Black & peacock

 

Flies that represent spiders and beetles are very buggy and suggestive flies. Weather being used as a polaroiding fly, a static wet, one of the flies in a team of loch style flies, or a fly to cover rising fish spider type soft hackle flies may be taken as a snail, submerged beetle, drowned terrestrial, diving beetle or even a carixia. Alternatively the fish may just pick them up because of the movement of the soft hackle or the suggestive buggy nature of the overall shape. In any case they are a worthwhile addition to your fly box.

If you regularly come across spiders and beetles in colours other than black follow the recipe below with colours closer to the naturals you have been seeing.

Materials

Hook Thread Body Legs
Size 10 to 14 dry fly hook Black Peacock or Ostrich herl or dubbing A couple of turns of oversize black hen hackle

Process

A
  1. Wind the thread in touching turns to the bend of the hook.

 

B
  1. Depending on the size of the hook and the Peacock herl tie a number of lengths of Peacock herl in at the bend of the hook.
  2. Twist the herl around the thread to make a Peacock herl rope.
  3. More detail in relation to making a Peacock herl rope

 

C
  1. Wind the Peacock herl rope forward 90% of the way along the shank of the hook progressively building up a bug shape which at its thickest is a just a little thinner than the gape of the hook body.
  2. Tie the Peacock herl rope off at the 90% position and trim away the excess Peacock herl rope taking care mot to trim athe thread.

D
  1. The hackle is there to represent legs on the bug and to assist the fly to float so select a slightly oversize hen hackle and tie it in by the butt at the 95% position and take just 1 to 3 turns of the hackle in front of the body.
  2. Lock the hen hackle in with a couple of firm wraps of thread directly behind the eye of the hook.
  3. Build up a small neat head directly behind the eye of the hook, whip finish the thread and trim away the excess thread.

E
  1. Take two or three turns of the hackle between the tie in position to just behind the head of the fly leving enough room for the thread head

F
  1. Varnish the thread head.