{{start}}

Foam beetles have probably been around since not long after foam itself was first invented but I'm not sure if any of the traditional foam beetles are of the scale of this monster. Ray Ellis has scaled up the basic foam beetle to create a great representational fly for Christmas beetles, other big beetles, wood roaches and cicadas. All these big bugs have bodies between around 1.5 cm and 3 cm in length that are about twice as long as they are wide. Many different types of beetles, cockroaches and other big bugs are also fond in the vegetation around Bass habitat. There are those that live in the tall gum trees, other that live in pastures, those that live in the mulch and yet others peculiar to the overgrown banks of our rivers and streams. Because these big bugs are blown or fall onto the water rather than intending to be there it is common to find a number of different types of beetles and other big bugs on the bass' “shopping list” at the one time.

In the case of the beetles they have a propensity for their inner wing cover to get trapped on the water surface as they struggle to escape its hold (looking like a fluffy tail from underneath).  Their under-bodies are segmented and shiny (often greenish black), they have obvious legs with one set originating at the rear of the thorax, and two sets originating at the front of the thorax, the underside of the thorax is covered with short hair and they have small heads.

I have found this variation of Ray's beetle to be a good representation for a range of these big bugs. It can be used as a general prospecting fly or to "match the hatch". It lands with a loud plop and floats hook down. I generally fish it on a 2 meter 10lb straight mono tippet. You need fairly heavy tippet to, turn the fly over, pull the fly it out of vegetation when you miscast, and to control bass that are intent in making cover once hooked.

When the fish are feeding cast the fly well into cover and let it sit for a few seconds whilst the initial impact rings on the surface of the water settle. If there is no response just wiggle the line to start the rings again. If you do this a couple of times and there is still no response pick the fly up and present it in the next likely spot. When the fish are not really active this fly often elicits a response when the above tactic is combined with a medium speed wake retrieve or a popper like retrieve. The popper retrieve is particularly useful when you need to get the attention of otherwise quiet fish or when the bass are feeding on cicadas. It doesn't matter how your fishing the fly the main thing is that when a bass does decide to take the fly the hits are generally very visual, fast and aggressive.

Hook selection is important in this fly. You don't need a lot of these flies as when tied properly they are very durable and unless you, fish too light a leader, let a bass bully you, or  leave it hanging in a tree out of reach you are unlikely to loose them. Because of this I favour lighter gauge stainless hooks rather than bronze hooks and  zinc coated hooks that can rust.

• Understanding hooks

To tie these flies tightly enough to withstand the rigors of fishing you need to put a lot of tension on your foam as you tie the closed cell foam in. Normal fly tying thread is just not strong enough for that and I suggest that you use rod binding thread. There are of course plenty of unbreakable fly tying threads around but I have found them to be too thin and as a result they cut the closed cell foam rather than actually tying in down.

The closed cell foam is undoubtedly the key ingredient to this fly and as a word of caution I suggest that you don't  just assume all closed cell foam is the same. You should always select the foam you intend to use for a fly and tie tie up just one fly, immerse it in soapy water (so you get a worst case assessment), wash it around for a while and make sure your happy with its performance before you commit to tying multiples of the fly or fishing the one fly you have tied. You will be surprised how many closed cell foam flies fail this basic test.
The piece of closed cell foam selected should be about 2.25 as long as the hook and should be as wide as the gape of the hook.
The following table is a guideline of thickness of good quality closed cell foam needed to float a foam beetle.

Materials

Process

A	Wind the thread in touching turns from the 80% position to the bend of the hook. Understanding hooks Tie in a short tail like feature. Beetles don't have tails but  they often have a tail like feature trailing behind when they get trapped in water. This feature is part of the wing cover that often trails behind the beetle like a tail when it gets trapped in the water. Take the thread back to the 80% position. I then generally apply a coat of Tarzans Grip glue along the shank of the hook.

B	Cut a piece of closed cell that is about 2.25 as long as the hook that is as wide as the gape of the hook with a V at the leading edge. Closed cell foam bodies

C	Tie in closed cell foam very tightly at the 80% position. Leave a little knob of closed cell foam in front of where the closed cell foam is tied in and behind the eye of the hook. This little knob will be instrumental in standing the leading edge of the closed cell foam up so that it acts as a popper. Turn the fly upside down in the vice and apply a little PVA glue or a smidge of 5 minute epoxy or contact adhesive to the underside of the closed cell foam.

D	Put the fly the right way up in the vice and at about half compression tie the closed cell foam along the hook shank in with separated wraps of the thread. At the bend of the hook, just behind where the tail is tied in, tie the foam down very tightly. Not only does this form an under-body but it also attaches the foam to the shank of the hook without squeezing out all its buoyancy. Tie in a length of the estaz chenille at the bend of the hook. (You can use two contrasting Estaz chenille for the body as on option. If your doing that uses the darker chenille in the rear two thirds of the body and the lighter contrasting chenille in the front part of the body). Take the thread forward along the under-body to the 80% position, at about half compression, with 3 or 4 separated wraps of the thread

E	Wind the estaz chenille forward covering the under-body  and tie it of and trim the excess.

F	Pull the closed cell foam over the top of the body and tie it down very tightly at the 80 % position. Tie the thread off under the knob, trim the thread and varnish the thread. If necessary trim the closed cell foam so that it finished right above the leading edge of the eye of the hook. I like to trim the loose ends of the estaz chenille neatly under the fly

F	Using a darning needle thread a couple of legs through the foam under-body on the diagonal Legs on flies

{{end}}