Foam Beetles

The Foam beetle is the simplest fly I tie.  It came from the saltwater gurgler and the foam spider.  It's simply a 1/4" x .02" strip of craft foam about 2" long. cut like a picket fence.  lay on top the hook with the point just behind the eye and tie in. I usually start at the tip and wrap back to just in front of the bend.   This is the way you tie the foam on a gurgler.  Bring the thread back to the front. Fold the foam forward, also like the gurgler,(don't make it to tight) then secure the foam Fold the leg material in two, lay lay it on the back of the fly and secure it at the head. Clip the leg material at the bend and pull two legs to each side.  This is the way you tie the legs on a foam spider. Cut off excess leg material and foam above head and you're done. You can tie this fly in well under 5 minutes.

My wife and I were spending a week just outside Murphy, NC.  A fellow from the rod builders list volunteered to take me fishing, so we arranged to fish the Toccoa River, north of the dam. After some luck with a red san juan worm, we decided to move down the river a bit.  I'd tied up a bunch of the beetles in tan, the night before, so I tied one on. 

I hadn't made many casts when the line went tight and I brought a fat rainbow to hand.  I continued to have success with the pattern all morning,

Getting home I found that it works for bream and bass too.

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