement on your wraps as you do them...
 
I just started tying beetles too, and whatever adversity you encounter, don't stop. A foam beetle/sinking ant combo has been absolutely slaying trout for me over the past month (slaying is just a term me and a fishing buddy use, I'm not actually killing them).

What I do is get a good thread base over the hook, then attatch the legs. I tie on a leg much as I would any other fiber, tinsel, hackle, etc. Use the 45 degree rule or whatever its called and attach a leg at its midsection to one side of the hook. When the thread tightens around the leg it not only secures it to the hook, but turns the leg into a "V" shape, which constitutes 2 legs. Do the same thing on the other side of the hook, and I got 4 legs. Tie one more rubber leg perpendicular to the hook, bisecting the angles of the two "V" shaped legs I previously tied on. This makes six legs in a star looking pattern.

Then you just attach the foam, whip finish, head cement and your done. If the foam is turning around your hook, you can always hold the foam with one hand, and wrap the thread around it with the other. You may also want to try wraping the thread around the foam, and pulling tightly, but slowly.

Thats probably a confusing description, but if you do it right it real easy, a beetle takes maybe 5 min for me to tie.
 
I think you got some good advice so far. Another thing, for beetles, is that you can tightly lash down the foam along the entire length of the hook shaft (if you aren't doing this now). Be sure to cover the hook shaft with a layer of thread first, then lay the foam along the hook and tightly wrap it from the eye of the hook to the bend (you have to cut the foam longer, so that it's at least twice as long as the hook shaft). Then you just fold the foam over the top of the hook to form the beetle body.

For ants, tie down the mid section tightly, and don't be afraid to make it fairly long. They look more realistic if there is a distinct separation between the abdomen and thorax. You can also lash the foam along the shaft for ants too, just cut the foam strip narrower on the section that will be lashed to the hook.

And don't worry if the bodies aren't tied on so tight that you can't twist them around the hook at all. Often you can twist them around the hook to some extent if you try to, but if they don't easily twist they will work fine.

I hope this isn't so obvious that it's stupid, but when you tie on the legs like thedude described, you don't have to cut them to their final length first. It's easier to tie them on and then cut them to the length you want.
 
> Another thing, for beetles, is that you can tightly lash down the foam along the entire length of the hook shaft (if you aren't doing this now). Be sure to cover the hook shaft with a layer of thread first, then lay the foam along the hook and tightly wrap it from the eye of the hook to the bend (you have to cut the foam longer, so that it's at least twice as long as the hook shaft). Then you just fold the foam over the top of the hook to form the beetle body.>>

There you go... That's the key, I think.

Not only does this better secure the foam and help minimize twist and movement, it also produces a fuller, more realistic body. Most beetles are fat bodied little guys.

What I usually do is lash the foam down and then dub a body of rust or black poly over that and then fold the foam over to finish the fly.

Peacock herl also works well for this...
 
I tie RLeep's pattern, and agree with wulff's advice. I don't usually have a problem with it turning.

I have used deer hair that I blackened with a sharpie for legs before... Just lash it in like the dude suggested.
 
I don't seem to have much trouble with the foam turning on the hook. I lay down a base of thread and then tie in the foam at the bend of the hook. I tie an underbody of peacock herl and sometimes black hackel for legs. Then pull the foam forward and finsh the head. I also use orange foam in place of black or brown. This works well for me and they are a lot easier to see and the fish don,t seem to mind.
 
Check your thread size. I have been using unithread size 6/0 without much difficulty. The smaller diameter allows you cinch down better than 3/0 thread. Also a dab of superglue has been working well for keeping the foam in place.
 
Thanks for all the help. Tying the foam down along the entire length of the hook solved the problem. I tied a few that the trout in clarks thought were tasty. Again, thanks for all the help.
 
Anyone have any problems setting the hook with beetles? I've been catching tons of fish on beetles in the past month, but I've found that I miss hookups much more frequently with this fly than any other. I know its not a problem with my technique in setting the hook, cause I have no troubble with any of my other fly's.

I'm thinking about tying them with a 2XL hook and letting more of the hook go out the back than under the body of the fly.

Anyone else experience similar problems with them?
 
I read your first post and saw that you are using rubber legs for your foam beetles – that works. I used to tie my beetles with something called “leg stuff” which was essentially stiff black mono. They looked good and were durable, but I thought the stiff legs hurt my hooking percentage so I switched back to rubber (more movement with rubber too).

I also see that you tie a wet ant as a dropper (great combo for summer BTW). A lot of FFers disagree with me, but I seem to have a better hooking percentage when I tie the dropper to the eye of the hook. My theory is that when the fish hits the fly, the fly is sometimes pushed away from the fish by the line that’s attached to the bend. My hooking percentage seems to go up with the dropper attached up front.

The third thing I have not solution for; as the fish are caught and become more wary, they short strike or reject the fly in an instant. They learn the game! I may be crazy, but my hooking percentage goes down in streams with heavily pressured fish. Since you are now using the beetle most the time, maybe its the fish and not the fly type causing you to miss.

Dude, you fish Valley a lot. Think back - what is your hooking percentage there, versus a lightly fished wild trout stream? Those Valley fish hit and are gone in an instant, while on a more remote and lightly fished wild trout streams, I sometimes have to switch to a larger fly because the fish take the fly too deeply.

Has anyone else ever noticed that?
 
thedude1534 wrote:

I'm thinking about tying them with a 2XL hook and letting more of the hook go out the back than under the body of the fly.

Perhaps a better option would be to buy larger short shanks so you get a wider hook gap for the size.
 
I'll try tying the dropper on the eye next time I go out, or maybe take out the dropper all together to see if it makes a difference.

In terms of fish taking fly's quickly, I have been fishing the LLH almost exclusively for the last few weeks, and I have noticed that recently the fish are sipping rather than striking the beetle. I usually don't have problems with reflexes when it comes to setting the hook, but maybe the LLH browns are a tier above the rest. Can anyone else attest to the fact that LLH fish are hard to hook-up with?
 
Dude The fish on the LL see so many beetles and other flies that they become extremely reluctant to just suck it in with wild abandon. Many of the fish you're missing are actually coming up to take a close look and maybe even bumping the fly with their nose, but I'm sure most are actually rejecting it at the last second. When you get on a stream where they haven't seen as many beetles the hooking ratio goes up dramatically. You can almost tell within an hour or so of fishing a stream if it gets alot of beetle fishing pressure by the way the trout take the fly. I've been beetle fishing for many years now and it's my favorite type of fishing because of the way unpressured trout, especially wild browns take it. I've had them charge several feet to hit beetles on many occasions. Kind of reminds me of the waya bass will sometimes charge a popper when it first hits the water.
 
RRR,

Thanks for the reply, I can attest the the beetle charging, I think thats why I love using them so much. I did notice that the first time I used the mighty beetle on the LLH the fish were hitting it pretty hard and taking it streight down, sometimes they were coming from several feet away. Maybe I was fortunate enough to start using the beetle before others did, but now the trout regognize what they are and are weary...
 
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