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Fly Tying: Terrestrials  
Author: Rob Stockley
Published: 2006/10/29
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Beetles

Beetles come in both terrestrial and aquatic species and there are literally thousands of them (somewhere between 350,000 - 8,000,000 species at last estimate). All belong to the order Coleoptera: about 20% of all animal species on earth are beetles. Green beetles and brown beetles are essential flies for your tackle box and are usually seen from late spring and throughout summer. Brown beetles appear first, in mid to late October, followed by green beetles in November.
Water beetles are generally only found in ponds or slower streams with plenty of weed (such as the Wainuiomata).

Materials

  • Wing: green or brown wing material

  • Body: deer hair, dubbing or peacock herl

  • Hackle: brown hackle


Method
  1. Tie in a wingcase material. Make sure to keep it flat on the hook shank and extend it well to the rear of the fly.

  2. Spin a tight deer hair body in the desired color. Make body two thirds of the hook shank in length. Alternatively, form a good plump body with suitable colored dubbing or peacock herl

  3. Pull forward wingcase and tie off at front of body. (Some patterns pull the wingcase forward over the hackle
    making this step #5 rather than #3)

  4. Tie in two good quality hackle feathers and form the hackle.

  5. Finish fly with a neat head.


Hemiptera: water bugs

One set of legs modified and paddle-like; adults fly in autumn, but available to trout all year; no "nymph" stage; air-breathing (no gills); maximum size less than 10 mm. Related to cicadas, not water beetles.
  • Notonectidae: backswimmers Body flattened laterally; swim upside-down, usually seen swimming horizontally or diving at an angle; often silvery in appearance as body hairs trap air bubbles.

  • Corixidae: waterboatman Body flattened; swim dorsal side up, usually seen swimming vertically between the surface and the stream or lake bed with a jerky motion; non-paddle legs are hairy and are used to hold an air bubble.


An imitation of a Backswimmer

  • Hook: T.M.C. 100

  • Thread: 6/0 black

  • Wingcase: Umpqua thin skin mottled oak

  • Weight: 3 lengths of lead, laid along top of hook

  • Body: Yellow green dubbing

  • Legs: 2 pieces of feather from ostrich chick feathers

  • Ostrich chick feather - use two of the oar shaped pieces at the rear.



Tying Instructions:
  1. Wrap thread along hook and tie in the lead side by side;

  2. Peel backing off a 4 mm wide strip of thin skin, and tie in at tail;

  3. Dub on a plump body;

  4. Tie in 2 pieces of ostrich chick feather at front of hook;

  5. Pull thin skin forward to front of hook so that the chick feathers lie along each side like little oars;

  6. Whip finish and cement head.

Ross Gigg
 
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